By Dennis Bett
Kapleting’i Mixed Day Secondary School is scarcely ten years old but has grown a hundredfold from only eight students in 2012 to over 800 now. This is one rare achievement especially for a day school.
The astounding leap is a testament to the promise that the school holds out, not only of a good ambience in a cool environment, but also of a better future underscored by the success of forerunners.
2015 was the scaling point when the mean score topped 7.0. From then on they have had to contend with swelling number of students each year. It has looked to be the academic destination of every parent and child.
“We did not have a Teachers Service Commission (TSC) teacher at the start. Gradually we started getting their support, the Ministry’s and the community as the population started rising to 42 in 2013, then 141 in 2014. When in 2015 the school attained a mean of 7.0, becoming the best day school in the county, students started swarming in,” the principal Francis Kipng’eno Tonui said.
The school was established in 2010 by the community to help their children get affordable and accessible education, but was not fully operational until 2012.
They recently held a thanks-giving ceremony, which doubled up as the AGM, to celebrate the good results of 2022 and deliberate on how to make the young school soar higher in academics.
Speaking during the event, the principal attributed their continued success to a committed teaching and non-teaching staff, as well as the cordial relationship between the school and the community.
Tonui recalled the early days when he was forced to comb the villages to bring back students who had dropped out due to lack of school fees. Together with teachers and the Board, they contributed money to pay tuition and lunch fees and buy uniform for some of them.
The excellent relationship with the area leadership came in handy when the then MP Jackson Kiptanui constructed classrooms, Daniel Rono donated the school bus, and the current MP Gideon Kimaiyo fully sponsored all the Form One students.
The result has been a constant rise in the number going to university. There were sixteen in 2020, twenty in 2021 and eighteen in 2022. They are now targeting over 50 students in either 2023 or the year after.
“More than ninety per cent of students score C plain and above each year despite the many challenges they face, including long distances from home,” revealed Tonui.
As part of their strategy, they assign teachers to students to help monitor their academic progress. Some Board members also take the initiative of paying fees, for instance the outgoing Board of Management (BoM) chairman Moses Ng’etich.
The principal pointed out that they have a 5-year strategic plan, part of which seeks to put up an ultra-modern library and a modern tuition block, saying the high enrollment has necessitated it to meet the rising demand. This year’s Form One enrollment hit 260.
He called upon well-wishers and education stakeholders, include the Ministry of Education (MoE), RMI, Safaricom Foundation, Lotto Foundation, and other partners to help the school realize these dreams.
Besides academics, the school mentors athletes who have competed in international competitions, not to mention qualifying for the East African school games championships. Others have even won scholarships to study in the USA courtesy of sports.
They have also been doing well in netball, volleyball, and football, both boys and girls featuring in sub-county, county and regional competitions.
Present at the event was the incoming BoM chairman who lauded the principal for his functional administrative skills. He encouraged parents to follow-up on the academic progress of their children and talk to them on importance of discipline and education.
The deputy principal Jane Birgen praised the discipline levels, attributing this to a competent guidance and counseling department.
The school is in Keiyo South Sub-county of Elgeyo/Marakwet County.
