As a farmer himself, seeing every bare land as potential agricultural land, Dr Ben Ngatho introduced farming at Masinga Boys’ Secondary School. To his expectation, it took off, encouraging the school to expand its farming land.
The community initially used the ample land belonging to the school as a grazing field. However, with vision and help from the area chief, he managed to fence it and start farming something that the same community is now admiring and appreciating.
The school started farming last October, marking the principal’s first rain season at the school. They aimed to cushion themselves, considering the unreliable school funding and the CBE curriculum in place.
“Besides everything else, our students are taken to the farm for learning purposes, and they love it so much. We have workers who tend the farm, but due to CBE, we allow them to practice the real farming which they enjoy so much,” the principal said.
The school has very expansive land, cultivated 20 acres of maize and green grams, for which they have high hopes of harvesting around 100 bags of maize and 10 bags of green grams. Luckily, they have a borehole, though it is not very reliable. However, they are sinking another one, calling for support from partners.
“We want to add 20 acres of land for horticulture to improve income-generating activities and support school projects, as well as support needy students,” principal said.
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The school is focused on an upward trajectory, as evidenced by the fact that last year, 118 out of 238 candidates transitioned to university. In contrast, in 2023, 79 students out of 238 university qualifiers were successful.
The six-stream school is preparing to change to 10 streams to offer all pathways, as they expect a minimum of 1,500 students, up from the current 890.
The growing number and good performance of the school have been achieved through effective community relations, attractive projects such as the agricultural initiative and multilevel marketing, student and staff motivation, and early coverage of the syllabus, among others.
“I am very fatherly to the students, and I use a problem-solving oriented leadership style. That care gives the students confidence and morale to do well,” the principal said.
Not left behind in cocurricular activities either, the principal being a footballer himself, football complements rugby, long tennis, table tennis, badminton, and basketball, with long tennis heading to regionals and music also heading to regionals.
“By the way, we have five football pitches and we are making the sixth, we can even host national competitions,” the principal said.
With very disciplined students and not badly off in terms of staffing, the school has embarked on a serious landscaping and beautification project by installing concrete pavements throughout the tuition area.
By Lydia Ngoolo
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