The once glamorous and prestigious Garbatula High School is now a pale shadow of its former self after years of poor academic performance, low enrollment and a brief closure.
The once academic giant which is located in Isiolo County and used to be in the same league as Alliance Boys, Starehe Boys and Mangu High is currently struggling to enroll even enough students.
The rains started beating the institution, which previously posted sterling performances, when insecurity took root in the region as a result of cattle rustling with neighbouring communities attacking each other in a bid to steal livestock.
This led to students and teachers flight due to fear of ruthless bandits.
As a result and to make matters worse, the school was closed temporarily for two years between 2000 and 2002 before it reopened and has been struggling ever since to enroll enough students.
Now, national and local leaders as well as residents are racing against time in a bid to reclaim it lost glory.
The institution is currently on its deathbed with only 250 students though it can comfortably accommodate 1,000 learners.
Its pathetic state has broken the hearts of many who have vowed to do their best to turn around its dwindling fortunes.
A visit to the school recently revealed that the former giant is now on its knees. All roofs leak, the ceilings have caved in and the sewage system is dysfunctional. In the computer room, more than 50 machines are dysfunctional after being rained on.
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During last year’s KCSE exams, students wrote their papers while standing, with rain water ankle deep.
The principal David Ruito said one of the dormitories is still a debris a year after students set it on fire during a strike.
In its heyday, the school boasted of having the best facilities in the country, among them 25 classrooms, 16 dormitories, a photography darkroom, Science laboratories, dispensary, open air basketball and gymnasium courts.
The then mixed day and boarding secondary was opened by former President Mwai Kibaki in July 1974 while he was Minister of Finance and Planning.
It rose to national fame for posting remarkable results for two decades.
It was started through partnership between the government, residents and the moribund NCCK and the Protestant Agency for Development Aid.
The alumni has names of prominent individuals, including former Treasury CS Ukur Yattani, Isiolo Senator Fatuma Dullo and National Land Commission (NLC) commissioner Tiya Galgalo. Others are former Isiolo Deputy Governor Mohammed Guleid and former Ethics and Anti-Corruption boss Halake Dida Waqo.
In the late 1990s, the school’s performance was affected by a spate of insecurity which saw the enrolment reduce drastically as parents withdrew their children, paving way for its 2-year closure.
It was reopened in 2002 but as a district school and struggled for four years before registering candidates for Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examinations in 2005.
Over the past 20 years the school has performed poorly, at one time posting a mean point of 2.84.
However, there are efforts to revive the institution with the government promising intervention.
Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua is among those who are currently calling for its revival.
During a recent fundraiser at Isiolo Girls, Gachagua said the institution will not be left to die and directed the then Education CS Ezekiel Machogu to send a technical team there to find out what is required.
Ruito said the school needs at least Ksh50 million to repair damaged classrooms and dormitories as well as equip the library.
“We are doing as much as we can to ensure that the school does not slide back to the time it was shut down,” Ruito said.
Isiolo South MP Mohamed Tubi said while the issue of insecurity is also no longer there, it is expected that construction of the Ksh86 billion 740 kilometre Isiolo-Mandera road will shorten the time taken to access the institution, which is 130 kilometres from Isiolo town.
To encourage enrollment, he is also using the NGCDF to pay fees for all the students.
“We’re paying fees for all of them regardless of where they come from and I intend to sustain this for the entire of my term,” Tubi said.
Alumni chairman Adan Kabelo said they would not allow such a strategic school for the Northern frontier counties to go to waste.
“While it used to take someone a week to travel there from Nairobi, today it’s a matter of hours because there is a tarmac road from Maua in Meru to the school. We’re hopeful that we will get our Garbatula High back on its feet,” he said.
By John Majau
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