St Anthony’s Boys Kitale promoted to National school status ahead of 2026 senior secondary rollout

It is now official, St Anthony’s Boys’ Secondary, in Kitale, has been promoted to a national-status institution.

The school was among a list of schools upgraded recently from the Extra-County institutions to the national level by the Ministry of Education (MoE) as it prepares for the historical first intake of Grade 10 to Senior Secondary School next year under the CBE.

St. Anthony now adds to three national secondary schools in Trans Nzoia County, with others being St Joseph’s Boys’ falling within Saboti Sub-county and St Brigid’s Girls’ and the promoted St Anthony in Kiminini Sub-county.

Popularly referred to Solidarity Boys because of its craze and huge following for football, St Anthony, named after the retired Catholic Kitale Bishop Maurice Anthony Crowley, is gearing towards the transformation, which includes more enrollment of students from upcountry, an increase in the infrastructure and allocation of resources from the MoE.

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According to the guidelines from the MoE, for a public school to be elevated to the national level, it should be able to have space for expansion, provide an environment for cohesion, integration and unity building and a proper accounting system of financial records.

In declaration St Anthony a national facility, the school jumped has overtaken the other competing schools like St Monica’s Girls’, St Joseph’s Girls’ alias Joga, and Goseta High School nicknamed Gosbo, which were expected to also be upgraded.

Except for Goseta, which is inter-denomination-based, St Monicah, just like St Anthony, St Joseph, St Brigid’s and St Joseph Girls are sponsored by the Catholic Church.

The news of the elevation of St Anthony was received by stakeholders, students, leaders, alumni and parents with ululation at the school last week as it prepared for the Trans Nzoia KESSSA zonal soccer games with one a parent, Jackson Muganda, quipping.

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“It was long over-due” while the deputy principal Henry Wakofula declaring “we are very much ready for the changes”

Principal Masibo who led the jubilant in welcoming the new title alluded this to the commitment of the MoE, BoM, PTA, local leaders and the students themselves and pledged to achieve further development in the coming academic years.

An assessment carried by the MoE to grant St Anthony the new national status ahead of the 2026 senior secondary classes came as the it finished the construction dormitories with a capacity of about 600 and renovation of classrooms that used to occupy the Form 1 students done away with the outgoing 8-4-4 education system.

Currently, the school has enrolled about 2400 students and with the 2026 intake of the Senior Secondary, the figure could shoot up to more than 3500.

According to the MoE guidelines, a Grade 9 candidate wishing to join the SS is supposed to choose at 10 national schools in the three pathways of STEM, Social Sciences and Arts and Social Sciences.

Some secondary schools have been graded to cover all the tracks while others have less in the accordance with the students’ choices and availability of studying facilities and materials.

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Established in 1969 as mixed Kitale Day Secondary School KD for students from town dwelling points, St Anthony has walked through the journeys only to reach to the national apex through its determination in excelling both in academics and extra-curriculum activities such as soccer and hockey.

For example, in the last four performances in KCSE it recorded mini-scores of 8.1 in 2021, 9.8 in 2022, 10.33 in 2023 and 8.95 in 2024.This year, the school is targeting to 10-plus mini-grade with the accordance to the elaborate preparations of the students.

And sports, the Solidarity boys are have become to be household of football setting records of being national champs in the secondary schools category and as well as within the East and Central Africa. Several of its boys are currently schooling with soccer Academies abroad especially Europe including Adrian Kibet and Amos Wanjala.

By Abisai Amugune