- Ashford Kimani reflects on a benchmarking visit by two educators from a leading private school to a public school in Kiharu Constituency.
- The article argues that excellence in education is not determined by fees, prestige or resources alone, but by innovation and effective leadership.
- It challenges schools to benchmark based on value and results rather than reputation and status.
I want to preamble this piece with a personal disclaimer: both Angel Raphael and Polycap Ateto are my mentees. I am their writing godfather. I am therefore qualified to criticise their leadership moves. The two cannot reciprocate as that would be bad manners. I can curse them.
That said, allow me to roast my mentees as a good mentor does.
Yesterday was not a particularly good day for me. Two of my writing colleagues, both teachers at one of Nairobi’s top-tier private schools in Westlands, travelled to Kiharu Constituency for a benchmarking exercise.
Ordinarily, there would be nothing remarkable about such a visit. Benchmarking has become an integral part of educational improvement, allowing institutions to learn from one another, adopt best practices and continuously refine their operations.
My concern, however, was not the journey itself. It was the purpose behind it.
Here was a prestigious private school, charging substantial fees and boasting some of the finest facilities in the country, travelling to a public school to learn how to improve and tile its physical infrastructure.
The thought lingered in my mind for much of the day.
Challenging Conventional Assumptions
Not because I believe public schools have nothing to offer, but because the situation challenged a perception many of us have unconsciously accepted over the years.
We have been conditioned to think that private schools are the standard-bearers of excellence in every aspect of education. Their modern buildings, landscaped compounds, sophisticated learning resources and impressive marketing campaigns often create the impression that they have little to learn from public institutions.
Parents frequently associate high fees with superior quality and assume that private schools possess all the answers.
Yet this visit to Kiharu suggested something entirely different.
Excellence Is Not Always About Money
The reality is that excellence is not always determined by the size of a school’s budget.
Some of the most remarkable achievements in Kenyan education have emerged from public schools operating under significant financial constraints.
When resources are limited, leaders are forced to become innovative. They learn how to maximise every shilling, prioritise development projects carefully and mobilise communities to support institutional growth.
As a result, many public schools have developed an extraordinary ability to deliver high-quality infrastructure and services at a fraction of the cost often incurred by their private counterparts.
Perhaps that is what attracted the visitors from Westlands to Kiharu.
They may have discovered a public school whose infrastructure development was guided not by abundance but by prudence. They may have encountered administrators who understood how to stretch limited resources without compromising quality.
Benchmarking Should Be About Value
One of the greatest lessons emerging from this experience is that benchmarking should never be driven by status. It should be driven by value.
Unfortunately, many institutions benchmark based on reputation rather than results.
They seek out schools with famous names, affluent populations or impressive marketing profiles. Yet some of the most transformative ideas are often found in places that attract little national attention.
A rural public school may possess more efficient financial management systems than a highly resourced urban academy.
A county school may have stronger community engagement structures than an elite international institution.
A modest day school may have developed innovative approaches to discipline, mentorship or academic improvement that surpass those found in more expensive establishments.
The Importance of Humility
The visit to Kiharu therefore speaks to the importance of humility in educational leadership.
It takes humility for a well-resourced institution to acknowledge that another school, especially a public one, may have something valuable to teach.
It takes humility to travel long distances not to showcase achievements but to learn from others.
In many ways, this willingness to learn is what separates progressive institutions from stagnant ones.
Schools that believe they have mastered everything eventually stop growing. Those that remain curious continue evolving.
What struck me most was how often public schools are underestimated.
Society tends to focus on their challenges while ignoring their successes.
Stories of overcrowded classrooms, inadequate funding and declining infrastructure dominate public discourse.
Yet across Kenya there are countless public schools quietly achieving remarkable things. They are constructing impressive facilities, delivering strong academic results, implementing innovative programmes and nurturing disciplined learners.
Their achievements rarely make headlines, but they are no less significant.
Lessons for All Schools
Perhaps the most important lesson from this experience is that good ideas do not belong to a particular category of schools.
Innovation is not the preserve of private institutions, nor is excellence determined by fee structures.
Educational wisdom can emerge from any environment where dedicated professionals are committed to solving problems and improving outcomes for learners.
The best schools understand this. They recognise that learning is a continuous process and that valuable insights can come from unexpected places.
As the day progressed, my initial frustration gradually gave way to admiration.
What had first seemed ironic began to appear encouraging.
Rather than viewing the visit as evidence of a private school seeking help from a public institution, I started to see it as proof that excellence exists in places many people overlook.
If a leading private school found it worthwhile to travel to Kiharu and learn from a public school, then that public school must have been doing something exceptionally well.
Ultimately, the story is not about tiles, buildings or infrastructure.
It is about recognising value wherever it exists.
It is about dismantling the assumption that prestige automatically equates to superiority.
Most importantly, it is about appreciating the fact that some of the best ideas in education are often born not from abundance but from ingenuity.
The visit to Kiharu reminds us that true excellence is not defined by whether a school is public or private. It is defined by vision, leadership, innovation and an unwavering commitment to improvement.
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Those qualities can be found anywhere, and when they are, every educator has something worth learning.
By Ashford Kimani
Ashford is the mentor to the two characters involved in the story.
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