By John Oroni
Kakamega High School Principal Gerald Orina has transformed the institution to better standards since he took over four years ago when the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) began the delocalization programme.
The school’s new ultra-modern Sh15 million administration block that was recently launched by Education Cabinet Secretary Professor George Magoha is one of its kind in the western region.
“We initially had an administration block which was set up when the school was established in 1939 which could not meet the current space demands. The current one is so spacious and houses all major departmental offices,” said Mr. Orina.
To address the insecurity challenge at the institution, the administrator oversaw the putting up of a Sh15 million perimeter wall to keep off intruders who used to enter the school at night and to also curb sneaking out by students.
“This perimeter wall has not been received well by intruders who have decided to put up spirited efforts to malign the good name of the institution and the management”, the Principal said during CS’s visit adding that the management has equally done well to combine all the sections to do well including sports and academics.
“Indiscipline cases have dramatically reduced in the institution and students are highly disciplined”, he said.
The principal also secured a Sh3.5 million grant that he used to set up 20 ultra-modern toilet blocks for the students who were initially relying on old ones that became a threat to their hygienic conditions as they were out of order.
“We have also managed to renovate four classrooms to increase the space to accommodate the 100% transition from primary to secondary school by the government. We currently have a student population of 2300 up from 1300 when I took over,” he said.
The principal has also solved the water menace at the school by acquiring a 60, 000 liter water tank that stores rainfall water that is harvested at the school. This is used by the school to stop overreliance on water by the Kakamega County Water and Sanitation Company.
The principal has turned the institution to be an all-round power house with the institution maintaining its lead in both the academic and co-curricular arenas. The school is the currently the East Africa’s rugby champions.
“The school won the 2018 national championship for drama festivals in the play category. We are also doing well in other games including Football and interschool’s academic competitions,” he said.
The school offers five foreign languages in its curriculum and has had an improved academic performance since he took over when it was performing poorly.
In 2018 the school posted a mean score of 6.8 while in 2019 the school had a mean of 8.4 with 247 students securing a direct entry to university.
“The school has set sights on improving on our mean score to ensure our students excel in both academics and other fields to be all rounded,” said the principal.
