By Norah Musega
Wiga Girls Secondary School is working its way up to academic eminence, having the rare reputation of resolute hope during its formative years. Founded in the year 2019, yet full of uncertainty as there were no teachers to welcome the students, learning for the then Form One was shifted to Masara Mixed Secondary School – as arrangements were made for Teachers Service Commission (TSC) to post teachers to the new school.
That highlights the short account of the school, which is sitting its first ever national examinations at the end of the year. With that in mind, it is about to write its own history by posting good pioneer results, which will be the launching pad to embolden the girls.
With a day and boarding population of 370 students, the school has opted to accommodate 125 (mostly forms 3 and 4) in the available facilities to create more time for teacher- student interactions to map enough ground in syllabus coverage and revision.
Located in Wiga Ward in Suna West Constituency of Migori County, it is prepared to excel in the 2022 KCSE exams that will be done in November.
The school is the brainchild of Suna West Member of Parliament Peter Francis Masara, who has consistently had a hand in almost every education development idea in the constituency. His dedication to promote the girl child education moved him to buy single-handedly the 2 1/2 acre land on which the school stands, seeking to confront the cultural stigma and bias perpetuated by the male-dominated society.
From then on, Wiga Girls Secondary School has grown to become the constituency’s girls school of choice.
The school principal Rosebela Waga told the Education News that Waga noted that with the school motto ‘Aspire to Excel’, they are competent and capable to give the best inaugural results because of the cooperation and joint efforts by all students and staff.
The Board of Management (BoM) is doing its part in marketing the school and ensuring the students and teachers have a good learning and teaching by availing the necessary resources.
The vision of the school is ‘To develop a holistic girl’, supported by the mission ‘To provide quality teaching and nurturing of girls’ values and competence’. Both these pillars have trained the focus of every stakeholder to adding invincible worth to the girl child.
“All these are anchored by spiritual nourishment through the guidance of the Roman Catholic Church and motivational speakers who are regularly invited to encourage the students,” Waga said.
She noted that the Suna West National Government Constituency Development Fund (NG-CDF), besides the initial infrastructure in the form of laboratory, dormitory, teachers’ houses, classrooms and the administration block, it has also purchased books and put up more classrooms in conjunction with the free day secondary education fund.
“We have parents who are so dedicated to see our school excel that they ensure they pay fees in time, as well as feed the administration with information that helps us know our students better. We are grateful to the local community for trusting the institution with their girls,” she remarked.
“As an institution, we have a dream to grow big both in size and quality, projecting a population of about 600 in the next 3-4 years. Ours is the school to watch. The candidates are ready, charged and committed to set the records to beat other already existing schools in the county,” she went on, adding that they keep reminding themselves what the school stands for as their limit is never the sky.
However, other challenges towards attaining their goals still exist, among them their location around gold mining sites. The allure for money has contributed to girls dropping out of school or failing to attend classes regularly.
The boda boda menace is another headache as the girls are tempted to fall into the early marriage and pregnancy trap set by the young men operating the sector.
She applauded the area chief and local administration for their efforts to help the school secure the future of their learners against the ravages of immorality.
“We are not only concerned about the image of the school but also future for the girls. We always make sure that we trace them and bring them back to school no matter the situation,” she summed.
