While touring Tigithi Secondary school with Project Kenya Sister School volunteers, Chairman of the Board, Jackson Mwihuri, was happy to show off the school’s progress. Mwihuri, with good reason, was clearly proud of the academic improvements and the positive environment at Tigithi.
Mwihuri credited principal, John Muchiri, for many of these improvements. Muchiri’s vision for Tigithi led to many infrastructure updates and the enforcement of discipline in the school, he said. The improvements include a new library, a school bus for academic field trips, and the current construction of new dormitories for the boys, which will free up the science labs for class work.
Still, another reason to be proud has been the students’ academic growth. On standardized tests, the mean exam score, which had been 3.4 on a 12-point scale, increased to 5.7 last year. The goal for this year is 6, he said. “These improvements have increased the motivation”, he said. More students have been admitted to university. He cited 27 over the past five years since Muchiri has been at the helm.
Another contributing factor has been the presence of strong female teachers at Tigithi. One such teacher is Elizabeth Wambui, who has been teaching there for eight years. Wambui instructs in Math for students in classes ranging from Form 1 to Form 4. She said that she has worked to encourage a positive attitude amongst the students, so that they are not afraid of math.
She uses several tactics to encourage the students ranging from presenting the syllabus to them in advance, to giving students ample opportunities to revise their work. “When they see a woman teacher, it encourages them,” she said. She explained that women are not normally supposed to like math, but they see we can have success. Perhaps the most important strategy for improving the students math scores is to tutor them one-on-one in the evenings and during free time. “That is making a difference,” she said. “I get to know the student when I work with them.”
Mwihuri agreed, “She has pushed them from E’s to A’s” he said. “She is committed and she pays attention to them as individuals.”
It has really taken the efforts of such Tutors as Madam Elizabeth, my former maths/business teacher, among others and of course spearheaded by Charismatic leadership of Sir John, my former school Principal. Their hard work and ability to incorporate guidance skills in academic improvements has seen the school transform to not only an academic institution but also a hotbed of leaders and global mentors.