Thika School awash in new facelift after donors learn of kids who lack basic Facilities.

Teachers and pupils of Kiboko Primary School receiving mattresses and books courtesy of Thika West Rotary Club. The club has also done some facelift of the ECDE classroom which was previously in a pathetic situation.

Kiboko Primary School’s dream to provide a conducive environment for their elementary learners got a big boost on Friday when The Rotary Club of Thika West spruced up their ECDE class through the facility facelift and donation of mattresses all to a tune of KES 100,000.

In addition to the donation, Rotary Club also presented reading materials from Oxford University Press that will go a long way in boosting education standards in the school which predominantly serves pupils from very humble background.

“This is so exciting. It will make a huge difference,” exclaimed Jacinta Wanjiru, the teacher in-charge of the ECDE class.

She explained that previously, the condition of the classroom was very pathetic a situation that had caused so many pupils to leave school.

“The classroom used to be so dusty and I had to deal with so many respiratory infections amongst my pupils. But ever since the facelift, my enrolment has shot up from 7 pupils to 27 now. The pupils now take advantage of the new-look classroom to learn on their own. These mattresses too will boost their development as after class naps are critical for memory consolidation and early learning,” said Teacher Jacinta.

The school Headteacher Mr. Joseph Ndichu Muiruri reckons that the school has had so many challenges since its inception something that has been affecting proper teaching and learning.  He said that even though the government has been chipping in through the Free Primary Education (FPE) funds, the amount received was too little to cater for all the needs.

“The money we receive as FPE is merely meant to cater for repairs and maintenance and cannot be enough to administer any tangible development of our facilities. Majority of our pupils hail from the neighbouring slums and efforts to have their parents raise money towards improving their learning environment has proven to be a tall order,” said Mr. Muiruri.

He added that it was through the input of well-wishers such as the Rotary Club, Macheo, Jungle Foundation and Thika Town Constituency CDF that the school had managed to improve some of its facilities.

“I do not know how we would be surviving without friends like you. In fact it is our humble request to you to adopt this school and nurture it as your baby so that we can provide these poor kids with the best learning conditions,” he added.

He appealed to donors to come on board to assist in provision of furniture for both teachers and pupils which was currently their most hard pressing challenge.

The Rotary Club of Thika West president, Benjamin Githae, said his organisation came to learn of the plight of this school when they had earlier visited to donate sanitary towels to the girl-pupils.

He said that they got inspired to act after the teachers detailed how their contribution then helped to improve self-esteem and lower absentee rates among these girls, who would previously miss classes in those ‘red’ days.

“Education is one of the focus areas for funding since we acknowledged it is the cornerstone of a child’s development. For learning to thrive, the right environment is needed. The mind functions better in a clean and calm environment and I hope the support from The Rotary Club of Thika West will contribute to effective teaching and learning at Kiboko Primary School,” said the president.

Githae said that they would sit down with the members and discuss their next priority project for the school and if need be, they would solicit for funding to embark on a comprehensive support to the school.

Thika Branch Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) Chairman John Kuria appealed for more Public-Private partnerships in development of infrastructure in schools especially those that served the less-fortunate members of the society.