A school in Kigumo, Murang’a,
risks closure after parents withdrew their children over poor performance.
Mathare-ini
Secondary School has been grappling with low enrollment for years and has not had any Form One enrolment this year
Last year, the school had 67 students, 47 in Form Four, 14 in Form Three and seven in Form One while Form Two did not have any students.
However, the students
failed to report back to school when first term opened. Their
parents transferred them to the nearby Nguku, Marumi and Kariua secondary schools.
Parents were unhappy with the poor performance consistently posted by the school which was established in 1982.
The school was the last in the county with a mean score of 1.92, with 21 out of the 26 KCSE candidates scoring D minus while the rest got "E"s.
This was a drop from the 2.29 points the school scored in 2017.
Teachers Service Commission subcounty director Paul Kagaya said eight teachers, who had been posted in the school, were transferred due to the low enrolment. Only the principal and the deputy principal are left in the school.
The teachers were transferred after efforts by the school's board to convince parents to enrol Form One students in the school failed.
“Learning did not resume when the term started but we are hoping the situation will change soon,” Kagaya said.
He added that he has been holding stakeholders’ forums and the parents’ attitude towards the school is improving.
As a way of encouraging more students to enrol in the institution, the school board scrapped school fees and lowered its admission cut mark.
The fate of the school now hangs in the balance as its administration awaits students' admission.