Public primary school teachers from Kiharu constituency get ready to travel to Dubai for a five-day vacation/ALICE WAITHERAFive-day public primary school
teachers from Kiharu constituency have been taken to Dubai in United Arabs
Emirates (UAE) as a reward for good performance.
The teachers are beneficiaries of a
motivation programme initiated by MP Ndindi Nyoro in 2022 to motivate day
school teachers and encourage competition.
The batch consists of head teachers
of best performing schools and teachers whose subjects are best improved in the
constituency, based on last year’s national examinations.
Teachers who perform best in this
year’s national examinations will go next year.
Last year, 11 teachers were taken
to Dubai while one chose Malaysia, as he had already visited Dubai in a similar trip
“Any teacher who has been to the destination
is allowed to choose another destination of their choice,” Anthony Warui, an
aide to the MP, told the Star.
He said the five-day trip will be
jointly facilitated by the MP and the NGCDF kitty.
Warui said the programme recognises
the hard work and sacrifice teachers make in their quest to churn out
successful learners and which often goes unnoticed.
Beatrice Wachira, the headteacher
of Technology Primary School in Murang’a town, expressed joy.
“I feel so happy. I urge teachers
to continue working hard because their commitment and self-drive will take them
far and will not go unnoticed,” she said.
Esther Macharia from Githagara Primary
School said her school has led in Kahuro subcounty for three years
consecutively.
All her classrooms have been renovated
and tiled and the school compound installed with pavement blocks.
The NGCDF is also establishing a learning
resource centre that will include a laboratory to ease teaching and learning.
Francis Waithaka, Mbari ya Hiti
Primary School headteacher, said he was transferred from Ngaru Primary School
which emerged best improved in the Central region in 2022 and was awarded by
Longhorn publishers.
In Dubai, Waithaka expressed
optimism that they will get unprecedented exposure and hoped they will get an opportunity
to visit learning institutions in the foreign country for bench-marking.
Waithaka said since they were
informed that they had been selected for the trip, the anticipation and
excitement has been sky-rocketing each day.
“I couldn’t fall asleep last night.
I just kept checking the watch waiting for the day to break,” he said.
He praised the MP for the programme
that he said has given them an opportunity that they otherwise would not have
accessed.
Catherine Kamau from Githuguya Primary
School said she has never visited the country and expressed optimism that the
group will make lasting memories.
“I plan to buy a nice chain as a
souvenir from the trip. I will also work harder to have many more trips in
future,” she said.
The programme is implemented under
the Kiharu Fanikisha programme that also sponsors youths through short courses
in local vocational training institutes.
“But because the programme cannot
be covered by NGCDF, we look for extra funds from other sources to facilitate
it,” Nyoro said.
In 2023, the MP launched Kiharu
Masomo Bora programme that has seen all 112 public primary schools tiled and
subsidised fees for day secondary school students.
The students are also provided with
free porridge and lunch six days a week including chapati every last Friday of
the month.
INSTANT ANALYSIS
Last year, 11 teachers were taken
to Dubai while one chose Malaysia as he had already visited Dubai the previous
year in a similar vacation. The programme is implemented under the Kiharu Fanikisha
programme that also sponsors youths through short courses in local vocational
training institutes
