Commentaries

Gusii Schools: A crying Shame

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Published on Sunday, 26 April 2009 18:50

As education minister prof. Sam Ongeri read the KCSE results yesterday,one thing became clear;the dominance of students either from Gusii,or with their roots in Gusii is not about to end.sample this: four of the top six students nationally are abagusii.Mark Maugo Nyauma of Alliance came first,followed closely by Nyaosi Bungei Omete of Starehe.Denver Mosigisi Ogaro of Alliance was fifth while Eric Omingo Bosire of Starehe came sixth.in 2004 Nyaosi Bungei topped in the KCPE countrywide while Dickens Omanga Omosa of Friends school Kamusinga topped in the KCSE two years later.these are only some of the the impressive results that have been achieved by gusii students in the recent past.

The irony of it all, is that,for decades,Gusii districts and schools have occupied the tail end of the national rankings.this however is with the exception of St Mary's Mosocho Primary School which in the 80s and early 90s was a permanent feature among the top twenty best performing school in the country.The school's most sterling performance was that of the class of 1988 - of which i can proudly state,i was a member.that year,Gilbert Nyasoko of our class, was the best pupil nationally,our school was second overall countrywide and three of my classmates were among the top ten best performers countrywide.that was the last time that Gusii was on the national map academically.

The most interesting part is that after nyasoko,none of these geniuses studied in Gusii.they are either sons and daughters of the abagusii in the diaspora or from Gusii but studying elsewhere.the question that begs answers then is;if kisiis in the diaspora and those studying outside Gusii can perform so marvelously,why can't our schools and students studying in them do the same?the simple answer is that,there is a serious deficiency of schools in Gusii,the few that are there are neither sufficiently staffed nor equipped in addition to being managed poorly.school heads,politicians and the communities living around most of our schools have each contributed to running them down.

What the performance of these bright students has shown is that with the right mix,Gusii can be the best nursery for the country's human resource capital.it is against all imaginable odds that a student studying in Gusii struggles to achieve good results.those of them who are lucky enough to pursue their dreams outside Gusii are almost guaranteed of success.it is no wonder therefore that on school opening days,there is usually an "exodus" of students mostly to western and rift valley provinces.unfortunately,while the government pays little attention to education in this part of the country,our political leaders continue to pretend that all is well in our schools.