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Cardinal Otunga School Rouses From Its Slumber

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Published on Monday, 02 July 2007 03:55

For many years it was the school of choice for bright learners from all over Kenya. A list of its former students reads like a who-is-who in Kenya - doctors, lawyers, teachers, journalists and other professionals have passed through its gates. This year, however, like many others recently, Cardinal Otunga High School was missing from the roll of honour when Education minister George Saitoti announced the results of 2006's Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education examination. This was in sharp contrast with the seventies, eighties and nineties when the Catholic Church-sponsored school was ranked among the top 10 performers nationally almost every year.

The school, located in Mosocho, Kisii District, is in dire straits. It is overcrowded with students, which has overstretched its facilities. The manicured lawns are still there, but leaking roofs, cement floors full of holes and cracked walls are what welcome you to this old school, whose motto is Use Common Sense. Classrooms, kitchen, latrines, dormitories, library, dining hall, workshops, laboratories and the staff room - were meant for 640 students. The school is now packed with 1,040 students - although it has been expanded. A dormitory was early this year abandoned after it developed cracks on the walls and students were moved to other congested dormitories.

Bursting at the seams

The staffroom was meant for 20 teachers. It too is now overcrowded with 46 teachers using the same facility. Thirteen trainee teachers will be sent to the school next term from universities for teaching practice.  And a sixth stream might be added next year, according to district education officer Charles Mwanyoha Ndegwa. "We need a lot of money for renovations, repairs and expanding the facilities," principal Zachary Nyariki told the Nation in an interview. Renovations are going on in the library through an initiative by the parents, added Mr Nyariki. The main play field - supposedly the best in Nyanza Province - is in a shabby condition, with the running track resembling a cattle track. However, other pitches are well manicured and the school has hosted several championships in the past.

The institution excels in games and its students were once the provincial hockey kings. It also dominated basketball tournaments in the district. The school's annual open sports tournament attracts a host of schools from the province. Established by missionaries in 1961, the school was a top performer in the region and the country, but due to leadership wrangles, its performance gradually dropped.

The school had been forgotten as an academic and sports giant nationally, says Mr Nyariki. "Some people had completely written us off, but now there is a rush for vacancies and the school is on an upward trend," he said. A notice on the school's noticeboard says: "There are no vacancies in forms one, two, three and four." After long and deep slumber, Cardinal Otunga resurfaced last year in the list of best schools in position 98 nationally among provincial schools, position 15 in Nyanza Province and position two in Kisii District with a mean score of 7.8082 up from 7.6558.

Last year's was the third best performance the school has posted since the introduction of the 8-4-4 education system. Mr Nyariki said: "We achieved the results despite having problems at the school. Students went on strike and burnt a dormitory. It was a very bad year for us," he added. As a result of the strike, four teachers were interdicted on recommendation by the board of governors and 30 students believed to have taken part in the strike were expelled. However, three were re-admitted after their parents went to court and had the expulsion reversed.  In 2005, the school received Sh400,000 for renovations of a computer laboratory from the Kitutu Chache constituency development kitty. Since then the school has not received any funds from the committee and local MP Jimmy Angwenyi has not visited the school.

Teacher Ogando Chacha says that this year the school is targeting to return to "where we belong". "We are aiming at a mean score of 8.5 and this will be achieved through our hard work as a team," he said. The school's decline in academic performance has been blamed on alleged interference by the sponsor, leading to the high turnover of headteachers since 2003. Mr Paul Kokelo stayed in the school for only six months before he was transferred to Migori Teachers Training College. Mr J.A. Omae headed the institution in an acting capacity for two months before he was transferred to head St Paul's Gekano.

Mr Robert Njogu took over from Mr Omae and headed the school for slightly more than a year before be was moved to Kagumo High School as principal. Mr Nyariki took over from him in 2005. The high turnover was blamed on the Catholic Diocese of Kisii but its education secretary, Mr Christopher Osinde, denies the accusation. "We don't appoint headteachers to schools. It is done in consultation with the Teachers Service Commission and the Ministry of Education." Mr Nyariki echoed Mr Osinde's sentiments that the church does not interfere with the day-to-day running of the school.



Interference by church

"The idea that the church interferes in the running of schools is a misconception. I was posted here due to my record and not because I was a Catholic," he added. And although the school's alumni are some of the big names in almost every profession in Kenya, their contribution to the school is minimal, says Mr Nyariki.

Among them are Kenya Airways managing director Titus Naikuni, Kenya Commercial Bank deputy chief Martin Oduor Otieno, Ugenya MP Archbishop Stephen Ondiek, former Cabinet ministers Julius Sunkuli and Dalmas Otieno, MPs Joseph Kiangoi, Peter Maundu and Kipkalya Kones, former permanent secretary Zachary Ogongo, Bishop Joseph Okemwa Mairura, Kenya's high commissioner to Botswana Charles Mbaka and Nation sports editor Elias Makori. Others include former chief roads engineer Barnabas Ariga, publisher Barrack Muluka, Prof Morris Mbenda of the University of Nairobi and Kisii district hospital surgeon Nicholas Tinega.

But all is not lost. A group of former students will tomorrow launch the Willis Ataya memorial award, to be given to the best student in KCSE each year. The award is in memory of Dr Ataya, who was a senior gynaecologist at Kenyatta National Hospital and a former student of the school.  Scholars and former teachers have been invited to give speeches.
The group will host the students for lunch before holding a workshop with them.The group will also come up with a work plan on how to assist the institution.  Another group of former students has revived the Cardinal Otunga Old Boys Association under the chairmanship of Clement Nyandiere of Strathmore University.

Their objectives include; developing leadership skills among teachers and students, reviving academic competitiveness and sporting spirit, participation in extra-curricular activities that include involving parents in the activities of the school through seminars, improving the motivation levels of teachers and students and collaborating with interested institutions for purposes of scholarships, exchange programmes, donations and internships.