Starehe girls mark 10 years of success

Students of Starehe Girls' Centre in Kiambu  [PHOTO; MOSES OMUSULA/STANDARD]

Kenya: Starehe Girls Centre marks its 10th anniversary this week, a milestone for a school that has helped hundreds of girls realise their dreams.

After many years of false starts, the closing down of Limuru Girls Centre provided an opportunity for the establishment of Starehe Girls Centre, an institution that has become a blessing for many young girls.

With only 72 girls, a few classrooms, a dormitory and 11 teachers, the centre opened its doors in January 2005, actualising the dream of its founders.

The teachers cleared the grass, planted trees and cleaned the old buildings in the spirit of teamwork, setting the stage for a major milestone in girl-child education, says Margaret Wanjohi, the institution's director.

Situated several kilometres off Kiambu Road, its ‘philosophy and ethos’ have remained the same as those of its brother institution, Starehe Boys Centre.

Ms Wanjohi says the success of the school is "a true act of God and selflessness of well-wishers". It is because of this, she says, that the school continues to feature among the best-performing national schools.

Mean score

Indeed, as Starehe Girls celebrates 10 years of existence, the statistics are impressive.

For the six years it has registered candidates for the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) exams, the school's mean score has risen steadily from 9.95 in 2008 to last year’s 10.25.

The number of candidates has also increased from 68 in 2008 to 76 girls last year.

“About 458 girls have sat Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education examinations between 2008 and 2013. Of these, 95 per cent have gained admission to local and overseas universities,” says Wanjohi.

“We have students studying economics and statistics, medicine, engineering, law and many other challenging and interesting areas,” she adds, while adjusting her glasses and carefully moving her seat.

A proud Wanjohi says three of her former students were awarded the Clinton Scholarship and are currently studying at the American University in Dubai.

“Another is studying electrical and electronic engineering at the Middle East Technical University in Turkey and another at Carthage University in the United States of America,” she said.

Others are enrolled in California, University of Toronto and also in South Africa.

 

“We enroll those who do not make it to university in the local institutions and pay full fees for them. We keep track of all the girls and know where they are and what they are doing,” she says.

But it has not been a smooth process.

“As we speak, we do not even have a staffroom. Teachers squat in a small room where they can drink tea and chat between classes. Before that, they would stand on the verandah,” she says.

“Until recently, we walked around in gumboots whenever it rained because the paths were not murram. The Ministry of Public Works came to our aid,” she adds.

The school currently has 32 teachers. Of these, 24 are on the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) payroll. Each class has 120 girls with three streams of 40.

“All the students here are sponsored by well-wishers and we thank God for that,” Wanjohi says.

However, she says, more support from Kenyans is still needed to help keep many other needy girls in school.

Life skills

The centre currently has 480 students and another 30 "institute students" undergoing training in various fields including business entrepreneurship, life skills, Microsoft training and community service.

“It costs Sh85,000 to sustain one girl in school per year. This is what we use to pay teachers, accommodate the girls and clothe them,” says the director.

She says in the last 10 years, the centre has depended heavily on fundraisers and other innovative money-making ways to sustain the students.

“We have annual walks, annual golf tournaments and dinners to raise funds that we use to run the school,” Wanjohi tells The Standard.

As the centre celebrates its 10th anniversary this Saturday, Kenyans will have an opportunity to contribute towards the welfare of the needy girls.

“We have organised a Starehe Girls fundraising gala dinner on November 15 at the Botswana High Commissioner’s residence,” she reveals.

She says the money raised will support 120 girls to be admitted in January.  Athletics Kenya president, Isaiah Kiplagat, will be the chief guest.