The scandal of extra fees

For some years now, schools in Kenya were mandated to charge either 53,554 Kenyan Shillings (around £315) for higher level national or county schools, or 40,535 Ksh (almost £240) for other schools.  This made life easy for us and the children’s sponsors as we knew at...

2025 Exam results

At the end of four years at secondary school, children sit for their final exams in a minimum of seven (and a maximum of nine) subjects.  These include two mandatory subjects (Mathematics and a language) and the students are given one overall grade. A C+ grade is the...

Have you ever been connected to your destiny helper?

After scoring three hundred and eighty-six marks in my Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education, I earned admission to one of the most prestigious national schools—S.A. Kolanya Girls High School. Overwhelmed with excitement, I felt my dream of becoming a medical...

The Ministry of Falling Numbers

One by one, like toy soldiers, we were guided out of the chemistry laboratory. The scent of ammonia stabbed our nostrils to our brains. Our hands were still tingling with the ghosts of the experiments done when the assembly bell tore through the nightmare the...

A tale of two schools

Our recent experience with two secondary schools in Kenya shows the different attitudes and approaches to education.  It was illuminating – one heartening, one rather dispiriting. Heartening Our latest trip to visit schools in Kenya took us to Elgeyo-Marakwet county...

My name is Levy Mukolwe

My name is Levy Mukolwe, a dreamer, a digital craftsman in the making, and a proud son of Emunali village in Butere Sub-county, a place where the soil was humble but the dreams ran deep. Born into a family of five, life wasn’t always kind. My parents had no formal...