Kongowea Primary School is located in the Kongowea slum on the coast north of Mombasa town. Founded in 1965 by the local church, it existed as a fee-paying "Harembee" School with 1,000 students and a good academic track record for the next 35 years.
In 2003 the Kenyan Government announced a national policy of "Free Primary Education". While laudable at a national level, the transition towards this goal has not been smooth for Kongowea. The policy has more than doubled the student population, but no additional government resources as regards staff or infrastructure have been forthcoming. With some class sizes increasing to over 120, academic results have suffered, with the average "KCPE" result dropping over 40%, from 380 to less than 220. Kongowea Primary School
Edward Ndeda (Head Teacher)
School Population: 1,800
Staff: 20
2006 KCPE Result: 189
2007 KCPE Result: 215 (up 14%) |
Suas has been working with Kongowea since 2004. Our relationship was initiated around the volunteer programme but, as the relationship developed, Suas has deepened its partnership with Kongowea. With an initial focus on improving infrastructure for a burgeoning student population, Suas and Kongowea (with the assistance of our friends in ACTS) provided running water for the school compound.
Since 2006, through the support and efforts of our friends and colleagues at the Kenyan School Improvement Programme (KENSIP), Suas and Kongowea have been working off the school's Whole School Plan. The long term aim of this plan is to put Kongowea in a position to provide an excellent education to its large population.
Over the past 18 months, Suas and Kongowea (particularly through the inspirational work of the Headteacher, Mr Edward Ndeda) have increased community engagement, improved school security and improved exam results (with the January 08 results over 10% higher than the 2007 results).
Suas and Kongowea are now focussed on providing support for the most needy of the children. Potential projects currently under discussion include: - Feeding Programme for poor and orphaned children who attend Kongowea.
- Providing sanitary towels for female students.
- Health camps for staff where a doctor would visit the school and be available for consultation.
- Refurbishing and resourcing the school library.
- Building new toilet blocks for the nursery and junior students.
- Developing a special needs unit.
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