Waitua Primary School
Waitua Primary School is located near Kaha-ini Shopping Centre in Kandara Sub-County, Murangá County of Kenya. The school started in 1972 as an Early Childhood Centre and was later expanded to a public primary school in 1985. Currently, the school has an enrollment of 550 pupils predominantly from the neighboring villages.
Children's Needs
The Daily Lunch Program
The daily lunch program has been benefiting 690 pupils from needy families. Each school day, the needy school children are provided with porridge and an egg at 10 am. During lunch, the children are given a plate of rice with beans or ndengu (green grams) and a fruit. Traditionally, children in rural primary schools carry lunch to school. In Waitua, not all children can afford lunch because their parents are too poor to afford more than one meal a day for their children. When we first visited Waitua in 2018, the school principal told us that some children would go hungry the whole day because they did not carry lunch. The feeding program at Waitua Primary School began on 16th September 2019.
Scholarship Program
When we committed in August 2022 to support the scholarship program in Kenya, the principal in Waitua broke the news to the school. The most needy students who perform well will receive scholarships. This news forced the students to work hard. In Waitua, 20 students out of a class of 50 students expressed interest in the ECC scholarship. The cost of admitting a student for one term ranged from $ 400-450. This amount was not affordable to most parents. KMAP volunteer Director Peter and the school management went door to door at students' homes to do background checks on students and ascertain their level of need. From the list of 20 students, 11 neediest students were selected; these students had yet to receive other scholarships.
That year, Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) results showed Waitua as the leading school in the zone. The school recorded its best performance in 20 years. The scholarship and feeding program, which began in 2019, led to record academic performance in the school. Since we began partnering with the Waitua school in 2018, the school has been improving in all aspects, from academic performance to declining absenteeism and reduced illnesses and malnutrition.
Local Community Needs
Construction of Rain Water Harvesting Tanks
During the COVID-19 pandemic 2020, the Kenyan government required all schools to have running water for hand washing and cleaning to slow the spread of coronavirus. St Anne School needed to have adequate water supply. The school requested that ECC provide plastic tanks so that they could harvest water from the rooftops of buildings in the school and increase their water storage capacity. Every Child Counts provided five plastic tanks to St.Anne's. This support came in handy. The school was able to cope with the challenges of the pandemic. Every Child Counts then laid a pipe to bring water to Waitua Primary School.
Every Child Counts Community Impact
“I want to thank ECC on behalf of the children benefiting from the scholarship program. The scholarship program has ensured that our children work hard because they see light at the end of the tunnel. In turn, their hard work has improved the performance of the school. The other thing is about the feeding program. The enrollment rate has continued to rise partly due to the feeding program. The retention rate is also high. Because most of the children are from humble backgrounds, they were dropping out of school because of a lack of basic needs like food. They now come to school because they are assured of a cup of breakfast, a snack, and lunch every day. The feeding program has ensured that these children are doing well in school, just like the other children, which has continued to improve the school's performance.”
- Principal Modesto Mungai
“The ECC feeding program started in 2019 and currently caters to 180 learners. These learners have a cup of porridge and a snack during break time. Then, they get a well-balanced diet of rice, beans, vegetables, and fruit during lunchtime. Initially, we were experiencing many problems because these learners, most of them, are, let me say, all of them from very needy families. Families where even getting a plate of food is a challenge to the parents. We had been experiencing the problem of absenteeism. Since the program started, these learners are always in school because they want to get the food, and their performance has also greatly improved. We thank ECC for helping us sustain these children in school. God bless you, and you continue supporting us.”
- Teacher Njoki Macharia
All the programs at Waitua have made a significant impact on the students. Waitua has significantly improved academic performance since 2019, as shown in the table below.
The school was the best in the zone in 2022 after beating thirty schools. According to the school records, the rate of absenteeism and cases of malnutrition among children have been reduced in the school, as shown in the table below. Teachers now feel more motivated to work in the school. The feeding program has made Waitua attractive to students already enrolled in other schools. Since 2020, many needy parents have transferred their children from other schools to Waitua so that their kids may benefit from the feeding program.
This is the annual average of absenteeism in percentage. This was calculated by tallying the number of absent children in a school year and dividing by the total no. of students multiply by 100.
A tapestry of efforts, from fundraising campaigns to advocacy initiatives, unfolded as Every Child Counts - USA and local Kenyan champions worked hand in hand to address the multifaceted challenges faced by underprivileged school children. The numbers speak for themselves!
Recognitions and Awards
Position of the school in the Zone/ Sub-county based on National Examination (Kenya Certificate of Primary Education) results in the last few years.
Mean standard score (MSS) for all students in KCPE since 2019 (Max is 500)
Population of the school since 2017
Percent Absenteeism rate This was calculated by tallying the number of absent children in a school year and dividing by the total number of students multiply by 100.
Percentage of hygiene and nutrition related illnesses This was calculated by tallying the number of hygiene and nutrition related illnesses in a school year and dividing by the total no. of students multiply by 100.
