The Slopes of A Brighter Future: The Story of Ririchua Primary School

Nov 06

The Slopes of A Brighter Future: The Story of Ririchua Primary School

Sitting on the hillside slopes of Kipiriri enjoying a breathtaking scenery including a view of Lake Naivasha on the background, Ririchua Primary School holds

the record as one of the oldest primary school in Turasha location built over 40 years ago. The school has a special place in the heart of the Foundation as it is the school where the Founder, John Njoroge Muchiri as well as the Foundation’s Treasurer, Steve Njogu went for their primary education. Over the years, Ririchua has seen thousands of pupils graduating from the school with some growing to become prominent people in the society.

The current enrollment in the school is 600 pupils, one of the highest admissions in the entire location (as at the time of this writing of this story) thanks to its long standing history and heritage. There are 12 teachers at the school with 4 of them being employed by the Parents Teachers Association (PTA) which also points to a huge disparity in the teacher-pupil ratio.

The Founder and the Treasurer being ‘old boys’ started working with Ririchua Primary School long before formal registration of the Foundation. They donated examination accessories for the class 8 candidates every year, school uniforms, and also introduced the ‘Njoroge Muchiri Excellence Award’, a yardstick to improve academic performance in the expansive location though the school is yet to bag the award. However, they have been awarding the best performing pupils in the internal exams as a way of motivating them and encouraging good performance).

Additionally, they also engaged in a tree planting initiative to help in reducing soil erosion that has greatly ravaged a sizeable part of the school compound given that it’s located on a hillside slope. The playground is too rugged and has adversely affected the children’s playing experience.

While the Founder and the Treasurer put in considerable efforts on their personal capacity to help improve the conditions of the school, there still remains much work to be done. The current challenges bedeviling the school include dilapidated classrooms, remuneration of the PTA teachers, lack of school uniforms, and dropping pupils’ performance. “In 2013, we had a mean score of 222. In 2014, the school dropped to 215 although we are hoping to improve our performance this year despite the teachers strike that greatly interrupted learning,” remarked Mr. Kamau, the school’s senior master.

The Foundation is looking to continue with the work that the Founder and the Treasurer started a few years back as we believe education is the biggest social investment that will provide every child with a fair shot at life.
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