Hard work, purpose, focus, resilience, and consistency are some of the secrets to being a leading school in the country.
Kapsabet High School, one of the top-performing schools in the country, is celebrating 100 years of existence and is now known for outstanding academic excellence.
The Chief Principal, Kipchumba Maiyo, is the current head, powering the school to achieve some of the best national results since he joined the school in 2010.
The number of Form 4 students scoring a mean grade of A plain in their Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education have gradually increased yearly up to now, where they produce top students in the country with several students scoring straight As.
In the recently released 2024 KCSE results, Kapsabet Boys scored a mean grade of B+ (plus) with a mean of 10.1457, remaining one of the top schools with the highest number of straight As in recent times nationally.
“Students work hard and achieve high marks, with their progress closely monitored by teachers—a collective responsibility that is evident when results are released annually,” said Chief Principal Maiyo.
He also acknowledged the fact that he works with former students of the school, mainly as teachers and members of the board committee.
“All these alumni will surely do their best to ensure the students score high in the end,” he said.
Prof. Simon Mining, an alumnus of the school and also the board chair since 2019, opened up on some of the secrets that propel the school to national success.
In line with the school’s vision “to be the top school in Kenya” Mining revealed that being a national school, they admit high performers in Kenya Certificate Primary Education and that they urge them to maintain outstanding grades.
He says the school focuses mainly on internal contests, and this helps the teachers to know their students personally and dwell on challenges that affect them.
In addition, Mining noted the school has a “Maths Hour” every day and that the reason behind this is they believe that Mathematics is the centre to success because when you are good at it, you will be good in all the other subjects.
“We set a target every year, and the target is to perform better than the previous scores,” he said.
The Board Chair said that they have directed the parents to pay school fees on time to the school so that the school management can plan well.
“Without students, there’s no school, and school fees that are paid help in running the school,” he added.
According to him, less privileged students are provided with necessary assistance by the school management and well-wishers to ensure they are not disturbed in their academic journey.
Kapsabet Boys High School has produced prominent people in the society, including notable former President Daniel Arap Moi and the current President, Dr. William Ruto, high-ranking leaders, including many successful engineers, pilots, medical doctors, and many others in various fields.
The school management has vowed to mobilise old boys’ groups and collect resources as they mark a century since the school opened its doors, which will be used for helping bright and needy students admitted to school and also giving back to the society by rolling out poverty alleviation initiatives.
By Geoffrey Satia and Derrence Ogada
