What is Project #ShuleYetu?

Project #ShuleYetu is an initiative of the alumni of St George’s Primary School aimed at transforming St George’s Primary School from its current state of decrepitude into an institution that is famed for its great facilities and delivery of high quality primary education to the catchment community.

The School

St George’s is a public primary school located on Dennis Pritt Road, Nairobi. The school was founded in 1952, and at its height was the home of over 1,300 students.

Why Project #ShuleYetu?

In the past, few public primary schools in Kenya, would boast of the facilities, grounds and reputation that St. George’s Primary School had. A well-structured curricular, not only emphasized a strong reading culture and diverse sporting activities but also equipped students with skills in the Arts, Music, Drama, Debating, Public Speaking, French, Science and Agriculture clubs. Many of the students proceeded to top National, Provincial and Private schools in Kenya.

With the advent of free primary education in 2003, public schools like St. George’s that were famed for their quality of education experienced a huge influx of students. However, there lacked a commensurate increase in resources to the school from the County and the Ministry of Education.

This led to a rapid and dramatic decline in the quality of education. Though still possessing the infrastructural potential to excel, the school was unable to adequately provide basic facilities and educational support for its students, prompting the exit of those more affluent. Student numbers dropped to nearly 500 before rising again to the current level of almost 900.

Rehabilitation vs Transformation

Rehabilitation of schools around the country is not a novel idea. Indeed quite a number of counties are engaged in either doing minor improvements around schools or complete reconstruction. The St. George’s’ Alumni was privileged| to participate in the Nairobi County taskforce that produced the ‘Taskforce Report for the Education Sector of the Nairobi City County for the Improvement of Public Primary Schools, released in July 2014.

The St. George’s Alumni believe that ultimately the solution needs to be ‘Transformative’ rather than rehabilitative. We thus are looking to totally transform St. George’s, its learning environment and ethos into the future.

We strongly believe that the alumni of each public school have the strongest links, while possessing the financial networks, knowledge and political goodwill to push transformative projects and, as such, should be at the heart of such changes. We also believe that to be successful, such changes need to have buy in from the Administration, Staff, Student, Parent, County and Ministry of Education.

The Face of Success

Success will be identified by achievement of the following:
• An optimal learning environment
• Holistic education
• Sustainability through resource optimisation
• Community ownership and utilisation

The Project Plan

Central to achievement of this target are 4 pillars we call the 4-S strategy:
1. Structures and Facilities
2. Staffing
3. Students
4. Sustainability planning

Project objectives
1. To provide infrastructural support by way of renovations, buildings and equipment in order to have appropriately equipped learning spaces.
2. To engage in talent discovery and development so that each child is given a platform to identify strengths and interests and explore their full potential.
3. To augment ongoing learning experiences by embracing innovative teaching and learning methods, including e-platforms and supporting teacher development.
4. To ensure long-term sustainability of the school’s high quality activities and services through advocacy by relevant stakeholders and engaging in income generating activities.
5. To demonstrate a model approach to enhanced, sustainable primary education for public schools in Kenya.

1. Structures and Facilities
The Alumni Association will develop modern, state-of the art classrooms, play areas, library and other school facilities (school hall, swimming pool, school field, school administration block and staff welfare facilities) to provide a conducive and optimal learning environment.

2. Staffing
The Alumni Association intends to support the recruitment of an adequate number of trained teaching staff and support staff required to run and maintain all the school services.

3. Students
The Alumni Association intends to collaborate with the teachers and the Ministry of Education to augment the existing curriculum with talent identification and development programs through clubs, mentorship programmes, scholarships and financial aid programmes as well as an Achievement Awards System.

4. Sustainability
In order to ensure long term sustainability of our vision, the Alumni Association intends to embed comprehensive governance mechanisms in the implementation of the #ShuleYetu Project.