Giving his all

Turning lives around in a school with a student-teacher ratio of 58:1, is no easy task, not least when to reach the school, students must walk 7km along roads that become impassable in the rainy season. Peter Tabichi’s students learn in poorly equipped classrooms. Drought and famine are frequent. Ninety-five percent of pupils hail from poor families, almost a third are orphans or have only one parent, and many go without food at home. Drug abuse, teenage pregnancies, dropping out early from school, young marriages, and suicide are common. But he was undeterred. His dedication, hard work, and passionate belief in his students’ talent, led Keriko Mixed Day Secondary School in rural Kenya, to emerge victorious after taking on the country’s best schools in national science competitions. His students have also won an award from The Royal Society of Chemistry after harnessing local plant life to generate electricity. By making his students believe in themselves, their achievement and self-esteem increases. Enrolment has doubled to 400 over three years, and cases of indiscipline have fallen from 30 per week, to just three. What makes him exceptional:

> Gives away 80% of his monthly income to the poor.

> Visits students’ homes and meets their families to identify challenges they face.

> Started a talent nurturing club and expanded the school’s Science Club, helping pupils design research projects of such quality that 60% now qualify for national competitions.

> Mentored his pupils through the Kenya Science and Engineering Fair 2018 where they showcased an invention that allows blind and deaf people to measure objects. The school came in first in the public schools category. The Mathematical Science team also qualified for the upcoming Intel International Science and Engineering Fair 2019 in Arizona, the United States.

> Gives low-achieving pupils one-to-one tuition outside class, and on the weekends.

> Uses ICT in 80% of his lessons to engage students despite teaching in a school with only one desktop computer with an intermittent connection.