By Adede Hawi
Published June 4, 2010

Adede Hawi captured national attention in January 2010 when she was ranked second in Nairobi Province and 9th nationwide in the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education examinations of 2009. Her excellent performance handed her the key to The Kenya High School, a top performing and most prestigious girls’ school in Kenya. The Kenya high School may be located in Nairobi, but pupils in schools the Kenya’s capital city must perform exceptionally well to gain a foothold in this school with a long history. Nyodero writes on how she got to the schools and what she intends to be as an adult.

The moment I started attending school in a private institution, it had never dawned on me that I had set foot on a life long journey.  Gradually, I got to learn the basics of education when I was in lower primary.

At a very tender age, I had already heard so much about the type of education offered in private schools otherwise derisively and popularly known as academies. In the society at large, it was a common belief that in all academies, pupils are literally drilled just to get to the top-performing national schools.

The common notion is that all academies belong to the rich since they are well equipped financially. More so, it is believed that when pupils who schooled at academies make it to secondary school, disaster befalls them in their academic grades. This is because in secondary schools all students are placed on a level playing ground where nobody is given an upper hand over the other. So, pupils from academies find it really hard to acquire knowledge by their personal effort. Though this common notion is so scary to those who are currently at academies, I still believe that a mere word of mouth is not as strong as experience.

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So, as a pupil at Newlight Junior Academy in Kayole, Nairobi, I set a positive mentality in me and cultivated a self initiative to prove everybody wrong. As a pupil at that academy, I realised that contrary to the common belief, academies do not really spoon-feed pupils. Neither do these schools belong to the rich. Actually, most parents with their children in academies really deny themselves a lot. All they want is the best for their children since education is the best gift they can give to the young generation. Everything depended on an individual’s self initiative. The will to learn more gives an individual the determination to succeed.

For instance, I personally worked very hard to achieve my academic dreams. Knowing that I had chosen a top performing school–The Kenya High School”that selects only the best candidates from the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education from the breadth and width of Kenya, I ensured that I did my best because my make or break moment had reached. The teachers did their part and with the pupils” collaboration, we all made it.

I hold very many fond memories of Newlight Academy because it formed the basis of my education. However, the type of discipline given especially when one’s grades drop in any examination was not what anyone would desire. Nonetheless, without that discipline our performance would not be so pleasing. If I had not worked together with the teachers I would have reaped bitter fruits.

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Now, as a student in The Kenya High School, I still value diligence and collaboration with teachers. Pupils who attended public primary schools also joined the school and they work as hard as the rest of us from academies. Performance-wise, nothing has changed. We get as good results as we used to in primary school.

Though coping with a new environment is proving rather difficult I know that I will soon get used to it. The duties we are expected to perform are not so heavy. Basically, the school’s aim is to bring up all-round youth, not academic giants who have no basic life skills.

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Furthermore, the whole school takes good care of all the students there. Anyone would feel so proud to join such a prestigious school in which teachers pay particular attention to the students; we get a good diet, are taught social etiquette. There is no mention of bullying at the Kenya High School, an institution that mentors you for life. I have set my mind on working as a pediatrician after school.