What are the KCPE and KCSE?

When reading posts on the blog or letters from your sponsored children, you may have seen references to the KCPE or KCSE exams and wondered what those are all about. In Kenya, students are required to take cumulative examinations in order to receive certificates of completion for both primary and secondary school at the end of Standard 8 and high school, respectively. Obtaining these certifications is critical to the future success of our GPS and WHS students. Achieving a certain Kenyan Certificate of Primary Education (“KCPE”) exam score is required for Standard 8 students to gain admission to secondary school while scores on the Kenyan Certificate of Secondary Education (“KCSE”) exam determine university and trade school admissions, as well as job eligibility, for Form 4 students. For those Form 4 students unable to continue on to university, obtaining the KCSE can mean the difference between a decent job or admission to trade school and struggling to make ends meet in the slums.

KCPE Exam

The KCPE Exam tests students in the following subjects - Maths, English, Kiswahili, Social Studies, Science, and Religious Studies. The test is typically taken in November and results are made available in January. Due to the timing of the exam, the beginning of high school Form 1 classes is generally delayed until late January.

The maximum score on the exam is 500 points. For reference, in 2015 the Kenyan government reported that 49.61% of Kenyan students nationally achieved the mean score of 250 marks. The highest score achieved by any student in Kenya on the 2015 exam was 446 marks.

Waddington High School generally requires a minimum KCPE score of 240 marks for admission.

KCSE Exam

The KCSE Exam is administered to Form 4 students and tests a minimum of seven subjects. Students are required to test in three compulsory subjects (Maths, Kiswahili, and English), at least two sciences (choosing among Chemistry, Biology, and Physics), one humanities (choosing among History and Government, Geography, Christian Religious Education, Islamic Religious Education, and Hindu Religious Education), and at least one Practical (Home Science, Art and Design, Agriculture, Computer Studies, or Aviation) or Technical (French, German, Arabic, Music, or Business Studies) subject. The choices available to students are generally limited by the curriculum available at their high school. For example, due to lack of funds the only Practical or Technical subject taught at WHS is Business Studies.

Testing for the KCSE Exam typically begins in late October and ends in late November. KCSE Exam results are not released until the end of February. High school graduates planning to continue their education apply to University and other programs after receiving their KCSE scores, and begin their post-secondary programs the following January.

Kenya has a network of public and private universities that offer a broad range of career programs. In general, students who achieve a score of C+ or above on the KCSE Exam are eligible to attend public or private universities. Students who achieve a score of C or above may enroll in vocational programs or technical schools to obtain training for careers such as nursing, teaching, and accountancy.

Students scoring a B or higher on the KCSE Exam are eligible to receive government loan assistance at public universities. For students at WHS, scoring high enough on the KCSE to qualify for the government loan program is typically the only way that they can afford to attend university.

Child of the Week

Child of the Week

Kevin Achwal

This week’s spotlighted child is Kevin Achwal.  Kevin is seventeen years old.  He resides at Holly House and attends Waddington High School:

I am Kevin Achwal from Lorna Waddington High School.  I was born on the 11th of October, 1999 from Kakomega County.  I am the second child in the family of five children.  I stay with my parents but they are drunkards and HIV positive. 

This situation made it difficult for me to stay at home because my parents could not care for us.  I suffered through my primary education as there was no one to pay for my school year.  I persevered with the hardship until I finished my Kenya Certificate of Primary Education in the year 2014.

I managed to pass and scored 362 points.  This made me have hope in my life as I knew that I would get acceptance but this did not bother my parents.  I was confused, not knowing what to do and even whether I will join secondary school or not.  When it was about two months later I got a good Samaritan who did my school shopping and took me to school, where I am now.

I am now in Lorna Waddington High School struggling with the life.  Although secondary school is hard, I try my best to make my future bright and lighten my family members from that hardship.  I am now working to achieve my goals and dreams that I had set. 

                                                                        Yours Faithfully,

                                                                        Kevin Achwal

You can sponsor Kevin for only $30 a month.  Your sponsorship will cover school fees and help pay for room and board.  The sponsorship fees for Holly House children do not cover the entire cost of their living expenses, but help supplement the monthly needs for caring for the children in the orphanage.  The remaining portion of their living expenses are covered through separate donations.  As a sponsor, you will receive a photo and personal information about your sponsored child.  Your sponsored child will send you letters and you will receive information regarding how to correspond with your sponsored child, should you choose to do so. 

To sponsor Kevin or for more information, please visit His Hands for Kenya or contact us here.  Please sponsor a Kenyan child today!

A Peek Inside the Nairobi Slums

Famous, Rich, and In the Slums, Pt 1

This 2011 documentary follows four British celebrities as they immerse themselves in Kibera, Nairobi's largest slum. The kids at Galilee Primary and Waddington High School live in Nairobi's Kayole-Soweto slum under conditions very similar to those documented in the video.  As the kids at Galilee and WHS are well aware, securing a quality education is likely their only ticket out of the slums.  Please contact us or visit our website for more information on how you can help a child in Nairobi's slums escape abject poverty through the gift of education.

Throw Back Thursday - The First Uniform Day

Most of the time our focus here on the Blog is devoted to getting more kids sponsored and showing what the kids of Galilee Primary and Waddington High Schools are up to. But, sometimes it is fun to look back and celebrate the history of the schools and how far we have come. So, today for “Throw Back Thursday” we are taking everyone back to 2003 and the “First Uniform Day” at Galilee Primary School. The following letter was written in June, 2003 by Fanuel Okwaro (the school director and founder) to Lorna Waddington (who helped Fanuel set up a sponsorship program to help educate the kids at Galilee Primary School).

Dear Lorna,

Thank you very much for your emails telling us of the Galilee friends. You have not only put a smile on my, our staff, and children's faces, but you have all touched their hearts and the hearts of the community around our school in a great way.

One day children come to school in their usual torn clothes, barefoot and frowning for having not gotten breakfast. The People in the community look at them (just like one commented) and say there is no hope of them ever coming out of this!

The day is a chilly morning, Nairobi is experiencing its most cold seasons of the year. The temperature is at 14 C. The children are shivering, a sign that the cold is reaching all over their body organs and the body warming systems are overwhelmed. The day is a Monday.

Do the children know what the day has for them? No, their only hope is the break time porridge which also serves as their breakfast, the rice and beans which follow at lunch time. For some the day will be over, they will only have another meal when they come to school the next day. What a fate?

At break time when the director calls out names to come to the office they still don't know what they are being called for. One by one they are handed their uniforms shoes and book bag packages. They all run out. They still don't believe it. Is the director serious? Is it really true? Some have never had a uniform from pre-school to class seven, where they are today. Some have never put their foot in something called shoes. The nearest they reached shoes is when they got slippers (sandals).

Everybody has abandoned the porridge (breakfast) queue. Songs are heard all over. Some are crying tears of joy. The director who is least expected to cry, tears are rolling from his cheeks he cannot control them. He forgot to bring the cameraman, so all these cannot be captured on the photos.

Frowning faces of the morning are all gone with the dew. The faces are lighted. The community around wonders what has become of Galilee pupils. The noises are heard for over 15 minutes. They cannot hold back. One by one they start coming out of their houses. They still don't understand why the children are so joyous. They move closer. Before they peep in the office five girls come out and they look at them the first. They think in their minds, “they must be children from one of the well off schools in the city, but which well off school? Which well off school has come to Galilee? The uniforms are similar to Galilee's? What is happening is one child comes out of the office running in his new uniform towards his guardian. At first the guardian does not recognize him, until he reaches near her. She looks at him. She is overwhelmed by joy. She kneels down and looks up in the sky. She is thanking God. She never expected the day to be that good so did everybody (children and staff). The director knew these are only uniforms, but they are going to make the children look beautiful and for the first time they are going to look like school children. Little did he know the joy that will come with it.

The people from the community go home happy and full of hope and the sad day becomes the happiest day in the history of Galilee. Everybody is happy for the rest of the day and looks forward to one day meeting these great friends.

I'm still regretting why I didn't bring the cameraman beforehand. Otherwise it was my happiest day in my work. Whenever I look at the children, I feel satisfied at least the new day has come. The light in the tunnel is getting brighter and brighter. May God bless all of you who took part in this act that made all of us happy and may he bring more friends through you with the same heart. This was a great experience.

Thank you

God BLESS

FANUEL.

Child of the Week

Child of the Week

Ruth Mutheu

This week’s spotlighted child is Ruth Mutheu.  Ruth is sixteen years old.  She resides at Holly House and attends Waddington High School:

I am Ruth Mutheu from Lorna Waddington High School.  I was born on the 31^st of March, 2000 from Kibwezi constituency, Makueni County.  I am the second born in my family.  I found myself in difficulties when my father turned and began to be a drunkard.  He could not play his roles as a father.  By that time I was just but in class four.  He was my father, but a father by name only.

My mother was just but a housewife.  She could struggle in any way in order to provide us with essential needs and also school fees.  Sometimes we could go on without a meal and even live for two days.  My life was no seriously in a mess.  I was no more to have a ticket to live.  But in my studies, I put more efforts in order to succeed.  Since hard work never goes unrewarded I managed to get 356 marks on my KCPE results.  I had achieved my goal but there was no where to go.  My father did not take any action on how I could proceed in my secondary school.

I knew that my school life had come to an end since my mother became too ill and weak due to the hard tasks she performed.  She was the breadwinner but now we had to find a solution on how to live.  My elder sister was no where to be seen since she dropped out of school in her early years due to my father’s drinking habit.  There was no other way other than coming up with a plan on how to take care of my young siblings.

But since God never leaves his people alone, a good Samaritan came on our way home and took me to school: Lorna Waddington High School.  I passed through many challenges in my life but I put more efforts in my studies in order to brighten my future and help my parents come out of the situation they are in.  I am looking forward to achieving my dream in my life.

                                                                        Yours Faithfully,

                                                                        Ruth Mutheu

You can sponsor Ruth for only $30 a month.  Your sponsorship will cover school fees and help pay for room and board.  The sponsorship fees for Holly House children do not cover the entire cost of their living expenses, but help supplement the monthly needs for caring for the children in the orphanage.  The remaining portion of their living expenses are covered through separate donations.  As a sponsor, you will receive a photo and personal information about your sponsored child.  Your sponsored child will send you letters, and you will receive information regarding how to correspond with your sponsored child, should you choose to do so. 

To sponsor Ruth or for more information, please visit His Hands for Kenya or contact us here.  Please sponsor a Kenyan child today!

What's Cooking?

        

Today we are sharing a traditional Kenyan dish for you to try at home. Make note, a sufuria is a pot or pan, dania is cilantro and Royco is a brand name for various prepackaged seasoning mixes. Enjoy your meal!

BOILED RICE AND BEAN STEW

The rice is prepared by measuring the amount of rice you want to cook. Then measure the amount of water to be double the quantity of rice and pour the water in a sufuria and put it on fire. Add adequate cooking oil to the water then let it boil. Add salt to taste. Pour the rice into the sufuria containing boiling water and reduce the amount of heat. Let it simmer for 15 to 20 min when the rice will have cooked well and the water has dried. Add some crushed dania and pepper at the top of the sufuria and cover it leaving it to cool.

HOW TO PREPARE BEAN STEW

Cut two balls of onions on a plate. Cut four ripe tomatoes, dania and pepper on another plate. Put a sufuria on fire and add in enough cooking oil to heat. Add in the tomatoes and let them fry till golden brown in colour. Add in the cut tomatoes, dania and pepper to cook to form a thick syrup like mixture. Pour in the boiled beans and mix the mixture well. Add in salt to taste. Add in Royco as a flavour. Pour in a cup of water according to the amount of beans being fried and let the mixture simmer for 5 min to cook well. Serve the warm stewed beans and boiled rice on a plate.

Child of the Week

Child of the Week

Jackson Kaloki Musyoki

This week’s spotlighted child is Jackson Kaloki Musyoki.  Jackson is sixteen years old.  He resides at Holly House and attends Waddington High School:

I am Jackson Kaloki Musyoki.  I was born in Makueni County in Kiburai district in Masiergaseni location.  I was born among four family members.  I am the first in the family.

My parents are jobless.  We live in abject poverty where my father is a drunkard and my mother does menial jobs to support the family.  Born in such a family, I was brought up in a nearby school in the village. 

I did my KCPE exam in 2014 where I passed well with flying colors.  I like reading storybooks and my favorite subjects are maths and Kiswahili.  I want to be a doctor when I grow up. 

In the village I live with my grandmother and the other siblings and my parents.  I assist my parents in doing some chores like fetching water and cooking. 

Now I am in Lorna Waddington High School where I am in Form two.  I am in need of assistance in paying school fees, school uniform, and my general upkeep.

I am working hard in my academics to achieve a good grade.  During our last exam I was in position eight and I had a mean grade of B+.  I like going to church and I pray to God that I work harder to pursue an A in my KCSE exam and be a doctor in the future time.  Best wishes to you.

                                                                        Yours Faithfully,

                                                                        Jackson Kaloki Musyoki

You can sponsor Jackson for only $30 a month.  Your sponsorship will cover school fees and help pay for room and board.  The sponsorship fees for Holly House children do not cover the entire cost of their living expenses, but help supplement the monthly needs for caring for the children in the orphanage.  The remaining portion of their living expenses are covered through separate donations.  As a sponsor, you will receive a photo and personal information about your sponsored child.  Your sponsored child will send you letters, and you will receive information regarding how to correspond with your sponsored child, should you choose to do so. 

To sponsor Jackson or for more information, please visit His Hands for Kenya or contact us here.  Please sponsor a Kenyan child today!