“ST. THERESA: GROWING NUMBER OF STUDENTS THANKS TO THE TOOLS.”

The St Theresa Youth Polytechnic School is located in an out-of-the-way place on a small piece of land in the village of Musoli, in the Kenyan province Kakamega. The school is home to hundreds of school leavers. “This has been a life saver for hundreds of young school leavers for a couple of years now”, says Caroline Khamenei (Director). “We opened our doors to boys as well as girls with little future perspectives because, for whatever reason, they dropped out of school.”

Strong increase amount of students

After a modest start, St Theresa can now take pride in having about 300 students. “We have seen a fast increase in the number of students since we received the new tools and machines from Gered Gereedschap. The quality of education has improved because, unlike in the past, every student can now use his or her own machine.”

“Last year around this time we only had a few students, simply because we didn’t have the capacity to accommodate more at the same time. We had such a small amount of tools! Things have changed now,” adds Musa Lusiola, head Carpentry He believes the tools and machines offer the students much more opportunity to increase their knowledge and to develop their skills.

“A St Theresa student now has better chances to a job at an existing company than someone from another school.” Another positive result is the fact that more than 88% of the second- year students has been accepted for apprenticeships. This was less than 30% in 2015.

Centre for early school leavers

The Kenyan Ministry of Education estimates that over 38,000 students who started their secondary education in 2011, did not take their final exams last year. Last year, half of the 16,800 students admitted to governmental secondary school never showed up.  “Early school leavers are very common in Kakamega and because of increasing cost of living most parents are not able to afford secondary education for their children anymore.”, says Caroline. “Our type of education is a last chance for thousands of children that are outside the formal education process.” St Theresa offers these children an informal practical education that allows them to earn their own income. Trainings provided are amongst others; Welding, Tailoring & Dressmaking, Carpentry and ICT.

Tools reduce education costs

The school management is convinced that the tools from Gered Gereedschap have drastically reduced education costs for students from low income families. Before, students had to buy tools and accessories like needles, thread, measuring tape and seam ripper themselves. “We now have enough of them and that’s a welcome relief for the students”, according to Benedine Muhati, head of Tailoring & Dressmaking.

Future plans

“Although we now have the most modern equipment compared to other institutes around us, our students still need to register for exams. They are still obliged to travel to accredited institutes to take their exams there.”, says Caroline. “Given that most students come from families whose income is less than 1$ per day, you’ll understand that paying for exams and additional costs is a major challenge.” The school management is working on plans to allow students to take these exams at their own school to stop them from having to travel for miles.

Despite all challenges, St Theresa is becoming a force to be reckoned with. “Not everything is possible for us. Móre than everything is possible!” jokes twenty-year-old student Isaac Robin, who promises to become the best car mechanic in the province.