By Prudence Minayo
Located in West Pokot county, Chewoyet High School is a national boys only boarding school. The institution has been posting decent results in national exams over the years. In the 2020 KCSE national exams, the mean score of the institution was 7.0868. The institution made headlines when the 2021 KCSE results were released. Out of the 415 candidates who sat for that exam, 62 scored Ds while three candidates had their results canceled for cheating.
The scores were as follows: 1- A, 24 A-, 38B+, 47 B (Plain), 58 B-, 64 C, 60 C-, 35D+, 25D plain, and 2 D-.
School Principal
The current Principal of Chewoyet High School is Kiminisi Barasa. He has maintained that the institution performed well in the county.
“Our performance is not all that bad because the results for other candidates are fairly good,” he was quoted by the Daily Nation.
Also Read: Great Brains In Kenya That Passed Through Kagumo High School
Parents
The daily quoted locals who were displeased with the performance of the school.
“This is a shame for such a big school. This has ruined the students’ future. We will not tolerate such acts in the school.”
History
The school, located 4km from Kapenguria town, has a rich history. The school sits on 400 acres of land and was among the two premier government schools in Rift Valley. The other one was Kapsabet Boys.
Previously, it was known as Rift Valley Junior Secondary School and in the 1940s was an agricultural college.
In the late 50s, several students chosen from across the country would gather at what is today the Kitale postal office. There, a lorry awaited to take them through the 40km arduous journey to the school.
Setting aside all this, the school is famously known as the court where Mzee Jomo Kenyatta and the other Kapenguria six were put to trial on 8th April 1953. What was then used as the courtroom building has been revamped into a staff room and an administration block.
Notable Alumni
Since its advent, the school has produced some of the big names in the country including:
- Former vice president, the late Kijana Wamalwa
- The first school captain, and Cabinet Secretary for the Ministry of Defense, Eugene Wamalwa
- Former chief of general staff Daudi Tonje
- Former Nairobi town clerk John Gakuo
- Former Education Permanent Secretary Dr. Bellio Kipsang.
Four school fires
The school has a rather dubious history with fires. In a span of three years, the school experienced four dorm fires. The last reported case was in 2019 and the school seems to have sorted the issue.
“This is the fourth time within three years the dormitory is being razed. We won’t leave until we get a solution. We are tired of paying extra money to cater for the damages caused by fires,” a parent was quoted by the Star.
