The current Malera Mixed Secondary School principal is Zablon Moseti. And the principal was a man under siege following consistent poor results that culminated in the school being ranked the worst performer in Migori county. Put into perspective, the school in Suna West constituency managed a mean score of 1.8 (E) with the highest student in the institution garnering a C-(minus). None of the 87 candidates managed to attain the minimum entry grade to university. The trend has changed after the intervention of stakeholders.
Challenges
The principal blamed the poor performance in 2019 on indiscipline among students, poor infrastructure and uncooperative parents who don’t pay fees. Zablon said that only 60 students turned for the mock exams and 11 dropped midway.
“The biggest challenge in the school has been indiscipline among students coupled with poor infrastructure and parents who don’t to pay fees,” he told a local daily.
On their part, the students said they had “lost hope of ever passing the national examinations, with most of them doing so as a formality….”
The principal had all the odds stacked against him. The school only had five teachers employed by Teacher Service Commission (TSC) and one intern against a student population of 549. Add to that, Malera had no deputy. Efforts to employ more teachers through the board of management bore no fruits as parents don’t pay fees.
Parents blamed the principal for the lacklustre performance
Agitated parents stormed the school demanding the removal of the principal blaming the poor performance on his leadership. According to the parents, Moseti joined the institution when the mean grade was 4.6, then went down to 3.8 and in 2018 it was 2.2 before hitting an all time low of 1.8 points.
Improvement after intervention of stakeholders
The school showed marked improvement in 2020 KCSE examination with a mean grade of 3.68 (D Plus). The top two students scored a C plus. The TSC employed two more teachers while the Suna West NG-CDF improved infrastructure by building more classes and bought a bus for the institution.