Rophine Field Group of Schools was founded in 2009 and has continued to thrive to date. The brainchild of this institution is Eunice Owiti, a teacher by profession, whose midas touch has seen the school grow to three campuses with an upcoming one set to be opened in Kwale.
Speaking in a recent interview, Boniface Owiti shared how together with his wife, they made the school the premier education institution it is today.
Here is the story of the couple as told by WoK,
Becoming passionate about the school
Boniface worked as a banker and thought his duty was to provide funds for his wife who was very passionate about education to help her fulfil her dream of owning a school. Later on, he realized providing capital wasn’t enough, he had to be there and support his wife with financial and administrative matters.
He used his banking expertise to turn it into a business.
“Before, we did not have a business mindset; our aim was to create chances for learners, make a difference and transform the society,” he told Business Daily.
The banker said starting a private school was not easy. They started the school from a three bedroom bungalow in 2009 and it took a lot of strength to make people understand and appreciate their effort and believe in what they were building.
He pointed out that when it comes to running a school successfully what gives an investor the edge is the impact it leaves on the learners.
How they came up with the location
In the past 15 years, the investors has experienced rapid growth which has been brought forth by good performance. Back in 2009, they had three students but currently they are almost at 2,000 students in their campuses in Utawala, Kamulu and at their international School section with 400 staff members. They also have an upcoming campus in kwale known as Diani campus.
According to him, what determines a school’s location is demographics. He intoned how unwise it would be to start a school in a place where most residents are retirees or seniors.
Funding the school and sailing through COVID-19
To fund the school, they re-invest earnings from the business and partner with Kenyan banks with subsidiaries in the target countries.
He also said they are focused on offering quality education rather than profits. What has also sustained them even during the tumultuous COVID-19 period was his salary and partnering with understanding financial partners.
Another thing that helped them a lot was they had integrated technology in their education earlier on. Hence, when others were figuring it out during the pandemic, they were already ahead.
Their fees and any changes are determined by overheads with the major cost items when running the school business being salaries and transportation of students,
Three Lessons Learnt from the Business
During the pandemic he learnt that one should be open minded in that when challenges come you look for solutions quickly
Mentorship for the next generation is key in family-operated businesses like theirs.
Patience is also key because the return on investment is not immediate.
It is also important to understand the significance of your staff in order to retain them.
Amenities
Rophine Field offers various amenities for their learners including: a swimming pool, kindergarten computer lab, kids play park, infirmary, auditorium, boarding life centre, aviation centre, an art & design centre, a basketball court, a tennis court, state of the art football field, a music centre and a skating park.
Learners have access to various games and lessons including skating, ballet, public speaking, martial arts, and guitar and piano lessons.
