Plenty of fun on the farm for pupils during holiday

TOP LEFT: Pupils of Kiamaina Primary School in Nakuru North District prepare animal feeds. PHOTO | SULEIMAN MBATIAH | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • The public school with 2,061 pupils boasts of a model farm with crops, dairy cow, dozens of rabbits, a fish pond, a seedlings nursery and an arboretum that resembles a mini-forest.
  • Parents support the agriculture programme as some of the children have been able to start similar ventures at home.
  • Nakuru North sub-county education officer Gabriel Kinoru applauds the farming initiatives, noting that they are in line with the Ministry of Education policy, which encourages schools to utilise their resources to cut costs.

Their pink shirts, grey tunic dresses and shorts and blue sweaters make them look misplaced on the streets of Nakuru Town this December.

One may think that the pupils of Kiamaina Primary School are attending holiday tuition at the institution that overlooks the scenic Menengai Crater, some 10km north of Nakuru Town.

As their counterparts in other parts of the country watch TV and play as the December holiday whiles away, Kiamaina pupils have been going to school to farm.

The school’s 10-acre piece of land is a busy place for the pupils, who take turns to tend to crops and animals.

The public school with 2,061 pupils boasts of a model farm with crops, dairy cow, dozens of rabbits, a fish pond, a seedlings nursery and an arboretum that resembles a mini-forest.

The pupils grow maize, beans, vegetables, carrots, pumpkins, tomatoes, Irish and sweet potatoes and cabbages.

Other crops include sukuma wiki (collard green), spinach and beetroots that the school consumes.

“The pupils work in shifts that they plan themselves. Since the school closed, we have been with them here getting hands-on farming lessons. We only involve Class Four to Six pupils,” says headmaster Samuel Nderitu.

The pupils report to school around 10am and work with teachers until 3pm. Their duties include feeding the 40 rabbits, weeding, watering crops and harvesting produce.

“We have been farming for the past three years. The project is called Education for Sustainable Development and our aim is to turn the school into a centre for agriculture excellence and to give the pupils life skills.”

From their dairy cow, which they have employed someone to take care of, Nderitu says they get about 25 litres of milk daily.

PAY THE FARM WORKER

“Ten litres is consumed at school while the rest is sold to neighbours at Sh40 per litre. The cow gives our project between Sh15,000 and Sh20,000 monthly, which we use mainly to pay the farm worker.”

The school harvested 15 90kg bags of maize this season. Their target was 30 bags, but this was not realised due to the Maize Lethal Necrosis Disease, which destroyed part of crop, Nderitu says.

From their pond, put up at a cost of Sh100,000, they harvest an average of 500 fish and sell to parents at between Sh50 and Sh100.

“Our first harvest was last August. We invited parents and sold to them fish worth Sh10,000. We also agreed to give some of the fish to teachers to motivate them.”

Pumpkins, tomatoes, sukuma wiki, cabbages and potatoes are another source of income. The school only sells the surplus.
“During school sessions, the pupils normally go to the farm after 3.45pm, when classes end. They take turns. While some go for games, the others work on the farm for a few hours before going home.”

Nderitu says the school has saved a lot of money that they would have used to buy food.

“From what we produce, we are able to feed about 300 pupils, those in nursery school and the rest who cannot afford to pay cash for lunch,” says the 52-year-old school head, adding, he started the project to generate income for the school after seeing its huge land was underutilised.

“Today from that one cow the school is able to get Sh20,000 per month from the sale of milk while the vegetables and other crops fetch the school more than Sh40,000 every month,” he says.

“I love rabbits. I have a buck and a doe, which I got from school. They keep me busy. I started keeping them after learning lessons from school,” says Peter Chege, 13, and a Class Seven pupil.

“Digging, weeding, planting trees and watering flowers at school are my favourite activities on the farm. Some months ago, I visited Mombasa for the first time in my life and addressed primary school teachers on my experiences in the school farm,” says Margaret Muthoni, 12.

Parents support the agriculture programme as some of the children have been able to start similar ventures at home.
“I have four children in the school. One of my sons has two rabbits and is taking care of them as per the instructions he gathers from the school,” Margaret Wairimu says.

The school sources its water from the Menengai Water Project and has installed four 100,000-litre water tanks they use for irrigation.

The school also has a weather station and a modern well, which has attracted the attention of their next door neighbour, the Geothermal Development Company (GDC), which is drilling steam wells on the floor of Menengai crater.

WE REWARD PUPILS

GDC regularly visits the school to monitor whether its activities are affecting the quality of water in the area.

The project has seen Nderitu tour Israel to learn more on agriculture, some of the lessons which he has implemented on the farm.

“Most of the time we reward pupils who perform well in class with our harvest. We have given out to pupils over 20 rabbits.”

Last year, the school recorded a mean score of 240.71 in KCPE despite the huge population.

Nakuru North sub-county education officer Gabriel Kinoru applauds the farming initiatives, noting that they are in line with the Ministry of Education policy, which encourages schools to utilise their resources to cut costs.

“The free primary education programme allocation per pupil in public schools is only Sh1,420, which is not enough. Such a noble initiative will save poor parents the agony of digging deeper into their empty pockets to raise extra levies for purchase of equipment, books, school tours or lunch.”

He adds that offering pupils lessons in agriculture at an early stage makes them self-reliant as they acquire entrepreneurial skills.

“When the pupils are involved in the entire farming process, they learn that they can get good income from farming, therefore, they will not rely on white collar jobs for a living when they complete school.”