Kitui national school: was it too early for Kitui school to be declared a national school?

Last week, I overheard an interesting discussion at one of the pubs in Kitui. The people who were talking were obviously educationists. Their contention was on whether Kitui school was declared a national school too early. One of the fellows was the view that, indeed, Kitui school was declared a national school too early (that is was not yet ready for national school status), whereas the other two were of the view that the declaration of Kitui school as a national school was proper, and in fact long overdue.

In coming to a decision on whether the declaration of Kitui school as a national school was justified, you have to understand the context. So it is a context where the government was keen on ending the clamor for the 18 ‘traditional’ national schools that it decided to pick two schools in each county and elevate them to national school status. So two schools had to be picked from Kitui. The fellow who was against the elevation of Kitui school to national school was put to task, to name any other school that deserved the honor (other than Kitui school).

All said and done, there was consensus that only Kitui school has the history, the performance track record and the infrastructure worth being called a national school in Kitui. The only other schools that come close are saint Charles Lwanga Kitui and Kisasi Boys – but Kitui school is still ahead of them in various respects. And as such, the decision to declare Kitui school as a national school was the best that could be made under the circumstances.

What remains to be seen though is whether the declaration of Kitui school as a national school will translate into improved investments in the school. And whether it will translate into better performance for the school that is known to do well, but which many people feel could do even better.