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| Father Simon Kithinji having a light moment with pupils at St. Thomas the Apostle Primary School |
Athi
Catholic Church to reopen boarding primary school after community urges.
By
Martin Fundi
Athi residents in Meru County have lauded the move by Athi Catholic parish to turn St Thomas the Apostle Day Primary School into a boarding school.
The residents said that there is no boarding school in the whole region and they are forced to take their children to boarding institutions outside the region.
"The school was a boarding sometimes back and it used to produce the best students, some have gone to the university and others are working. We appreciate that they have rethought the idea to make it a boarding school again," said a resident.
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| St. Thomas the Apostle Primary school pupils playing at the school compound |
Athi parish priest, Father Simon Kithinji, who is also the Administrator of the school said that the church decided to return the school into a boarding after receiving overwhelming requests from those living around the vicinity of the school.
He said that the school was once a boarding school when well wishers from Italy used to sponsor pupils from the region go through boarding Education.
However, the man of cloth said, after sometime sponsors started sending school fees directly to the parents.
"This did not work out well, parents opted to use the money sent to them in other things and take their children to public schools," said Father Kithinji.
Kithinji said that the school has now mushroomed and in efforts to satisfy the urge of the residents the church is now pumping resources to modernize the institution.
"From next year, the institution will be a boarding school, we are putting all into place, from infrastructure to everything," he said.
The priest said that the school has a goodwill of the community and urged people from the larger Meru County to take their children to the institution teeming it as a holistic institution.
He said that pupils are not only taught class work but other life skills such as agriculture as also taught in the school.
He said that
Interviews for all classes for next year will begin on October 26 Saturday 2019.
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| The institution's sign board |
(Edited
by Jeremiah Mutuanga)
