Emley Education Centre (formally K.A.G.school) started as and still is a nonprofit making school. It started back in the year 2000. This happened after Mrs. Rosemary Donnan took the challenge and presented it to St Michaels church Emley (Please refer to earlier page on History of KAG Nursery & primary school). As a result a small group from the church decided to fund raise, along with the Wakefield Diocese’s millennium appeal and raised some money for classes. They managed to raise the money to build 3 classes for a Nursery School and our dream was realized.
The school started with 15 pupils and 1 teacher. The setting up of the school was a big challenge considering the poverty level of the feeder community and the attitude towards formal education at that time. Nevertheless the pioneers did not lose hope, and we now have a baby class, 2 pre school classes and 6 classes in the primary section. We recently have added a Junior High School with 3 classes and are presently building a Secondary High School which will have 6 classes.
The School has a Manager Mr. Harrison Kamere and 2 Headmasters one for the Primary School and 1 for the High Schools.
The school charges the lowest possible fees to cover costs Added to this there are food and transport costs. As small as this sum is, many parents are unable to pay anything. Due to this our UK partners have solicited funds to sponsor desks at £30 and supporting poor children at £150p.a. This is presently now £250 p.a. This has contributed a lot to development of education in the community since poor children from poor families are affording good and quality education, unlike the situation seen in government sponsored schools which are overcrowded, have fewer classes and which are understaffed. This leads to low morale for pupils and teachers and very poor academic results and performance in many schools.
Normally In primary school a day starts at 7am and ends at 4:30pm (Mon-Fri). In this case a child has 7 lessons per day. It might look a long day but if not well managed the teacher may not cover the wide syllabus. In KAG school our day starts at 7am and ends at 6:45pm (Mon-Fri) and 7am-3:30pm) on Saturdays in primary section. This gives us time to cover the syllabus fully and to do a lot of extra practice with our children. This can only happen due to the devotion and hard work from our staff and management, and has resulted in good performances in the examination and especially in the final National exams for standard 8. In the Kindergarten, the school day starts at 8am and ends at 3:30pm. (Please find the time table of the activities in both Kinder and Primary)
A healthy Nation must start with a health community and in this case a healthy child. In KAG School we provide porridge in the morning, a balanced lunch and of late we have introduced a milk feeding program. We believe for the education to be enjoyable the child must not be hungry. We encourage support of a daily packet of milk at £30 p.a. per child.
Additionally, in conjunction with the UK group, we have started distributing Mosquito nets to the community to eradicate the killer disease of malaria. Unlike in the government sector when occasionally there is a small campaign, for example, giving nets to pregnant women, we give, fix ,educate and follow up to ensure their proper use. We also encourage support of mosquito net at £8 per child. To sum up, we have seen fruits of our efforts since pupil absenteeism in school due to malaria has reduced hence we have uninterrupted learning environment.
Apart from curricular activities we also have co-curricular activities. We play football, Netball, Volleyball, (Both boys and girls).We also have drama, music, and scout clubs. This year we are representing our district at provincial level which will be held in Mombasa in Choral and Solo poems as we have done in previous years.
We normally raise the flag on Mondays and Fridays. This is normally conducted by the scouts with their usual drill and entertainment.
BELOW A SUMMARY OF EACH YEARS NEWS
1998 Rosemary visits K.A.G. church and was given plans for a Nursery School.
1999 Rosemary and friends in the UK start fundraising to build the School by having cofee mornings and doing talks in Church Schools.
2000 £ 5000 was sent to Kenya to start building a Nursery School on land next to the church.
2001 The new Nursery was opened by Jim and Rosemary, Dilys and Michael and Rosemarys school friend Anne
Rosemary did some teaching and we visited previous Rotary Projects.
2002 We did not go out to Kenya this year. Money was raised to purchase a piece of land over the road from the Nursey from one of the elders of the Church Joseph. This was to build a Primary School
2003 Jim Dilys and Michael went out this year Rosemary had to stay in the UK to look after the children. A new class room was opened named after a lady who had attended one of Rosemary's film shows and had left money in her will. A new Rotary School was opened. The School had a new Headmaster called Harrison who asked if we could start a programme of sponsorship of poor pupils in the school. Jim and I started this by sponsoring the Reverent Francis's girl Faith.
2004 Rosemary and Jim went out to Kenya with their son Luke and his friend Paul. They planted a tree and attended a graduation of nursery to primary school. They also visited Rotary Projects, Mombasa, and the new Rotary School. Jim ran a first aid aid course for teachers and cooks and we kitted out a first aid box. The boys taught football and Rosemary taught science. Another classroom had been built. The sponsored programme had started and we visited the new ones at home. We started a sponsored desk programme.
2005 This year we went out with 2 Rotarians Mike and Lisette who wished to visit projects done in the area with their money. We visited new sponsored children at home and attended church and graduation. We visited a nearby Leper Community who were cuyred but unable to return home due to predudice. They were illiterate and very poor. Another classroom had been built. A literacy programme was taken in the church.
2006 We did not go out this year but sent money to start building an asdministration block
2007/ This year a large group of Rotarians came out and visited many Rotary projects and brought cricket equipment for the school. We also spent a day in the Leper community teaching the alphabet. 2008 This year it was just Dilys and Michael and Jim and Rosemary. We openned another classroom paid for by an artist who had a fundraiser for our school. she was called Madelena. The office block was well on its way. We attended the usual graduation and visited new sponsored children at home. We took a lot of books and toys as well as many knitted teddies. We had a donation to buy food fopr the people in the leprosy community so the church arranged the distribution. My young niece had died so we had a desk made in her memory. we were given t shirts with school logo as presents
2009 This year we went out with Dilys and Michael and a friend Shirley.and we officially opened the new Administration block. We had been concerned for a while that many children were missing school and even being very ill with malaria so jims Rotary donated money for 100 mosquito nets so we decided to make sure firstly all sponsored children got nets and then the younger ones in the school. The aim was to eventually have every child sleeping under a net. To do this we engaged the teachers and erected every net in the houses so no one could later when short of money sell them. We also gave lessons in preventing getting bitten by mosquitos.
While I taught sewing Dilys and shirley taught knitting but we had so few needles so one of the men found some sticks.
We also visited a well Jim's Rotary had paid for. Emley first school had sent a parcel of fooptball boots so we took a photo.
Jim did another first aid lesson with the teachers. The school needed sewing machines so we bought 2 treadle machines.
2010 This year Jim and Rosemary went out with Ian a Rotarian and did the usual projects like, sewing, teaching and erecting mosquito nets. The Rotary had donated money again to buy mosquito nets. We also bought school uniforms.This year the school had outgrown its small mini bus which brought children who lived a distance to school. The school had to take out a loan and buy a new bus.
This year we introduced milk for the nursery classes. We attended graduation and also visited the local clinic which was short of blood pressure machines and stethoscopes which Jim donated.
The next stasge of building was the construction of a library.
2011 This year Dilys and Michael and Malcolm and Gill came out . We did the usual things and visited a local hospital to give out some blood pressure machines some physio charts and some prem baby hats and cardigans. The graduation was very good as normal.
The boys needed new toilets which Rotary paid for. The new library building was going up quickly.This time we took out a lot of toys and had to buy a lot of shoes as many childrens shoes were too small and parents had cut out the toe area.
2012 This year Jim and Rose's daughter Kirsty joined them with boyfriend, now husband, Karl. The usual activities took place. Karl and Kirsty taught the children how to play rounders and cricket. The library was being plastered and a septic tank put in for toilets to go in the library. Rotary paid for piped water in the school.Rose took an outside assembly with raising of the Kenyan flag.
2013 This year Jim Rosemary Dilys And Michael were accompanied by Dr. Brian Hill and Roses college friends Mary and Joe.
The usual projects took place and we visited an eye clinic to give some specialist eye equipment donated by an optician in the UK. Dr Hill also donated some stethoscopes and prem baby knits. The team spent several days wiping down the plaster ready for painting and the library was officially opened by Marey Joe and Brian. It was dedicated to Rev Francis who had died last year of Malaria. He had started the project of the Nursery School with Rosemary and Dilys. Dilys and Rosemary taught some of the pupils to make pancakes and drop scones on an open fire. The team were also busy cataloguing books and covering them. Several boxes of childrens books had been sent by DHL.
The Rotary club this year had donated £1000 to set up a breakfast club for the young children who came to school without having had breakfast.
Finally a student called Sarah arranged by Rosemary was doing a placement in the school teaching crafts.
2014 This year Jim and Rosemary were alone. We saw the library had lots of shelves and we taught the teachers how to catalogue and cover books. we watched a septic tank be built and the toilets in the library. The rotary had paid for 10 refurbished computers, wiring and training of the teachers.
This year Harrison had been concerned about the number of children living rough as orphans. Many parents dying of aids and TB. We gave him some money to buy some land and fence it.
2015 This year just Jim and rosemary went out. The usual mosquito net erection for new sponsored children took place and the charity continued to support the breakfast club and paid for the school to be fenced and a water tower to be3 built. Spoonsored children were given uniform and shoes if needed. Graduation in volved the usual speeches and cake. This year Rosemary taight both the teacher and girls hpw to make washgable sanitary wear. At the orphanage the Rotary paid for a new well and pump withg pipes. and the charity had built the first accomodation block.
The school decided certain pupils who did not have elec tricity at home to do school work could board at the school. joseph one of the trustees had adapted his house and bvuilt showers and toiletrs.
The headmaster decided the shelves in the library needed to be on wheels and be able to be moved so they were made smaller. More childrens books had been sent via DHL.
2016 This year Dilys and Michael came with us and helkped with the Days for Girls programme of teaching how to make sanitary wear. We took a lot of materials with us. We took a group of women in Harrisons church and also K.A.G. church as well as girls in the school. This year we brought withe us 240 pairs of graded refurbished reading g;lasses. Jim tested peoples eyes, Dilys recoreded names Michael tested distance vision and Jim tested eye sight with lenses and wrote a prescription which Ropsemary then waqs able to offer a pair of free glasses to the person. Everyone was delighted.
The orphanage had a new tower and an accomodation block. The School hasd a new secure gate.The usual mosquitro nets uniform breakfast club and graduation took place.
2017 No one went out to Kenya this year as Harrison had come to the uk for 1 month. Rotary and St Peters school had donated a large quantity of books which Jim and I covered in the UK.and then we sent out via DHL. The breakfast club was supported again by St peters school. New toilets and septic tank were built at the orphanage.
2018
Sad News in 2018
We returned from a very successful trip to Kenya on Thursday having done eye tests on over 150 people and given out 140 pairs of recycled spectacles. Rosemary took three groups of girls, teaching them how to make washable reusable sanitary wear, and another group of women from Samburu who travelled for 2 hours to get to the school for a day of tuition.
On the way to the airport the huge destruction of houses ,shops and other building brought us to tears. It looked like a war zone, many houses cut in half ,even an appartment block left hanging dangerously. We had seen some of this in Ukunda town near our hotel and had been told that the ministry of transport had in the 70'S earmarked the road for expansion and apparently compensated people. There is no dispute that the road needs to be built and in the long term will bring jobs but it is sad that no one thought to make sure no one built within the 25 foot road edge. The buildings were marked with a cross and within 24 hours demolished, not giving the occupants time to remove the walls themselves so blocks could be reused.
We were told on Wednesday our Nursery school would have its boundary wall and trees removed which was expected . It had been built in the year 2000 a considerable distance from the road edge so we were safe or so we believed. Late Thursday afternoon ,after we had arrived home,in the UK, Harrison our headmaster, informed us that a cross for demolition had been put on the classroom nearest the road. This was quite different to what had been previously told. Early in the morning Harrison went to the school to move desks and the blackboard and pleaded with the constructors to give us 24 hours to remove the floor ( newly tiled recently ) and the walls and roof so they could be reused for rebuilding. This was refused and the bulldozer destroyed the school which had been used for 18 years.
The other 2 classrooms are more or less intact, and we will have to use them next week when the school goes back . In the long term, however, it is clearly unsafe for a Nursery School to be next to a widened major road. We have therefore decided to rebuild the Nursery School on the Primary site which is well away from the road and where it is quieter and safer. This will cost approximately £10,000.
We are happy to announce that we have already got pledges of over £1,000 but there is still a long way to go.
2019
APRIL 2019
We returned from a very successful trip to Kenya in April This year we travelled with 2 Rotarian friends Gill and Bob. This year we did 4 sessions of eye testing on over 190 people and gave away nearly 200 pairs of recycled spectacles. Rosemary and Gill took one group of 25 girls, teaching them how to make washable reusable sanitary wear. This was in a local Secondary school where 3 of our former students were attending. Each girl were thrilled to go home with a rucksack, flannel, bags to put in clean and soiled items and a full kit plus what they had made. All these items had been made or donated by sponsors in the UK and USA. We were pleased to receive thanks from the headmistress who said we were an inspiration to her girls.
After the sad situation of the demolition of 1 of our Nursery classrooms in order to widen the road, we can inform you that, as expected, the road is going no where near the classroom destroyed and the church has not had to remove its porch. We have however started to adapt the 2 remaining classrooms into accomodation blocks for the older boys who board. This will avoid the school paying rent and a new toilet, washroom and well have been built. The whole site has now been fenced. see photo.
Thanks to the amazing generosity of many friends and sponsors a new 3 classroom Nursery opened in September last year on the Primary site. This was able to be done thanks to a parent of a child at KAG School who sold the school some land at a very good price which gave enough room for the Nursery to be built.
It is looking very good with a tiled floor and new desks thanks to Horbury and Ossett Rotary Club.
The government in Kenya has just introduced a new curriculum in Nursery Schools and has said that no formal teaching should be done until Kindergarten 1 and 2. The youngest class should just play. This seemed strange to the Kenyan teachers but they were very fortunate because Gill is a consultant teacher in the UK specialising in Early learning and she was able to give expert advice. We tried to move the teachers away from the TV and get the children to learn through play. We all went shopping in Mombasa to buy what we could to help. Gill with our help set up play stations in the classroom. She set up sand, water, paint, play dough, jigsaw and games, skittles stations and we had taken out a hopscotch some balls bean bags and skipping ropes. Unfortunately the quality of toys in Kenya was poor , chinese plastic and will not last long we will have to take out better quality next year. To complete the play facilities a sponsor had donated money for some swings a roundabout and a slide to be built while we were there in Ukunda and they were delivered before we came home.
2020
May 2020
We had intended to return to Kenya this year just before Easter and stay for the Easter celebrations. Luckily we had not booked early and as the time approached for us to book news was coming out about an unusual deadly virus spreading in China. We decided to postpone our visit and wait to see the development.
By now you all realise to leave the UK and go any where is impossible for the forseeable future.
We are in contact with Mr. Harrison the headmaster of the School on a daily basis so we always know how things are.
Here below is an update of all that has happened so far in 2020.
In January a very generous sponsor asked how he could help the school and what projects did we have in the pipeline. We mentioned that the refurbished computers bought 10 years ago were now almost obselete, several not being able to access the internet and although they have been maintained yearly the humidity and dust has taken its toll. We have taken out 2 old lap tops recently and bought 2 new ones which function well but obviously a class of 30 pupils need many more. The sponsor gave us money to buy a further 10 laptops which were very much appreciated.
Another Sponsor also donated a further £2000 to build an extra classroom which will be needed in 2 years time when the school needs to extend up to year 9. This is all explained in Angaza newsletter you can find under newsletters. This was built in January and will, in view of the new rules for reintroducing children back to school after Kenyans school closures, be extremely useful.
Due to some technically issues with the School name, in January the School trustees in Kenya decided to reregister the school with a new name.
In honour of all the fundraising done in the Uk and particularly the team of organisers in Emley they decided to call the school Emley Education Centre.
The School Bus was not large enough to cope with the increasing numbers of pupils so the old bus was sold and another larger bus was bought from a buisiness which had ceased trading.The School has taken on a small loan from the bank to pay for this.
THE SITUATION SINCE MARCH
At the beginning of March the Kenyan government decided to close all schools to take effect immediately. They also brought in social distancing and a ban on movement in and out of Mombasa and Nairobi. All public buses had to take fewer passengers and face masks were compulsory. All businesses closed and people had to remain at home with curfews enforced by a heavy handed police force.
All nonprofit making schools suddenly had no income and obviously this has caused severe hardship amongst teachers and ancillary staff who were unable to receive usual pay.The trustees have been very concerned about this situation but felt there was enough money to not incur debt like many schools in the area. Fortunately the local Titanium mine was still working during lockdown but their buses had to carry half the number of work force. The mine has hired out some of the local school buses including ours, so up to date the bank loan has been paid.
The charity has managed to pay the rent for all the teachers from the gift aid, and was looking forward to the school's opening in June or July. Unfortunately even though restrictions have been lifted and people can move about and visit shops and restaurants, the government has closed schools until January.On line lessons are available if you have internet or a tv but many of our pupils have no electricity, TVs or computers so cannot do this. As a result of this we have had long discussions with the trustees as to how all the vulnerable sponsored pupils and the older classes can continue with their education. We have come to the conclusion that the sponsorship money would reemploy half of the teachers at half their salaries until January. The rest of the teachers will get their rent paid.
I appealed for money for my birthday to buy food for the sponsored children's families as they are very vulnerable.
The teachers are giving lesson notes and setting tasks for all sponsored pupils and older students to collect weekly from school with social distancing. All those unable to come to school due to lack of transport will have work delivered. We are also trying to get permission to open the library and computer room.
Reports suggest that many schools in the area have permanently had to close through debt, and seem unlikely to ever open again. This has made many teachers desperate due to no income from March.
I am pleased that our sponsorship programme has enabled our vulnerable pupils to continue learning. It is also imperative that our top classes continue to study as some of them will be taking final exams in April next year after only a few months of teaching.
When the Schools return in January all classes will have to be reduced in size, all pupils will have to have individual desks and temperature checks must be done. All schools have to have hand washing facilities approved by the government,which will incur great costs for all schools. Our desks are all double desks and will have to be cut in half until we can buy new ones.Luckily our new classroom will be very important to help social distancing.
our dining room not yet finished will be very much needed now.
We are confident that the school will succeed in overcoming these challenges, and continue to thrive.
2021 Before the school could open many expensive measures had to be put in place such as thermometers, masks , all the desks cut in half and new ones made to allow pupils to have single desks and to socially distance. all food has to be made on the premises. water stations had to be put out side classrooms and at the entrance to the school.THere was a rush now to get the dining room finished and a generous sponor paid forr two big cookers to be installed. We did not go out this year as the restrictions had not been lifted. Finally vaccinations arrived in Kenya and the men teachers went for them but the women refused. later the school brought in nurses into the school for the women.
We sent money for the school to buy a much needed projector.
Many children were coming to school hungry so Jims Rotary donated £1000 to start a breakfast club.
2022
At present there are 8 classes in primary education, 4 classes in Secondary schools and 4 classes at university. Before covid the government was changing the curriculum away from emphasis on exams to a competence based learning with younger pupils. It decided to have a new system starting January 2023 which would have 6 classes in a Primary school , 3 classes in a Junior High School and 3 classes in a Senior High School. The Junior High schools would not be boarding ( at present most secondary schools are boarding and expensive). The new Junior High Schools can be attached to Primary schools if room to build labs and an extra classroom or attached to Secondary Schools.
The trustees of Emley Education Centre had to decide whether to drop down to 6 classes so reducing income and teachers or to build 4 new labs at huge expense. Luckily there was enough land for this and the Primary and Junior High School could be separated. Buildings like the library and computer lab and dining room can be shared but not the teachers or toilets.
Two generous donors have paid for the labs to be built and now we have built new toilets for girls, boys and teachers. Two labs are under contruction . One lab at ground floor. The poles are to support the roof which needs to be re-enforced with metal and then concreted. This is to enable a second lab to be built on top.
Now all the buildings are built they just need flooring and plastering.
The good news is that the Government has inspected the site and has just granted the licence for a Junior High School to start in January.
We now urgently need money for lab equipment and musical instruments.
After a long journey in November we arrived in Kenya to glorious sunshine. The new High School was completednd and we took many photos. At graduation we formally opened the new school.A film crew were at graduation and the local governer.I masde my speech in Kiswahili to an applause.
This time we visited the new kitchen to see the cookers and gave out mosquito nets. Harrisons Rotary club organised a health awareness day where the doctor from the club did blood pressure checks and Jim tested local people for glasses. We had taken 200 second hand graded specs to give away they were very much appreciated. We did the usual erection of mosquito nets.
While we were there we ordered equipment for the new high school and some musical instruments.
2023
After a Long journey we arrived in Kenya to see the New Junior High School running very efficiently by Geffrey the new headmaster. It was great to see his enthusiasm.The pupils really seemed to enjoy their science lessons and i took part in one lesson. I took out one of my treble recorders and we bought a keyboard and some guitars. We took out again 200 pairs of glasses but nearly had too leave them in Nairobi as the customs wanted a lot of money in tax. We eventually got through but it was unpleasant and we may not do it again. Harrisons Rotary ran another health camp and Jim bought the doctor a diebetis blood machine so she monitored for diebetis which is a huge problem in Kenya. Jim did a very successfulk eye camp atr the same time.
2024
We did not go out to Kenya this year but invited Harrison our headmaster to visit us in the UK.
The school has continued to do well under the guidance of Jeffrey the new head of the School.
He is very enthusiastic and well organised. The science lab is well equipped and thanks to a generous donor new ;lap tops were bought so now junior High school has 20 lap tops. Ideally we could do with more as the children still have to share. The popularity of the high school because government schools still dont have labs means our school is full.
Harrison during his visit said he wanted to start a baby class in 2 vacant classes and needed some good quality toys and books. Kenyan toys are all second hand or cheap chinese plastivc toys which soon break.
We invested in wooden toys , dolls baby books and educational jigsaws and other toys. Harrison went back to Kenya with 2 suitcases of toys.
At the end of the year was the usual graduation.
2025
MARCH 2025
The school started the new school year on January 6th with the High school now having 3 classrooms.
The new Baby class has an excellent teacher who is the headmasters wife. The classroom got painted in the holidays and also the Junior High School walls had scientific drawings painted on them.
At the moment there are only 5 pupils in the baby class but we hope for more soon.
Harrison had carried out 2 suitcases of good quality toys from the uk as the quality in Kenya of toys is poor. He managed to buy slides and scooters in Kenya
We decided to go out in March this year taking out 2 suitcases of wooden toys, jigsaws and books. As usual customs was very difficult but Harrison persuaded them to release us. I spent several happy ours with the babies. The school put on a lovely surprise birthday party for Jim on his birthday. There was singing and dancing. We visited new sponsored children with mosquito nets and when talking to several parents they appreciated the sponsorship but were concerned that they would not be able to pay to send their children to secondary school. We no longer give support at secondary school as we often loose touch with the pupils and cannot see their progress. This caused long discussions with Harrison and the teachers in the school.
The government had finally decided what the secondary education provision would be like in 2026. Secondary Schools will have to decide on 2 pathways from Science and technology, Humanities, Sports, or arts.
The increasing cost of sending children long distances to secondary school which are boarding has put huge burdens on parents and we were approached by several parents and the Headmaster to see if it is possible to extend our school to secondary education and therefore have a complete education system on site. We already have a science lab a computer room and a home science lab so it meant just building 6 new classrooms. Also we already have good secondary teachers in the Junior school.
This was a big undertakking to concider at a time when we were winding down but it will make the school financial self sufficient so we said we would have an appeal our end and the school will try also to get funds.
PROGRESS SINCE APRIL
The foundations have been dug which involved much deeper trenches than expected as they had to reach the coral bed for a firm foundation. We also were a little delayed as a mango tree and all its roots had to be removed. Building in Kenya in the countryside is all done by hand so yoiu can imagine the difficulties removing a mature tree. They managed to source a chain saw.
The building is now slowly progressing upwards as you can see by the photos below. It is the rainy season so frequiently building is delayed. We have to build 3 classrooms by September to be inspected and a secondary license issued. The new intake will arrive in January.
The dead lined approached in september and the rains this year had been much l;onger than usual but the three classrooms wqere built and Harrison managed to get all the papoer work needed to submit to Nairobi. The pupils would enrol in January.
Pictures of our visit
Jim's Birthday Party
2026
