Kenya: Lukenya Academy

Location: 1 hour outside the capital city of Nairobi, in a rural setting near the town of Athi River
Headmaster: Steve Paddington
Background: British Curriculum School with 150 student capacity/Private

Focus of the School: to teach through local contexts, adapting to the local needs; many International Standard schools in this part of the world teach exclusively a British or American Curriculum, which can be ridiculous for students living in another country. Lukenya Academy seeks to address these concerns by preparing their Kenyan students for the realities of life in Kenya once they graduate, focusing on such areas as the Kenyan economy and Kenyan ecology.

Teacher Training: teachers are given extensive training, both online and through links with the bigger British Schools in Kenya. Additionally, an exam board trainer visits the schools to instruct the teachers on modern teaching practices.

Goal of the School this is dictated by the parents; the goal tends to be higher education for most students, and 83% of the students last year qualified for a Kenyan Private University, a very high rate in comparison to both other private and public schools in Kenya

Library Development: all materials are ordered directly from the United Kingdom; the parents are responsible for purchasing all of the student's textbooks, which tends to be the biggest expense, at about 2500 shillings per year (30$).

Headmaster's Inspiration/Goals for the students: Mr. Paddington is inspired by the parents' academic dreams; he believes that "Everything can be taught through Kenyan eyes," and works to fufill this promise for his students. His goal is to focus on critical thinking for the students, something that is often lacking in the developing world. Additionally, he stresses that many of the students coming to Lukenya have failed in public schools in Kenya and internationally, but they can often turn their academic careers around in this setting and succeed where they have failed before. Additionally, the school lacks any AP classes, and struggles to motivate gifted students who would be benefiting from these courses.

Resources Needed: The most critical need is for more computers. The school is currently helped by "Computers for Schools," and Irish NGO, but they lack teacher computers. Additionally, the school is lacking reading books for the students. Parents are responsible for the purchase of textbooks, but casual reading books are overlooked and are in short supply for the students. The school would also greatly benefit from CDROM's for the students. A new science lab is currently being built from donations given by the parents.

Vision/Successes: Mr Paddington stated that, "Our greatest resources are our teachers." He envisions more group teaching in the future, and more relevant teacher training involving differentiation of styles and techniques. Most of the teachers come from Kenyatta University in Nairobi, and are responsible for designing their curriculums by department. He further detailed how ill-informed many Kenyan parents are about their children's educations; they tend to work with a "trust the leader" mentality that must be broken for education to truly progress in the country. Thus, Lukenya Academy is working to educate the parents as well as the children to be more proactive and critical in their thinking.