Question 1

Are there any school fees?

Accepted Answer

No tuition fee, and no fee structure to send you. Madaraka Comprehensive School is a public school and free primary education is national policy. Families do usually pay for a few things themselves — uniform, exercise books, and a contribution towards the lunch and feeding programme — and those amounts change by term. The office will tell you exactly what this term’s come to; I do not have the figures.

Question 2

How do I enrol my child?

Accepted Answer

Come to the school office on a weekday morning during term, bring the child with you, and bring the papers. There is no application fee, no form to buy, and nobody who can secure a place for money. The school will confirm which grade the child joins from their age and their previous reports. I can also take your name and number and ask the office to call you.

Question 3

What documents do I need to bring?

Accepted Answer

The child’s birth certificate, which is the one that matters most because it sets the age and grade; an immunisation or clinic card for a child entering Grade 1 or pre-primary; a transfer or release letter and the last school report if the child is moving from another school; the parent’s or guardian’s national ID; and usually two passport photographs. Bring the originals and a copy of each. This is the standard list for a Kenyan public primary school — please confirm it with the office before you travel. If a document is missing, come anyway and say so.

Question 4

Which grades does the school teach?

Accepted Answer

Grade 1 through to Grade 9. Under Competency-Based Education, junior school — Grades 7, 8 and 9 — is domiciled in the primary school rather than somewhere separate, so a child does not have to move out at Grade 7. Whether every junior grade is running on the compound this term is worth confirming with the office.

Question 5

Where is the school and how do I get there?

Accepted Answer

On Keri Road, inside Madaraka Estate, in Lang’ata sub-county, Nairobi — about five kilometres from the city centre. By car: Uhuru Highway onto Lang’ata Road, off at the Madaraka roundabout, into the estate along Ole Sangale Road (the road Strathmore University is on), then Keri Road. By matatu: anything heading down Lang’ata Road out of town, alight at the Madaraka stage by the roundabout, then a few minutes on foot into the estate. There is no parking on the compound.

Question 6

What are the office hours?

Accepted Answer

Generally Monday to Friday, about 07:30 to 16:30, and closed at the weekend. Weekday mornings are the best time to come about a place, and if you are travelling from outside the estate it is worth ringing 020 785 0022 first.

Question 7

Is it a boarding school?

Accepted Answer

No. Madaraka is a day school — every learner goes home at the end of the day. It is also mixed: boys and girls in the same classrooms.

Question 8

Can my child join in the middle of the year?

Accepted Answer

Children transfer in throughout the year. Bring a release or transfer letter from the previous school and the reports that go with it, and the school will place the child in the right grade. Whether there is space in a particular class this term is something only the office can tell you.

Question 9

Does my child have to live in Madaraka Estate?

Accepted Answer

Most learners live in the estate or the streets immediately around it, and they walk. Whether there is a place for a child from further away depends on the space in that particular class, so please ask the office.

Question 10

What curriculum do you teach?

Accepted Answer

Kenya’s Competency-Based Education. Grades 1 to 3 are lower primary, Grades 4 to 6 upper primary with KPSEA at the end of Grade 6, and Grades 7 to 9 are junior school with KJSEA at the end of Grade 9. Junior school has nine learning areas, the same for every learner in the country, and the week is thirty-five lessons. Pathway choices — STEM, Social Sciences, or Arts and Sports Science — come at Grade 10 in senior school, not here.

Question 11

How is the Grade 9 score worked out?

Accepted Answer

Three parts: the KJSEA sat at the end of Grade 9 is 60 per cent, the KPSEA sat back at the end of Grade 6 is 20 per cent, and school-based assessment gathered across Grades 7, 8 and 9 is the last 20 per cent. Each of the nine learning areas is scored out of eight, seventy-two in total, and reported as an achievement level rather than a grade.

Question 12

How does the school perform in national assessments?

Accepted Answer

I cannot tell you. Kenya does not publish per-school KPSEA or KJSEA results, and I will not estimate one — a made-up figure under this school’s name would be worse than no figure. If that is what you need to know, please ask the office directly and they can speak to it.

Question 13

How many learners are at the school?

Accepted Answer

I do not have a number I would trust. The public directory listings give three different figures for different survey years, so rather than quote one at you I would sooner the office told you. I can take your name and a number and ask them to call.

Question 14

Do you take children with disabilities?

Accepted Answer

Please talk to the office directly and describe what your child needs, so the right conversation happens early rather than late. I cannot speak for what support is in place on the compound today, and this is not a question to get a guess on.

Question 15

Can I visit the school?

Accepted Answer

Come to the office during the week and ask. It is a school with children on site, so please report at the gate rather than walking in. If you would like someone to expect you, give me your name and a number and I will pass it to the office.

Question 16

Somebody is asking me for money to secure a place. Is that genuine?

Accepted Answer

No. Nobody can sell a place at a public school and nobody is authorised to collect money on the school’s behalf for admission. The form is free and the process is free. Please tell the office if you have been approached.

KeriRoad,Madaraka.

On Keri Road, inside the estate.

Three ways in.

On foot

By matatu

By car

When you can reach a person.

Something urgent about a child?

Out of hours, ask anyway.