About us
HISTORY
The Kangaru schools have metamorphosed in many ways in time, status, number and composition of students to settle into what they are presently- Kangaru School and Kangaru Girls' School. Before early 1920s the nuclear of the Kangaru Schools was a small Church Missionary Society (C.M.S) primary school located in the present day Embu Municipality. The school was then moved in the early 1920s to Kangaru Zone in several sites including the present K.A.R.I. and the Embu Agricultural Staff Training Institute (EAST College) before settling at the present D.E.B Kangaru Primary School.
On December 30th, 1946 the Embu Local Native Council (L.N.C) under the Chairmanship of the then District Commissioner (D.C) Mr. Robin Wainright, resolved to build a school on self help or Harambee basis. The LNC is the predecessor of the African Native Council (A.N.C) and the current Municipal Council. Embu then comprised the current Embu, Mbeere and Kirinyaga districts.
The initial school was for boys only and was built of temporary material on a three acre site and acquired at a nominal price from very willing Embu land owners. The construction work started on New Year’s Day of 1947.With the Joint effort of the locals, prisoners and building technicians of the L.N.C the construction of the first structures was completed on 13th January 1947. It was at the present D.E.B Kangaru primary school. The pioneer students were 30 with the late Honorable Jeremiah Nyaga being their only teacher. The learners were admitted from the only two C.M.S primary schools in the zone, Kigari and Mutira then coined the ‘primary tops’. Due to the enthusiasm and great interest created, the school was soon forced to admit another five learners as day scholars within a week making a pioneer class of 35 boys.
The enthusiasm and appreciation of the school’s starting was not only with the students and the locals but also with higher local authorities as portrayed by the presence of the Provincial Education Officer (PEO) Nyeri, Mr. V.A. Ottaway; the Provincial Commissioner (PC)Central, Mr. Wyn Harns; the District Commissioner (DC) Embu, Mr.R. Wainright; Senior Chief Njagi Ruriga of M’tetu; all other Embu chiefs, councilors, church elders and several people. After three months, His Excellency the then Governor of Kenya, Sir E.P. Mitchell, accompanying the then British Colonial Secretary visited the school. These were followed by a famous senior Dean of Oxford University who was also a lecturer in colonial history. The dean was followed closely by the advisor to the colonial Secretary on African Education, Miss (Later Dame) Margery Perham. The initial zeal over the school climaxed in 1949 with the admission of 8 girls as day scholars and the official opening by H.E. the governor. At this time, the temporary physical structures that existed were one dormitory, a kitchen, a woodwork workshop, a teacher’s house and a pit latrine, all constructed of wood and grass on about ten acre piece of land.
In 1948 the Government awarded a contract for building the school with permanent materials under the directorship of an ex-world war II Italian prisoner.
In 1949, the P3 female Teacher Training facility at Kabete was moved to Kangaru under Miss. Harding as the principal. The pioneer candidate class had twelve students who included Phoebe Asiyo (former MP Karachuonyo), Priscillah Kairu, Priscilla Ngima kibuga, Abishag later wife to Bishop Mahiani and Margaret Murangi Paul.
At the completion of permanent buildings’ contract, the school owned four dormitories, eight classrooms, two laboratories, an administration block, a dining hall and six teachers’ houses. These buildings were constructed for the intermediate Government African school pupils (G.A.S.) and the female Teachers Training (T.T.). The school then was called G.A.S & T.T.C. It should be noted that parallel to this educational institution ran the Agricultural Training Center for training Agricultural instructors. These formed an interwoven complex which shared both courses and the teachers or instructors. For instance, the Agricultural students (all boys) would cross over to Kangaru School and be taught Mathematics, Kiswahili and Scouting by the Kangaru school teachers while the Kangaru school students would go to the Agricultural center to be taught theoretical and practical agriculture by the instructors of the Agricultural Center. The government owned land was now 670 acres. A third of this was allotted to the school while the rest to agriculture.
In 1952, Kangaru School admitted its first lot of secondary proper students in Form 111(then called form 1) who were boys only. The name then changed to Government African Teacher Training Center and Secondary School (G.A.T.T.C. & S.S). From the Kenya African Preliminary examination (K.A.P.E), graduates were admitted to Kangaru School for K.A.S.S.E. as opposed to previously when the boys used to go to Kagumo and Alliance High School while girls would go to Loreto and Alliance Girls High School.
1953 saw the admission of the first Cambridge school certificate students. Up to 1954 Kangaru was basically a junior secondary school teaching Standard 7 and 8 students, then termed forms 1 and 2. The first Cambridge School certificate was done at Kangaru in 1956 where two students passed with Division 1 and proceeded to the then only university in East Africa, Makerere. These were Josphat Mutungi and Phares Thumi. The second lot of 28 candidates brought glory to Kangaru when 50% of them scored Division 1 and eleven proceeded to Makerere. They included David Gicho Njoronge, Matere Keriri (former State House comptroller), S. Njagi Muturi, H.Gitahi, H. Njoronge, Muna and Kanga. The rest joined the royal college, Nairobi. It should be noted that in this class there were three who had joined Kangaru from Kapsabet and Uganda, thereby transforming Kangaru from a local to an international institution. The third group of candidates included the retired ACK Archbishop Dr. David M. Gitari who proceeded to the royal college.
Also in 1953, a special intermediate Boarding School for girls known as African Girls Intermediate School (GAGI) was started parallel to the T.T.C. The combination then became the GAGI&TTC headed by Miss. Eagle. The girls’ boarding and mixed schools collaborated in religious and learning programmes.
Between May and August 1953, the schools were attacked by Mau Mau, forcing the girls’ boarding to close and the learners sent home. They returned in the 3rd term of the year after the British army camp was set up outside the current principal’s office. In 1962 the girls boarding attained a High school status and named Embu Girls headed by Miss Dauford and later Miss P.Mulcahy Morgan. The school’s first African Heads were Miss H.W Gitula in Jan 1970 followed in 1972 by Mrs. Dorothy Wakagio Nyaga, a former student of the mixed Kangaru School. Mrs.Nyaga headed till the amalgamation. KAPE students were faced out in 1954 and the TTC in 1956. By 1958 the school was double streamed from form I-IV.
Due to her commendable success in school certificate, Kangaru was commissioned by the colonial Government to teach half of all the form V classes that were being started in Kenya. The others were started at Shimo La Tewa .This admission called for addition of facilities in the form of 8 new staff houses, two laboratories, a dormitory and a library which were urgently constructed .Two classes of 20 students each were admitted for science and arts who successfully did the first higher school certificate examination in 1962 .
In 1965, a Kangaru school student achieved the best results in Kenya in school certificate. The school also started Agriculture courses in the same year. The year 1966 was celebrated for recorded examination percentage passes in both “O” and “A” levels when 76% of the candidates attained Division 1 and 2 in O levels while 83% of “A” levels attained principals. 1967 saw the 1st Agriculture student's examination in which the school recorded 100% pass.
Up to early 1970s, the schools grew and developed positively in terms of student numbers, teaching staff, curricular and quality of life. For instance, the 1960 enrolment of 300 students reached 367 in 1968, the 11 teaching staff of 1960 rose to 18 in 1968 and 1,400 volumes of library books of 1960 had reached 8,000 in 1968.
July 1973 saw the amalgamation of Kangaru School and Embu Girls to form the larger Kangaru School. This merger created a conducive environment for development and positive competition enhancing better performance among the students. The school was headed by one principal and two deputy principals with the administration block located at the current boys’ section. The number of teaching staff rose to above 50.
After the amalgamation, the demand for enrolment to the school both at “O” and “A” levels intensified. Consequently another stream at the “O” level was introduced. In April 1982, the school grew to five streams in forms I-IV and four streams in forms V-VI. This brought the total number of students to 1060.
The developments were not only on academic front but also on the physical structures. More staff houses were put up and a considerable acreage of land put under livestock and coffee which necessitated the construction of a school coffee factory. In the same period, a magnificent multi-purpose hall was constructed and four school vehicles which included a bus, a truck, a van and a pick-up were purchased.
After about the first ten years of the infamous merger, cracks of negativity began to appear which lead to students’ indiscipline, falling academic standards, mismanagement of the giant institution and the penetration of negative politics.
Due to political interference, the giant was in 1989 separated, resulting to Kangaru School and Kangaru Girls’ School. Even the formally joined motto “Grow in Grace and Serve and Lead” were shared so that girls carried away the “Grow in Grace while the boys retained “Serve and Lead” This event was the genesis of the chain reactions whose effects are felt up to date.
The management of the school was placed under the provincial administration for ten years- a period that marked the beginning of the downfall and erosion of the once great culture. This period was characterized by a series of students’ strikes, high turnover of principals and the associated lack of accountability and gross mismanagement. The end of 1989 saw the last “A” levels leave and the school reverted to forms 1-4.
At the height of all the chaotic period (1989-99), a few principals initiated some infrastructural renovation and pushed the name of the school to the national scene with exemplary participation in the co-curricular activities, thus stirring the giant. However, the academic standards went down due to the upheavals in the school.
The period that followed saw the then principals make desperate efforts to revive the giant whose image by now was so dented. Faced by financial crisis, the school opted for over ambitious enrolment of learners with deficient entry behavior leading to poor academic performance. A new B.O.G was put in place in the year 2000 thus creating some stability in management.
Today, the school is on a recovery path in all aspects i.e. teamwork, partnership, management, infrastructural development, discipline, popularity and entry behavior of learners. The image of the school has improved a lot and the school has started to regain its former glory.
The school is currently 5-streamed. It has well equipped science laboratories; an ultra-modern computer laboratory with e-learning facilities; hotspot internet connectivity within the school; a school van; 3 additional ultra-modern classrooms and above all a beautiful new face.
In addition, the academic standards are impressively improving.
OUR MISSION
To nurture well integrated persons through provision of quality education
OUR VISION
To be a fountain of educational excellence
OUR MOTTO
Serve and Lead
OUR CORE VALUES
- Commitment
- Integrity
- Teamwork
- Innovation
- Partnership
- Professionalism
LONG LIVE KANGARU
