TEACHERS MAKING A DIFFERENCE: He lifted his school using dialogue

Oct 27, 2010

CHRISTOPHER Okumu, 29, has turned the fortunes of his school around from the worst in the country to one of the best. <b>Frederick Womakuyu</b> and <b>Hajusa Egesa</b> tell his story

IT was his day off, but when we got to school, he was already in class. He was supervising a test on behalf of a colleague, who was away for other duties.

This was after taking the students through the daily morning physical exercises.

To the students, Christopher Okumu, 29, is the most approachable teacher in the school and to the teachers; he is one of the most hardworking teachers who take on any assignment.

To the community, Okumu has turned the fortunes of their village school around by transforming it from one of the worst schools in the country to one of the best.

According to the district education office, Masaba College School would still be stuck in the doldrums of poor academic performance if he had not acted.

Such are the qualities that make colleagues believe Okumu is the best teacher in Masaba College School and probably in the entire country.

To those who know him, he is a person who can turn anything into something.

When he joined Masaba College School in Masaba sub-county, one of the remotest places in Busia district, the school was one of the worst in the district.


Initiated dialogue
After Okumu became the careers master, he knew he had to turn everything around. This was not only to justify his position but also to help his village brothers and sisters to excel in education by turning their lives around — the lives tied to poverty, ignorance, disease and early marriages.

“I started by having a dialogue with the students. I recalled that during my school days, the advice we got from Straight Talk news letter was ‘Dialogue makes anybody to listen’,” he says.

With the help of the school administration, Okumu called for several meetings between the teachers and students and they learnt what each party wanted and what they disliked.

“Students complained that some teachers were dodging lessons and some teachers also complained that some students were dodging lessons — the reason there was poor performance,” adds Okumu.

Teachers also complained that students were indulging in drinking and smoking.

Under his leadership, Okumu agreed with the school administration to start counselling and guidance programmes for each class to improve discipline.

In this way, students learned to respect teachers, while at the same time keeping themselves busy with studies.

“We started by talking to the students in A’level every Monday after break. The students then taught their colleagues in the lower classes ,”says Okumu.

The teachers under the leadership of Okumu took the students through this initiative for two years and things started improving.

Students were no longer escaping from school, drinking or engaging in adolescent risky sexual behaviour — one of the problems that had worsened school dropouts.

They learnt that completing the school syllabus and attending to their classes was the key to achieving better results.

The teachers also learnt that using force and harsh language was as poisonous as being violent to students, leading to bad performance and indiscipline.

Once he was done with discipline, Okumu, embarked on academics.

“I discovered that to achieve this, we had to give our students general and practical knowledge. I started by teaching my students using the local examples around,” he says.

“Students could understand him much faster than they understood other teachers,” says David Ouma, Okumu’s colleague.

A history teacher, Okumu uses the lecture and interaction method to teach his students.

“He makes the students take part and he uses local examples for easy learning. He also makes sure he completes the syllabus. Later he sets tests to prove this,” Ouma adds.

Okumu says: “Unless you have tested the students, you are preparing for them to fail.”

He does not rely on pamphlets to teach his students. “But with the help of pamphlets, I research, in textbooks, internet and from other teachers and examiners to ensure that what I teach students is authentic,” says Okumu.

“ At the end of each lesson, I make sure each student has written notes,” he adds.

Another colleague, Francis Opondo, says Okumu reports at school by 6:00am to give remedial lessons to his students. “Because of this, he completes the syllabus by June every year,” he says.

The school excels
Due to his efforts, Masaba is always at the top of the academic ladder.
In the 2009 Advanced Level results, a student from Masaba College was one of the best in the country in Arts.

That year the school sent 20 students to Makerere University on Government sponsorship.
All the 45 students taking Okumu’s history passed well, with the worst student scoring a Credit (at O’level) or C. And in addition, the school got eight As, 20 Bs and 17 Cs in history.

This village school that had never been heard of is now the talk of Busia and the neighbouring districts.

The school enrollment has shot up from about 300 students in 2005 to about 1,000 in 2010.
But all teachers and the students in the school that before 2005 sent one or two students to Makerere on Government sponsorship give all the credit to Okumu.

Stephen Mayende, one of the longest serving teachers in the school says: “Okumu is a hardworking and committed member of staff. He likes his work very much.”

When Okumu is not teaching, he is researching at school or home.
The students say Okumu has been helpful.
Justine Nasirumbi, 17, in Senior Three says after completing her Primary Seven three years ago, she did not have the money or the school to join for secondary education.

“Mr. Okumu advised my parents to talk to the head teacher about my studies,” she says.
After getting a place in the school, Okumu talked to the headmaster to allow Nasirumbi pay fees in manageable installments. Today, her future looks bright, thanks to Okumu’s efforts.

“He has followed my progress. He gives me some past papers to revise and also advises me to abstain from sex till marriage, ” she says.


Community praise
Fred Wandera, 48, the LC1 Chairman for Masaba Village and a parent at the school says Okumu moves to the community and talks to them about the importance of education.

“He is exemplary and encourages parents to take their children to school. Many are now taking children to school. In my village, he has helped two girls who had dropped out of school,” he explains.
A senior education officer in Busia district, Moses Wanyama, says: “He knows the importance of having a good education institution.”


Okumu ‘s background
Born in a farming village of Mulanya in Lomino sub-county, Busia district to a father, who served in a Government printery and retired with peanuts to support his family, Okumu’s life was underprivileged but he worked hard to be what he is today.
“I had relatives who were well educated and better than my father. I wanted to be better than them and also uplift my family from poverty, ignorance and disease,” he adds.


Okumu joined Buwerero Primary School in Busia, where he passed on top of his class. He joined Masaba College, where he emerged the best student.
Lacking fees to join a better school, he did A’ Level at Masaba College School, emerging top in Busia with 20 points and was admitted at Makerere University for Social Sciences.

Between his Senior Six vacation and studies at Makerere University, Okumu used to help the teachers at his former school to teach the students history.
When he completed University education in 2005, he became a teacher at his former Masaba College School, where he has been for five years.

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