Secondary school fees with the cost of books, meals, and uniforms is still very difficult for many. In some villages, 80% of families are trying to live on less than 1 franc a day it becomes impossible to educate children beyond primary school.

To address this we opened our own mixed secondary day school in Vihiga County, Kenya, which follows the Kenyan curriculum with international standards. We provide a positive learning environment, breakfast, lunch, textbooks and all the materials needed. With extra curricular activities including films, books and sports, we do our best to make this village school a unique learning opportunity for teenagers.

We opened our secondary school to provide a high-quality education for bright but poor students. Our focus is on providing an excellent learning environment with partial or full subsidies. The students consistently perform exceptionally well, the school results are 1^st in the sub-county of Emuhaya.

will cover a young person's high school education over one year

Children equipped with life transforming skills and knowledge are able to build themselves, their communities and their economy a bright future.

Young people who would otherwise be at home unemployed can come to one of our centres to be trained in basic computer skills. We also work with two local government schools giving primary school children their first introduction to computers and offering secondary school students computer studies as an extra curriculum subject. Many young people have been able to find jobs in nearby towns thanks to their computer skills.

These centres are also places where activities for younger children can be run after school or during school holidays. They also have access to board games, chess, puzzles, mastermind and more!

The 2019 Kenya Population Census* revealed that approximately 17% of youth had never attended school, and 16% left before completing secondary education. Despite significant progress in school attendance and academic results from 2009 to 2019, challenges remain. Over half (53.1%) of youth aged 18-25 were not engaged in education, employment, or training in 2019. Additionally, more than 55% of adults aged 26-59 faced limited economic opportunities, with many underemployed, in vulnerable work, or outside the labor market entirely.

Exceptional results

children do not finish secondary education*

This small sewing school in Teso North has incredibly enthusiastic students, especially older women who want to learn a new skill to help clothe their families. At the end of the year, all students recieve an attendance certificate as well as material to make school uniforms for the children at St. Luke’s Special Needs School.

Primary schools are overflowing with children while resources remain very limited. This is especially true in rural areas where school facilities are inadequate or even non-existant. We have been getting alongside government schools in order to maximise children’s health and learning.

That's why we opened the "Jumpstart" Pre-Primary for 25 children who had not been able to attend otherwise. The school's philosophy is to encourage learning through play and to build each child's self-confidence. Many learning materials and books were donated but furniture and school supplies are bought locally. The children receive daily porridge for breakfast and a nutritious lunch to give the best start possible to these young lives.

We also donate materials, books and furniture to pre-primary classes in local schools.

A unique opportunity

St Luke’s Special Needs School was built with our Swiss partner, Don du Choeur. There is no other school in Teso North that assists special needs children and without this school, most of the children would remain at home with no assistance or hope of any learning.

St Luke’s is managed by the Government, but was built by ConnectSwiss from funds raised by Don du Choeur and opened in 2014. Initially designed to accommodate 50 children with special needs, the school now welcomes over 100 students with a range of special needs, including Down syndrome, learning difficulties, and physical disabilities such as deafness.

Jumpstart for school readiness

Primary school is free, but with 60 to 70 pupils per classroom, schools expect children to meet a certain level of "school readiness" before enrolling. However, pre-primary education requires fees, making it inaccessible to the poorest children.

Nutrition for better learning

School feeding has been run by ConnectSwiss in two schools: Kigama Primary and Kakemer Pre-schools for over 10 years. Children receive a daily cup of porridge made with milk. This is hugely important for school attendance, especially during “hungry” periods (when maize from harvests has run out) as children do not skip school when they know that they will get a nourishing cup of porridge.