Maseno School in Kisumu has begun construction of 40 classrooms as part of a Sh4bn plan to modernise the institution.
The project follows a pledge by President William Ruto during the school’s centenary celebrations, when he said he and his friends would support the construction of new classrooms.
The ground-breaking ceremony was attended by presidential adviser and Maseno alumnus Joe Ager, and the school’s Board of Management chairman, Ambrose Weda.
Ager said the 40 classrooms and eight laboratories were expected to be completed within 12 months.
The next phase of the project will include 270 staff houses, a dining hall and a multipurpose hall with a capacity of 3,000 people, he said.
The entire development is expected to be completed within four years and will cost about Sh4bn, according to Ager.
The expanded school will also have departments for science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), aviation, humanities and other disciplines.
Ager said the new complex would have capacity for about 5,000 students.
He said the school’s alumni had raised about Sh80m, which helped encourage the president to support the project.
Other resources had also been secured from corporate organisations, including the M-Pesa Foundation, he added.
The initial phase is expected to cost Sh50m, with contractor Devkon already on site.
Weda described Maseno School as an institution with a wide community of former students, citing the number of prominent people who had attended the school.
He said the school hoped to increase its capacity to about 10,000 students within four years.
The school’s principal, Peter Owino, thanked President Ruto for supporting the project, saying the institution had continued to perform well academically despite inadequate infrastructure.
Owino said Maseno had recorded the highest concentration of students who scored A grades with 84 points in the most recent national secondary school examinations.
He also said the Teachers Service Commission had collected details of 25 members of staff employed by the Board of Management for possible recruitment on permanent terms.
The move follows a directive by the president during the school’s centenary celebrations, he said.
Owino appealed to the president to consider the remaining 40 Board of Management employees for permanent employment.
The school’s oldest surviving alumnus, Dr Joseph Aluoch, thanked former students for supporting the institution.
He urged the school to prioritise quality of education and facilities rather than focusing solely on increasing student numbers.
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