Butere Girls High School

Butere Girls High School is a girls only public boarding secondary school in Butere, Kenya.

History

Butere Girls High School grew out of a primary school founded by the Irish missionary Jane Elizabeth Chadwick, who arrived in Butere in 1916 and taught there until 1925, when she returned to Ireland. Some of Chadwick's manuscript memories of her early students have been anthologized.[1] The school became a full day school in 1931 and then a boarding school in 1937.[2] The future archbishop Festo Olang' taught at Butere in the early 1940s.

In 1957 it became a secondary school. At that time the school was regarded as a leading Protestant girls’ high school, ranked second in Kenya after Alliance Girls High School.[3] In 1970 it admitted its first A level class.[2] After facing infrastructure, management and discipline problems in the 1980s its academic performance deteriorated.[3] However, its performance recovered and in 2012 the school was promoted to national school category.[2]

In 2013 the school presented a controversial play, Shackles of Doom, by the playwright and future senator Cleophas Malala. The play, which addressed the issues of ethnicity, tribalism and inequality in Kenya, was banned by the Ministry of Education, though the ban was later lifted by the High Court.[4] In 2018 the school's performance of another play by Mabala, It is Well, earned them first place at Western Region Drama Festival.[5]

In 2016 the principal, Dorah Okalo, was removed from office after pressure from the Bishop of Butere.[6]

In February 2019 a Form Three student committed suicide at the school.[7][8][9]

Alumni

References
  1. Jane Elizabeth Chadwick; Eva Chadwick (2007). Amandina Lihamba; Fulata L. Moyo; Mugaybuso M. Mulokozi; Naomi L. Shitemi (eds.). Women Writing Africa: The eastern region. Feminist Press at the City University of New York. pp. 103–6. ISBN 978-1-55861-534-2.
  2. Raisa Okwaras, Butere Girls’ High School KCSE results, Jambo News, 17 December 2019. Accessed 9 January 2021.
  3. Sara Brenda Khanani, The role of the church missionary society in the development of girls’ education in Western Kenya: the case of Butere girls high school, 1957 – 2007, M.Ed. thesis, University of Nairobi, 2015.
  4. Eliud Kibii, Shackles of Doom: The fast rise of playwright Cleophas Malala, The Star, 30 August 2020. Accessed 9 January 2021.
  5. Eric Lingai, Western Region's best selected ahead of national drama festivals, The Standard, 21 March 2018. Accessed 9 January 2021.
  6. Shaban Shakokha, Officials query head teacher’s ‘abrupt’ move, The Star, 12 May 2016. Accessed 9 January 2021.
  7. Violet Auma, Form Three student ‘commits suicide’ at Butere Girls, Citizen Digital, 15 February 2019. Accessed 9 January 2021.
  8. Brian Kisanji, Police investigating suicide at Butere Girls, Kenya, 16 February 2019. Accessed 9 January 2021.
  9. Thomas Waita, Grief as Butere Girls student who committed suicide laid to rest in Kitui, The Standard, 4 March 2019. Accessed 9 January 2021.
  10. Eric Abuga, Dr Ocharo: It took hard work to get to the top, The Standard, 17 October 2020. Accessed 9 January 2021.
  11. Washington Onyango, Hunger for glory encourages Kenya rugby star Janet Okello, The Standard, 3 July 2020. Accessed 9 January 2021.
  12. Dennis Kamariki, American Dream; tale of Irene Were, a budding Kenyan basketball talent, Citizen Digital, 3 September 2020. Accessed 9 January 2021.
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