Anestar Coast Girls Academy, located within the Mtwapa informal settlement of Kilifi County, has confirmed full readiness to admit Grade 10 learners under the Competency-Based Education (CBE) Curriculum.
The school is offering renewed hope to girls whose education has historically been disrupted by social and economic challenges.
The announcement comes as Kenya transitions to senior school under the new curriculum, with Grade 10 learners expected to pursue specialised pathways aligned to their abilities and career aspirations.
For many families in Mtwapa and surrounding areas, the school’s preparedness represents a critical opportunity to keep girls in school and break cycles of poverty, teenage pregnancies and early marriages.
Situated in a region long affected by high dropout rates among girls, Anestar Coast Girls Academy has positioned itself as a centre of excellence focused on empowering the girl child and addressing long-standing disparities in access to quality education.
The school serves learners drawn largely from vulnerable backgrounds, many of whom previously lacked supportive and safe learning environments.
Speaking during celebrations of the school’s 2025 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) results, the school principal, Mr. Njoroge Eliud Gitonga, said all preparations for the Grade 10 intake had been completed, with only a few slots remaining.
“We are fully ready for Grade 10. Our teachers are prepared, facilities are in place, and learners will pursue either Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) or social sciences pathways under the new curriculum,” said Gitonga.
He noted that the school has a total Grade 10 capacity of 105 learners, who will form the first cohort to study under the senior school structure of the CBE system.
According to the principal, the introduction of pathways will help learners develop skills aligned with their strengths and future ambitions.
Gitonga explained that the school was deliberately established in Mtwapa to bring quality education closer to vulnerable communities along the Coast, where many girls previously dropped out of school due to socio-cultural and economic pressures.
“For a long time, the education of the girl child in this region was sidelined. Many girls dropped out because of teenage pregnancies or early marriages. This school exists to change that reality and give these girls a chance to realise their potential,” he said.
To ensure that financial constraints do not lock girls out of education, Anestar Coast Girls Academy operates a flexible fee payment system popularly known as Lipa Mdogo Mdogo, which allows parents and guardians to pay school fees in small, manageable instalments.
In addition, the school subsidises up to 50 per cent of school fees for learners from extremely needy backgrounds.
“We understand the humble background of many families in Kilifi and the Coast region in general. That reality informs our approach. We support learners so that financial hardship does not deny them an education,” Gitonga said.
The school has also invested heavily in modern facilities to support practical and learner-centred education, particularly for STEM subjects.
These include fully equipped laboratories for computer science, biology, chemistry and physics.
Gitonga said the campus, although located in an informal settlement, was deliberately designed to resemble a university environment to expose learners to higher learning standards and inspire academic ambition.
“When learners walk into this school, they feel like they are in a higher institution. That environment changes their mindset and helps them believe they can achieve more,” he noted.
On teacher preparedness, the principal revealed that about 90 per cent of the teaching staff underwent retraining programmes during the December holidays to equip them with the skills required for effective implementation of the Competency-Based Education curriculum.
The school also conducted internal capacity-building sessions facilitated by contracted education professionals.
“My teachers are really set. In fact, we are serving as a benchmark. Anyone who wants to understand what Grade 10 looks like under the new system can visit us and see it first-hand,” he said.
Gitonga acknowledged challenges related to the availability of Grade 10 textbooks but said publishers have been supplying sample materials for evaluation.
Teachers are currently reviewing the books against curriculum designs provided by the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD), and the school expects to settle on the appropriate textbooks by the second week of the term.
The school’s confidence in handling the new curriculum is bolstered by its impressive performance in its maiden KCSE examinations, which demonstrated its capacity to uplift and empower girls from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Out of 47 candidates who sat the 2025 KCSE examination, 23 attained a mean grade of C+ and above, translating to a 51 per cent university transition rate.
The top student scored an A– grade, a significant milestone for a school serving learners from an informal settlement.
According to Gitonga, the results dispel long-held beliefs that girls from such backgrounds cannot excel academically.
“These results prove that when given the right facilities, discipline and support, girls from this region can compete with anyone.
We urge parents to give the girl child a chance. With the right environment, they will reach their potential and return to uplift the entire Kilifi community,” he said.
Deputy School Captain Kesley Neima, a Form Four student in the class of 2026, attributed the school’s success to discipline, hard work and a structured learning routine.
She said students wake up as early as 4:30 a.m. for morning preparations, with preps running from 5:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m., followed by remedial classes before regular lessons begin at 7:30 a.m.
The school also places strong emphasis on holistic development, offering guidance and counselling services as well as regular motivational talks to shield learners from negative social influences prevalent in the area.
“As the first candidate class under the 8-4-4 system at Anestar Coast, the results were very impressive. It was by God’s grace and a lot of hard work,” Neima said.
Anestar Coast Girls Academy is a branch of the Anestar Group of Schools, whose pioneer institution is based in Lanet, Nakuru County.
The Mtwapa campus was established after the management observed that many girls from the Coast region were travelling long distances to Nakuru in search of quality education.
This realisation prompted the decision to bring world-class educational facilities closer to the community, ensuring that girls from Kilifi County and the wider Coast region can access quality education without leaving their homes.
By Sitati Reagan
