Allidina Visram old students have raised Sh50 million that has been utilized to renovate the school buildings and digitize learning ahead of the school’s centenary celebrations next week.
Allidina Visram, a public secondary school in Mvita Sub-County was built in 1921 by Rasul Allidina Visram in honor of his father Allidina Visram who was a trader along the East Africa coast. It opened doors to students in September 1923.
Initially, the school only admitted students of Indian origin, but after Kenya attained independence, it started enrolling learners from other communities.
The school has churned out notable personalities working in different sectors in the country and abroad.
The school has been an academic powerhouse competing with other academic giants in the country, but of late the performance has declined and stakeholders are racing against time to restore its lost glory.
The School’s Principal Dishon Indimuli linked the decline in performance to the current 100 percent admission policy, where all KCPE students transit to secondary schools regardless of performance.
“The school has performed very well for a long time but in recent years has not been performing as expected,” said Indimuli, who thanked the Old boys for chipping in in order to improve the performance.
The Principal lauded the Old Boys for digitizing the school in line with the changing learning trends and contributing towards its centenary celebrations.
The current generation, he said, is more digitally oriented adding the old boys have already digitized the school. Form three and four classes are all fitted with a smart TV, and a central control room has been set up.
“Now learning can be done simultaneously in all classes at any point and one teacher can teach all the classes. This is mainly to address the congestion in classes and teacher shortage,” said Indimuli adding plans are underway to open the online classes for other students in the country.
The Alumni plans to construct a new tuition block for the school that lacks land for expansion as it borders a graveyard and the sea.
“The current land where the school stands was donated by the Wakf Commission. It was initially a graveyard, and part of it was given to the school. We don’t have land for expansion as on one side we have the sea and graves,” he said.
The Principal also thanked the Old students for giving the school buildings a facelift almost to their original state.
On his part, an alumni Said Mbarak, now a Dubai-based accountant said the school modernization project will continue.
“The school was run down in terms of the buildings, the old boys have been supervising the renovation. The estimated cost of renovation is Sh50 million contributed largely by the old boys,” said Mbarak.
He added that the Old Boys are also leading in efforts to uplift the school’s academic performance and the results have been improving gradually.
“This year’s results will be better than last year’s,” predicted Mbarak.
For the centenary celebration that begins Monday up to Saturday, the school has lined up several activities among them beach and road clean-ups, and food donations to Makande orphanage and Nyumba Ya Wazee in Tudor.
Other activities are academic contests, career exhibitions, centenary cups, tree planting and a conference to discuss the school’s future at a Mombasa hotel.
By Sadik Hassan
