Gatoto Community Primary School

1
Introduction
Gatoto uses school fees and donations to provide
high-quality education at low cost to 945 of the
poorest children of Nairobi, Kenya for less than
80 per child per year. Without Gatoto, these
children would likely receive no schooling.
Education in Kenya
History of Gatoto
What We Do
Who We Are
Achievements
Accountability Transparency
Sustainability
Introduction
2
Education and Poverty in Kenya

• In Kenya 56 of the population now live below
  the poverty line. This figure is up from
  approximately 40 in 1994.
• Over 3 million children of primary school age do
  not attend school in Kenya.
• The situation is most acute in the city slums
  where only one in three children attend school
  and only 4 of students eligible to enter
  Standard One actually enrol.
• In the Mukuru slum of Nairobi, nearly 130,000
  children are served by only nine formal schools.  

Education in Kenya
History of Gatoto
What We Do
Who We Are
Achievements
Accountability Transparency
Sustainability
Introduction
3
Gatoto A Community Based Solution

• The village elders in Mukuru kwa Rueben and the
  local Chief came together with the community and
  established Gatoto in 1994, in order to provide
  the communitys children with primary education.
  
• In its first year, 5 untrained teachers taught
  370 pupils in 4 classrooms.
• Today, with the ongoing hard work of the
  community and the generous support of outside
  donors, the school has 17 classrooms, 23
  teachers, 7 support staff and 900 pupils.

Education in Kenya
History of Gatoto
What We Do
Who We Are
Achievements
Accountability Transparency
Sustainability
Introduction
4
What We Do

• As Gatoto is a school, its main purpose is to
  provide academic education to its students
• The school follows the Kenyan National
  Curriculum, providing tuition in English,
  Mathematics, Swahili, Science, Geography,
  History, Civics and Christian Religious Education
  to prepare children for the National KCPE Exam.
• Additional classes are provided during the
  school holidays and after school hours. There are
  no additional charges to the students for this
  extra work.

Education in Kenya
History of Gatoto
What We Do
Who We Are
Achievements
Accountability Transparency
Sustainability
Introduction
5
What We Do (Cont.)
Gatoto strives to provide a holistic education.
In addition to academics, the school offers a
variety of other activities to educate and enrich
the students and the community. These include
Community Service Gatoto realises the
importance of the community to its success and
strives to give something back.
AIDS Education HIV/AIDS is devastating Africa.
HIV/AIDS classes are taught weekly and guest
speakers are invited to talk about the disease.
Co-Curricular Activities Over 75 of students
participate in co-curricular activities,
including drama, athletics, music, and ball games.
Food Program Gatoto provides students with a
daily serving of vitamin-enriched porridge, which
is often their often substantial meal of the day.
Education in Kenya
History of Gatoto
What We Do
Who We Are
Achievements
Accountability Transparency
Sustainability
Introduction
6
Who We Are
Gatoto recognises that an organisation is only as
good as its people
Students Gatoto serves 945 children from ages 4
to 14. The school provides these children with a
positive learning environment in sanitary and
spacious conditions.
Staff There are currently 23 teachers and 7
support staff, including guards, cooks, and a
Social Worker. Great attention is paid when
selecting new staff members to ensure their
commitment to education and the principles of the
school.
Administration The school is run by the Head
and Deputy Head teachers, Betty Nyagoha and
Joseph Oloo. Both are heavily involved with the
long-term vision and development of the school.
Education in Kenya
History of Gatoto
What We Do
Who We Are
Achievements
Accountability Transparency
Sustainability
Introduction
7
Achievements
Gatoto competes alongside well-funded private and
public schools in many areas, from standardised
test scores to sports competitions
Academic In 1994, Gatoto scored dead last in
its Division in academic results. Today, the
school is ranked in the top 10 of schools in
Nairobi by academic results. Furthermore, The
school has collected the award for the best
results in the KCPE exams of a community school
in its Division.
Co-Curricular In athletics and ball games,
Gatoto consistently places 2-5 children on the
Provincial team and 1-3 children on the National
team for football, netball, volleyball, and
handball. Gatoto annually sends 5-7 groups to
the National music and poetry competitions.
Notably, the school came first in the country in
two categories in 2001.
Education in Kenya
History of Gatoto
What We Do
Who We Are
Achievements
Accountability Transparency
Sustainability
Introduction
8
Accountability and Transparency

• Accountability and Transparency are key parts of
  the philosophy of Gatoto.
• The school produces quarterly and annual
  narrative reports, which detail the events,
  successes, and challenges of the past quarter or
  year.
• The school publishes quarterly and annual
  accounts, which are audited annually. These
  accounts are regularly reviewed by Feed the
  Children as well.
• All of these reports are available online at
  http//www.gatoto.org.

Education in Kenya
History of Gatoto
What We Do
Who We Are
Achievements
Accountability Transparency
Sustainability
Introduction
9
Sustainability

• Gatoto is fully run by the administration and an
  elected Parents Committee. This local
  management is a rare, but incredibly important
  factor, to successful development projects.
  Additionally
• Outside volunteers have worked with the staff
  and administration to strengthen the financial
  management and fundraising capacity of the
  school.
• The school is seeking a broad, long-term
  fundraising base to ensure sustainability.

Education in Kenya
History of Gatoto
What We Do
Who We Are
Achievements
Accountability Transparency
Sustainability
Introduction
10
Support Gatoto
Regardless of its success, raising core running
costs is still a significant challenge for the
school. Gatoto cannot continue to provide its
services to the children of Mukuru kwa Reuben
without the support of outside donors. Interested
in helping? See http//www.gatoto.org/support/
or contact the Head Teacher at gatotoschool_at_yahoo.
com or 254 (0) 722 801 551.
Support Gatoto