Anna: March 2010 Archives

Mbakalo Secondary School was the first school I visited which was a recent benefactor of a solar installation, completed a month earlier. Mbakalo is an academic school with 420 students. The school has big ambitions as well as a reason to be proud.

'Hard work precedes success: Do what makes sense'. The school motto is proudly displayed at Mbakalo.

Before the system was installed in December 2009, Mbakalo relied on its generator. This was not only costly and unreliable but also noisy and polluting. Since the new system was installed however, the school have had no need to buy any more fuel.

The school day at Mbakalo ends at 6pm but students from poorer families, who have no means of lighting at home (sometimes not even a tin lamp) can now stay much later to carry out additional study. The majority of extra study hours however are put in before the school day starts, with some students coming in as early as 5am to make the most of the light in the classrooms.

Moses demonstrates the solar-powered light bulb in Form Four's classroom- which has recently acquired solar power for lighting. Photo: Brad Bell.

While the system covers the staff room and library, it only caters for two of the classrooms. These are the Form Four rooms. Perhaps unsurprisingly, there is a degree of internal envy between the forms and teachers of those classrooms which don't have light. The Headmaster Mr Malika told us that the school took the decision to light Form Four - the oldest class of the school - for a couple of reasons. Firstly, because these students are preparing for exams and so study is particularly important for them. Secondly, it fosters an impetus to the younger children, giving them motivation to study hard to make it through to Form Four.

There is certainly kudos attached to both studying and teaching in the illuminated classrooms. I met with two teachers, both of whom taught fourth formers in the two lit classrooms. Physics teacher Mr Murutu said he'd really like to see power in the science laboratories, to facilitate experiments and allow him to demonstrate complex scientific concepts with conviction.

The school owns one television which sits in the library. Gathering around the television at 1pm to watch the news has now become part of the school day for its teachers. This new tradition has clearly proved very popular.

The school's television proudly sits in the library at Mbakalo, which has also recently had a solar lighting system installed. Photo: Charlotte Webster.

There is also one computer, which is used by the school secretary and hosts a basic database. The next step is to save up for more computers, then upgrade and extend the system to reach more classrooms and power computers for the students.

More about the reaction to the new solar system from teachers and students at Mbakalo in my next blog.

Anna