Spurgeons Academy has been operational since 1999. It was birthed to offer free, quality basic education to the many children in Kibera who would spend their days scavenging on the dumpsites of Kibera looking for food. These children were out of school due to lack of school fees whilst at home their parents were suffering as a result of stigma associated with the HIV and AIDS pandemic, joblessness and a range of other issues leading to opportunity-limiting insecurity. The big questions for the founders of the school that led to its formation were, “who will cater for these innocent children?”, “what will their future be?”, “who will do it?”.
The founders linked with Spurgeons and developed a programme that included giving food, love, counseling, spiritual nourishment, medical services/care, school uniforms, home clothes, learning materials, foster parents and security to about 35 children. The following year, as word spread and the initial pupils brought their peers to become additional beneficiaries, the number swelled to 108!
Formal learning that was accessible to all was very appealing and the indication was that the number of children on register could just grow and grow. As a result, the management had to stop admissions for a period to look for adequate volunteers and develop suitable infra-structure.
Spurgeon’s Academy operated as a non-formal school while undergoing formal processes with the Ministry of Education Science and Technology (MOEST) and a few years later, it was officially registered by the Government of Kenya (GoK) and mandated to offer basic education as per the registration provisions. By the time it reached full capacity the school had a full 3-year group kindergarten – Play Group, Pre-primary 1 and Pre-primary 2 (PP1 and PP2) – and 8 Primary classes Grades 1 to 8. Each year, it produces top scorers who qualify and join government national High Schools (where they get subsidized school fees).