Kenya elite schools invest billions in expansion plans

Kenya’s elite schools have embarked on massive expansion plans, hoping to tap into the growing preference by the middle class for internationally accredited education.

The exclusive schools have recently been acquiring rivals, setting up new campuses and expanding learning facilities such as classrooms, dormitories and sports fields to create room for growth in admission numbers.

The schools that are known to charge more than Sh1.7 million ($20,000) per year already boast expansive compounds, modern libraries and laboratories, quality meals and a wide range of sporting facilities.

Kenyan parents have increasingly warmed up to international education aiming to give their children the best tickets to upward mobility and set them up for admissions to top universities abroad.

There is also a belief that elite schools offer holistic learning that emphasises values such as leadership and self-confidence, preparing the learners for bigger roles later in life.

The International School of Kenya (ISK) has, for instance, embarked on a Sh2.5 billion ($30 million) project to expand its elementary school facilities to cater to the needs of 1,200 students up from the current 884.

The project is meant to build four classrooms for every level in the elementary school through Grade 5 and three classrooms for the kindergarten.

The school also plans to build multi-purpose rooms for group activities, indoor physical educational, dedicated language laboratories and staffrooms.

“This is informed by the rise in the number of foreign companies entering East Africa with Nairobi as the hub, increasing the number of expatriates with school-going children,” said Lynn Wells, director of advancement at ISK.

“It is also driven by increasing quest by Kenyans to give their children international education in a school with a diverse student population.”

ISK’s long-term plans include construction of a new middle school, additional gymnasiums, swimming pool and a running track.  

“There is a growing waiting list in many grades,” said Mr Wells in reference to the many leaners who are waiting to be admitted.

ISK, which is owned by the American Embassy and the Canadian High Commission, offers the American curriculum and International Baccalaureate (IB) diploma.

Another big player in the international schools arena GEMS Cambridge International School set shop in Nairobi in September 2012, positioning itself for a slice of Kenya’s elite education cake.

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The local subsidiary of the Dubai-based chain of international schools is located in Nairobi’s upmarket Karen and offers International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE), the Advanced Subsidiary (AS) and A-Level Examinations of the University of Cambridge (UK) and Edexcel BTEC Level 2 and 3.

Braeburn School, an old player in the elite school market, last year upped its stake with the acquisition of Thika’s Imani School, formerly owned by Del-Monte Limited. The school has since been relocated to a 20-acre piece of land in Thika and renamed Braeburn Imani International School.

The takeover of the school was the latest in a series of acquisions that have seen the high-end of market institutions set shop in Kisumu, Mombasa, Nanyuki and Tanzania.
In 2008, Braeburn acquired Podo School in Nanyuki and bought additional 11 acres of land on which it built a primary school.

The school, which follows the British national curriculum, had in 2007 taken over Kisumu International School and renamed it Braeburn Kisumu International School just after it established Braeburn Mombasa International School which sits on 23 acres in Bamburi.

Braeburn expanded to Tanzania in 2000, buying out St. Georges School in Arusha. Peponi House School, another elite school in Nairobi, said it has witnessed significant growth in student numbers over the last five years.

“Enrolment is driven by the reputation of a school, the quality of teaching and learning,” said Robert Blake, the headmaster.

“The all-round education on offer that allows children to flourish is what counts. The results achieved by Peponi children academically as well as in sports, music, drama and art are commendable,” he said.

Currently, Peponi has a student population of 368 from more than 40 nationalities attracted by the British curriculum and co-curricular facilities, includinga specialist art and design room, a large heated swimming pool, a purpose-built music school and two libraries.

St Andrew’s School, Turi has also expanded its facilities in recent years to position itself to take in more students.

The School opened St. Andrew’s College for ages 16-18 taking the British curriculum in 2010. St Andrew’s School plans to extend the boarding facilities and increase the capacity from the current 48 to 72 in the short term.

“We are building upon the outstanding academic success of the Senior School. This has been very positively received and demand for college places continues to rise,” said Claire Holliday, the marketing communications manager at St Andrew’s School.

The school sits on 300 acres of the beautiful Kenyan countryside in Molo. The expansive rural setting allows learners to participate in elite pastimes such as horse riding, private cross-country running and flying lessons at the school’s airstrip.

St Andrew’s School student body spans across 19 nationalities from all over the world and organises exchange activities with partner schools.

Brookhouse International School in Nairobi last year secured a Sh600 million ($7 million) funding from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), which will finance construction of a new campus expected to double the student capacity.

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IFC, the World Bank’s private sector lending arm, said in a 2013 disclosure note that the loan will provide only about half of the Sh1.22 billion that Brookhouse requires to see through an expansion projected to raise its student capacity from the current 700 to about 1,500.

“The proposed project consists of an expansion through the construction of a second campus in Nairobi which will accommodate another 800 students. This expansion will be executed in two phases,” said the IFC statement.

Hillcrest International Schools has also resorted to asset disposal as part of a fund-raising effort for its Sh2 billion expansion plan. The school, owned by private equity firm Fanisi Capital, has put on sale 17.9 acres of prime land in Karen and could raise as much as Sh350 million.

Ayisi Makatiani, a partner at Fanisi Capital, said the expansion will see the school build boarding houses to cater for the needs of 250 students, a new auditorium, sports area, a language centre, modern kitchen and dining facilities.