Immaculate Musambai

Bold Question: How might we support teachers to help students explore their entrepreneurial abilities?

Path to Metis: As a student, Immaculate kept her hope aflame that she would wake up the following morning to find herself as an air hostess in the KLM Boeing 747-400 to Amsterdam or scheduling the nurses as the senior registered nurse in Kenyatta hospital. Immaculate’s excitement as the first girl from her village to join Butere Girls for “A level” was short lived when her Principal withheld the invitation letters for interviews in her dream careers of air hostess and Kenya registered nurse.

After her exams, Immaculate was fortunate to get a placement as an untrained teacher for three months. She joined the Kenya postal and Telecommunication Corporation, where she represented the corporation in the KECOSO (Kenya communications sports organization) before her admission to Kenyatta University.

The first 16 years of her teaching were routine until 2004 when she was appointed as a teacher to a class that had consistent dismal results. Immaculate carried out a needs based in-depth case study to find out the causes of the poor performance. The findings led to her establishing Destiny Educational Services (DES) with the aim of putting together a strategic fit for academic excellence.

This involved motivational talks, incentives, field excursions, mentoring, corporate social responsibility, research, interschool collaboration and enhanced parental engagement in over 17 schools such as Sunshine, Brookshine, Chogoria Girls, Musingu High School, Mukumu Boys, The Kenya High, Highway Secondary and Riviera High School among others. This pulled the students out of the learning pit and consequently improved the learning outcomes.

The joy of seeing her students adding value to humanity in every sphere of this nation has glued Immaculate in teaching for 32 years running. Going through the ranks of Head of Subject, Head of Department, Dean of Academics, Deputy Principal and currently as Principal of Makini School, she has spearheaded performance and cyber school learning programs which accelerates extended personalized learning. The nearly completed makerspace is aimed at enhancing the students’ creativity and innovation.