Mang'u High School - Facilities

Facilities

The nomadic history of the school has greatly disadvantaged it, as a lot of physical facilities were left behind as it tried to find a suitable resting place. The first phase of construction was completed in 1972 and the 253 students moved in. By 1992, very little had been done to complete the second phase and nothing for the third phase, yet the student population was already in the third phase. The student population increased to 800. A new dormitory consisting of two houses, Brother Raymond and Ndingi Mwana Nzeki, was built in 1996 using funds raised by alumni Vice President George Saitoti. This helped solve the problem of congestion. There are now ten houses in use. The older dormitories were put up in 1972 and require renovations.The ten Houses are:

• Ronald Ngala
• Schneider
• Kimathi
• Kenyatta
• Tom Mboya
• Father Edwards
• Old Boys
• Cardinal Otunga
• Ndingi Mwana Nzeki
• Brother Raymond
• Michuki

The school admits bright students from financially challenging backgrounds and this has led to a shortfall of available funds for development. However, the school has obtained additional funding from the government and is constructing new modern facilities to supplement the existing laboratory and provide offices for the Head of Departments. The current facility has three laboratories for Physics, Chemistry and Biology and an Aviation Workshop. A modern school chapel was also completed in 2002. The school management has also bought two new buses. The school has Power Mechanics and Electricity workshops and farming areas and dairy facilities for Agriculture students.

Mang'u High School has undergone experienced many positive physical developments in the years 2011-2013. For many years the school needed a Social/Lecture Hall as most events were held in the Dining Hall, Library and Chapel. In 2013 the school now boasts of an ultra-modern multi purpose hall which is easily the best in the country. The facility has many utility rooms that will provide the school with many facilities that the school urgently needed. The school also has a brand new administration block which is an architectural master piece, this building coupled with it already existing functional staff room brings Mang'u High School on par with its academic rivals. The school also has a new science laboratory complex, giving it adequate science facilities commensurate with its status as Kenya's leading school in science subjects. The swimming pool also got a major boost of servicing rooms, while transportation was blessed with a new modern garage for the school vehicles.

In June 2011, the school was hit by a bad storm that damaged the kitchen and dining hall, knocking out the power supply for sometime.

The school now has a fully functional computer lab with upgraded computers and high speed internet. Kenya Airways offered to pay the full amount for 40 computers to set up two labs: one for all students and one specifically for the Aviation Technology program.

On 16 May 2011, The French ambassador to Kenya, H. E. Mr. Etienne de Poncins and the Ministry of Education, launched a French Language Resource Centre at Mang’u High School. Students from neighbouring Compuera Mangu Girls School, Mary Hill Girls School, Thika High School and Thika School for the Blind will also benefit from the resource center.

The School is also leading in the effort to go green by using Biogas energy. Effluent from the institutions are collected in three different digester tanks and then piped over 3 km to the gas chamber where the gas is collected. It is then used to power a generator that is used in the school.

With these facilities in place, Mang'u High School can boast of having reached its full potential in physical facilities in the year 2013 (Under the keen eye of Mwalimu Raichena, the current principal). For the first time in history Mang'u is matching the facilities of its historical rival the Alliance High School. Over the years Mang'u High School "defied logic" by performing excellently academically in the face of adversity (inadequate facilities). It will be interesting to see how it performs now that it facilities are among the very best national schools in Kenya. Mang'u retians it's strong traditions and history and will no doubt hold its position at the top.