School helping needy students achieve excellence

In a modest home in Kware, Nairobi County, lives Chrispo Osieko, a 17-year-old whose dreams have always been bigger than his circumstances.

Osieko has made his mark academically after posting an outstanding score in the 2024 KCSE. He was a candidate at Alliance Boys High School.

The road to success was anything but easy. His mother, Gladys, sells groceries to support the family while his father, George, works as a casual labourer. Their meagre earnings made educating him difficult—until Bridge International Academies identified and sponsored him through primary school.

He first enrolled at Bridge’s Tasia branch before moving to Mukuru kwa Njenga after the Covid-19 pandemic.
“The education model and standards at Bridge gave me the tools I needed to thrive, despite financial challenges,” Osieko says. “If I can find a way of clearing the fees, I’d like to study engineering at the University of Nairobi—or abroad—and change the fortunes of my family.”

Bridge, a for-profit education company operating in Kenya, Nigeria and Uganda, uses a technology-enabled approach to train teachers and support underserved communities. Teachers receive centrally prepared daily lesson guides on tablets, while learning is tracked through routine monitoring and coaching.

The network runs hundreds of schools in marginalised areas and emphasises a comprehensive teacher-support system: regular classroom observations, data-driven feedback, and rapid substitution when a teacher is absent so learning is not disrupted.

Vincent Omondi, a teacher at Bridge Ugunja, says the model motivates both learners and staff.
“When a teacher misses school, an alert goes to headquarters so an alternative teacher can be mobilised. This keeps learning on track,” he explains. “The tablets make our work easier and more efficient. Daily lessons are well planned, allowing me to focus on the learners.”

Omondi notes that his first cohort graduated in 2013, and many have gone on to succeed in secondary school and beyond—proof, he says, that a consistent, well-supported approach to teaching can change lives.