Christopher Khaemba Situma serves as the co-founding CEO and current director of Nova Pioneer Schools in Kenya. Khaemba’s legacy in both South Africa and Kenya’s education sector.
Nova Pioneer School is among the best private institutions in the country, operating under the umbrella of the Nova Pioneer Education group. Within this educational network, the institutions encompass Nova Pioneer Boys, Nova Pioneer Girls, and Nova Pioneer Primary Schools.
The first school was established in South Africa in 2014. In Kenya, Nova Pioneer operates 6 educational institutions for ages 3 to 19, while in South Africa there are 7.
In Kenya, Nova Pioneer operates several schools, including Nova Pioneer Primary Athi River, Nova Pioneer Primary Tatu City, Nova Pioneer Boys Secondary Tatu City, Nova Pioneer Girls Secondary Tatu City, Nova Pioneer Girls Secondary Eldoret, and Nova Pioneer Boys Secondary Eldoret.
The latter is said to have exceeded Sh. 1.6 billion in construction costs.
Very little is known about its founders, despite the school having an incredible track of holistic teaching and world-class facilities.
The little-known billionaire was a former teacher at Alliance High School where he served in top positions, including Principal. Most teachers dream of managing a school after retirement due to the education sector’s lucrative nature if well managed.
Untold story of Kenyan man who was first student to join Alliance High
Before joining the education sector, Christopher Khaemba worked as a pilot within the Kenya Air Forces, until he resigned from military service to become a teacher in 1984.
He joined Alliance High School, teaching Mathematics and Physics. He served at the school for 14 years, during which he rose through the ranks to become principal.
Owing to his success at Alliance High at the time, Khaemba was transferred to Friends High School Kamusinga in 1995. He was tasked with restoring the school to its former glory. He did this in 3 years and was reinstated back at Alliance as Principal in 1998.
In 2008, the educationist relocated to Johannesburg, South Africa and was appointed Dean of the African Leadership Academy. In 2013, he was appointed by former Nairobi Governor Evans Kidero as the CEC member in charge of Education.
Together with his friends Oliver Sabot, Oliver Rothschild and Chinezi Chijioke they co-founded Nova Pioneer Schools in 2015. The first institution opened in January 2016 and had 128 boys modelled under the South African African Leadership Academy.
Other schools in South Africa include Nova Pioneer Boksburg, Nova Pioneer Midrand, Nova Pioneer North Riding, Nova Pioneer Ormonde, Nova Pioneer Ormonde Secondary, Nova Pioneer Paulshof, and Nova Pioneer Ruimsig.
The school’s vision is to produce students who are more prepared for the challenges of the 21st Century. They have a fantastic leadership program for their students and have innovative qualities as well.
“Our model of classroom interaction is designed to have students inspired and empowered to pursue the path of discovery through digging for information and research. This classroom interaction is managed by teachers who are aligned to innovation and leadership,” Christopher Khaemba told the Nation in a past interview.
“Every student and school should look at the broader picture of students’ self-discovery and growth,” he added.
