Highway, the high school that nurtured British PM’s father
A section of the administration block of the Highway Secondary School on November 4, 2022. Yashvir Sunak, the father of British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, was once a student at Highway, graduating in 1966.
Highway Secondary School sits so coyly in its current location that we have to ask a guard for directions to locate its gate.
St Bakhita Primary School, which is a stone’s throw away, appears to steal all the thunder in this neighbourhood in Nairobi’s South B because its facade has more presence.
But this understated 60-year-old school with buildings and facilities that have seen better days is now receiving renewed attention because the father of British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak schooled here. The gate is emblazoned with the motto: ‘With pride and dignity, endeavour to excel’.
Yashvir Sunak, a retired doctor, was in the Highway class of 1966, as Mr Irungu Nduati, the school principal, tells us. “He graduated from this school in 1966 with top grades and went on to become a doctor,” he says.
Yashvir, who was born in Kenya to parents from Punjab in India, schooled at Highway together with his elder brother, Harish, who was the school’s captain in 1965. “Harish is the more famous one [here],” says Mr Irungu.
“Incidentally, Dr Harish Sunak came to visit the school on July 19, 2022, in the heat of the campaigns for Prime Minister. And he was very excited that his nephew was likely to become Prime Minister.”
Officially opened in 1962, Highway was until 2012 a day school. It was meant for children of Asian descent when it started.
Its ‘sister’ school was Ngara Girls and its contemporaries were Jamhuri High School in Nairobi and Chania Boys in Thika.
“Not much is known about the father of the premier, but a lot is known about the uncle who was very active. He (Harish) also played table tennis when he was here. His brother also played a bit of table tennis. They moved to the UK for their university education,” Mr Irungu says.
Today, Highway has a student population of 1,200, and it is categorised as an extra-county (formerly provincial) school.
Mr Irungu says it boasts a number of prominent personalities as its alumni, including former Head of Public Service Joseph Kinyua, outgoing principal secretaries Karanja Kibicho (Interior) and Nicholas Muraguri (Lands), lawyer Omwanza Ombati and Nairobi Securities Exchange CEO Geoffrey Odundo.
Billionaire Naushad Merali, who died last year, also attended Highway for his O-level education. Perhaps one of the enduring signs that this school was meant for the Asian community is the space dedicated for co-curricular activities and practical learning.
“The setting is in such a way that you would see some people who were keen on letting the students exploit their talents, in terms of workshops, but more importantly in terms of fields. There is even a cricket field. We would be able to have as many as four soccer pitches right here. So, we have what it takes to produce talent.
“And I would possibly dare say that as Africans, we want to create a concrete jungle. But the Asian community actually had the idea of letting the children play. And that’s something we need to encourage, especially as we go towards the competency-based curriculum,” says Mr Irungu.
The infrastructure has enabled Highway to produce some of the top sportsmen in the country. “The likes of Austin Oduor, Antony Origi, Bramwel Mwololo and quite a number of footballers of yesteryears honed their skills in here,” says the principal.
“Currently, we are the champions of Nairobi in soccer, having beaten the likes of Dagoretti, Upper Hill, Jamhuri and the other powerhouses, including Ofafa Jericho. Then we won silver in Kenya. We defeated Kisumu Day in the semi-finals but lost to Ebwali in the finals [in September]. But when we went to the East Africa tournament, we turned the tables on Ebwali and we were able to emerge number two.”
