Butere Girls High School is a national school located in Western Kenya, Butere Sub-County in Kakamega County.
It is one of the oldest institutions in the former Western Province, which was founded by the Church Missionary Society (C.M.S) in 1957 as part of their missionary work in Northern Kavirondo.
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Butere Girls came into being as a remedy to the unbalanced education between male and female and so there was need for the C.M.S to establish a girls’ education institution.
This was achieved when Dr. Warren, the Secretary General of C.M.S visited East Africa (Uganda) and asked the leading Africans what help they wished the society could give to Kenya and the leaders responded that they wished that African girls be better educated.
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Miss Armstrong became the Headmistress of the girls’ school in 1947, and Butere acquired the intermediate status after it entered its first candidates for Kenya African Preliminary Examination (K.A.P.E).
This intermediate school, however, disappeared two years later. These statutes dictated that at the end of the first four years, a common Entrance Examination was sat to promote pupils to Standard five and then later sat for the K.A.P.E.
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In 1956 the girls who then completed class 8(form 2) were able to proceed to African Girls’ High School (Alliance) for further studies or they would go to B.N.S (Chadwick College) to train as T-3 teachers.
Butere Girls High School history
Mary Miles was then the headmistress of the girls’ school.
The African Council of Anglican Church was then asked to choose to be developed to secondary school status due to this high demand.
The Regional Education Board which consisted of Provincial Commissioners (P.C), Provincial Education Officers (P.E.O) and a representative of the C.M.S. sat and all agreed that the first girls’ school in Nyanza (which includes most of the present Western province) should be at Butere if sufficient funds were available.
The local clan, ‘Abashirotsa’ generously gave additional land of 13 ½ acres to make the building of a new school.
The C.M.S. undertook to send an extra staff from England and other Western countries to help build up the standards of the school.
Also Read: State House Girls High School Fees, KCSE Performance and Contacts
They also sent graduate members of staff to the school so that it could develop faster to secondary school level.
With Miss Mary Miles, as the headmistress, the first form 1 class was in 1957 selected due to lack of any more room students at the African girls’ High school Kikuyu (Alliance).
The school had its first African headmistress, Miss Alice Barasa who run the school until 1974.
During her leadership (1973), Chadwick College, which had been transferred to Siriba and was annexed to Butere Girls High School thus giving the school the enormous compound of 63 acres and the benefit of inheriting the Chadwick College buildings.
The school, established on a Christian foundation, is sponsored by the Anglican Church and has since grown to be a national girl’s Secondary school registered as a ten streamed institution with a population of more than 1600 girls.
In addition, the current principal is Mrs. Jennipher Omondi. Notable alumni of the school include First Lady Mama Rachel Ruto.
Butere Girls has been on the limelight in 2025 following their controversial “Echoes of War” play scripted by former Kakamega Senator Cleophas Malala.
Performance and school fees
In the 2024 KCSE, the national institution had 699 candidates, out of which 4 managed to score a straight A grade while 58 scored an A- grade.
On the other hand, 132 of them scored a B+ grade, while 238 attained a B.
144 students scored a mean grade of B-, 64 had a C+, while 45 had a C plain. The lowest grade was a D+, which was obtained by only three students.
Also Read: Alliance Girls High School Fees, KCSE Performance & Contacts
The national institution recorded an 8.711 mean score in the national examinations in 2024, with 91.7% of the candidates achieving a direct university entry.
The government has previously issued a directive to all institutions regarding the total fees parents should pay per year.
Under new rules introduced in 2020 by the Ministry of Education, Kenya’s 103 national schools were grouped into four clusters.
Butere Girls was placed in Cluster Four, meaning the total annual fees per student at the institution are approximately Ksh75,798, which serves as the fee cap for Cluster Three national secondary schools.
However, the total fees may vary from school to school due to additional expenses introduced by respective institutions, such as uniforms, motivation fees, and extra activities.
Some schools charge parents/guardians a high of Ksh100,000 annually.
Butere Girls High School location and address
The learning institution is located in Marama Central Location of Butere Sub-County in Kakamega County approximately 800 meters from Butere Town and opposite Butere Boys High School.
In case you have any complaints, queries, or comments, you can reach the institution’s administration through the contacts below.
Telephone number: +254 716 377 733
Email address: buteregirlshighschool@yahoo.com
Postal address: P.O Box Private Bag, Butere
Official website: www.buteregirlshighschool.sc.ke
Butere Girls school code: 37600005
