Kenyan teacher breaks 45-hour longest maths lesson record
By Dan Kauna, June 28, 2026A Nakuru teacher has written his name in the global history books after teaching a mathematics lesson for 45 hours straight to break a world record. Fenwick Cyril Maloba, a Mathematics and Physics tutor at Menengai High School, accomplished the feat over the weekend, shattering the previous benchmark.
The teaching marathon, themed “Maths is not a monster”, aimed to change how students view the subject and show that anyone can master numbers with persistence. After hitting the milestone, Maloba looked back at the long journey to his success.
“I want to take this time to thank God for my story. 2 years ago I decided to break the world record, and I did not know how,” Maloba said.
A long journey to victory
The record attempt was not an overnight event. The tutor had originally planned to execute his mission earlier in the year but faced documentation delays.
“In January, we were supposed to have this Guinness World Record (attempt),” Maloba explained, noting that he postponed it at the time due to unavoidable circumstances.
After securing the required clearances from authorities, the marathon was rescheduled and officially kicked off on Friday, June 26, 2026, at Menengai High School.
The school laboratory allowed students to move in and out in shifts, ensuring a continuous classroom presence of at least 10 learners to meet the official guidelines.
Battling midnight exhaustion
The 45-hour stretch tested the teacher’s endurance to the limit. The teacher opened up on some of the challenges he faced, citing adverse weather and a demotivated classroom as two of them.
The late-night hours proved to be the most demanding part of the entire challenge.
“On Friday when we were starting the journey to break the world record, session ya usiku ilinimaliza. At 2.00 am, it was so cold. And the class that I was teaching, ilikuwa tu, but haikukuwa,” Maloba revealed.
Despite the cold and fatigue, Maloba pressed on past the 24-hour mark, drawing energy from support teams, independent witnesses, and onlookers.
He eventually eclipsed the previous record of 31 hours, 42 minutes, and 54 seconds, which was set by Nigerian educator Sanusi Kazeem on April 12, 2025.
Maloba’s new 45-hour benchmark now awaits official ratification from the Guinness World Records team.