CHAPTER 4

KENYAN EDUCATION
The State, Schools, and Legacy of Colonialism

FORMAL EDUCATION IN KENYA

Education in Pre-Colonial and Colonial Kenya

For centuries before the widespread dominance of formal education in Kenya,
indigenous African education existed to accomplish two main goals. First,
indigenous education promoted the morals and practices that shaped the daily lives
of specific ethnic groups. Second, this education aimed to transmit indigenous
knowledge concerning humans and their relationship with the surrounding bio-
physical environment from one generation to the next (Mungai, 2002). Despite
arguments characterizing pre-colonial Africa as “unscientific” (Mabawonku,
2003), technological development in the areas of metal work and textile production
that occurred in areas of what is now modern Kenya nearly 2000 years ago were
equal to, or more advanced than, comparable technologies found in Europe at the
time (Teng-Zeng, 2006). Thus, the indigenous knowledge generated and practiced
before colonial domination was vital for the development of traditional African
societies.
With the arrival of Christian missionaries in Kenya in the nineteenth century,
Western-influenced educational practice supplanted the community-based, informal
educational traditions that had, until that point, stood the test of time. While the
infusion of educational arrangements rooted in Western cultures were not uncommon
at the dawn of the colonial era in Africa (Lulat, 2005),1 some aspects of this process
were unique to Kenya, as discussed below.
Great Britain’s colonial interests in the East African region were cemented with
the official declaration of colonial rule in Kenya in 1902. With the crown colony
governance system in place, the colonizers developed governmental, social, and
economic institutions in Kenya that were descendents of the well-established
institutional formations found in Britain at the time (Merryfield & Tlou, 1995).
These institutional formations ultimately guided the development of Kenya’s
national school system, despite attempts during the colonial era to develop schools
that served the interests of native Kenyans better, such as the Kikuyu Independent
Schools Movement, which took place in the mid-1920s (Indire, 1982).2
The first schools established in colonial Kenya were concentrated around the
economic and social centers, such as Nairobi, Nakuru, and Mombasa, and tailored
exclusively for educating white European groups in Western-influenced academic

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subjects. For native Kenyans, so-called “village schools”3 were built or located in
areas adjacent to the colonial centers. The village schools aimed to train (mainly
male) Kenyans for the labor niches that were needed by the white colonial land
and business-owners; carpentry, masonry, and other crafts were emphasized over
basic literacy or numeracy skills (Mungai, 2002). Furthermore, due to the uneven
colonial influence across the country, the establishment of schools in remote areas
was delayed. For example, white settlers colonized the lowland areas of Taita-
Taveta District long before their interests in agricultural land and minerals led them
to explore the upper reaches of the rugged Taita Hills (Spear, 1982). Consequently,
Taita’s schools and other colonial-influenced institutions were developed later than
those located in other areas of the Coast Province, such as Mombasa and Malindi.4
During the 1940s and 1950s, modest gains were made in Kenya’s education sector.
For example, several acts of British Parliament passed in the years after World War
II provided funds for both secondary educational development and the beginnings of
university expansion.5 Britain’s attention to Kenya was also evident when, it 1961,
it embarked on a reorganization of the colony’s education system by scrapping its
“triple four” structure6 and opting for a system resembling the British “O” and “A”
level two-tiered structure (Indire, 1982).

KENYAN EDUCATION AND DECOLONIZATION

When Kenya finally shed its colonial shackles in 1963, educational access for the
population was still severely restricted; at the time, there were only ninety-five
secondary schools nationwide for a population over eight million people (Lillis,
1985). Almost immediately, the leaders of the newly formed nation took decisive
steps toward restructuring the education system, which in turn spawned several
bureaucratic arrangements, such as the Ministry of Education (hereafter MOE) and
the Kenya Institute of Education (hereafter KIE).
The new Kenyan government immediately prioritized the growth of the national
school system in order to halt the dis-education of millions of newly independent
Kenyan youth. Although the number of schools grew steadily during the 1970s
and 1980s, enrollments in the nation’s schools began to decline in the mid-1980s
(Bradshaw & Fuller, 1996).7 In response to this trend, aggressive reforms that
targeted the ailing system were undertaken during the 1980s. One such reform,
implemented by the administration of President Daniel arap Moi, included a complete
restructuring program whereby the inherited 7-4-2-3 (“O” and “A” level) system was
replaced with an 8-4-4 format for primary, secondary, and post-secondary education.
Furthermore, campaigns such as the school milk program and Harambee school
movement8 bolstered the number of primary and secondary schools and students
nationwide.
Another primary aim of the Kenyan government during this period was to use
education to foster national unity and promote social and economic development.
To do this, instruction and literacy in a common language—English—was viewed

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