Kenya

The base or rather roots of Western education in Kenya

had also been contributed to the roles of the Christian
missionaries.
The Christian missionaries arrived in Kenya from two
directions.
 CME in Kenya cont………..
 The first congregation came through
Mombasa and who were eventually
responsible for the establishment of education
along the coastal and central regions of Kenya.
 Another congregation came from Uganda and
occupied the present Nyanza and Western
provinces of Kenya.
 CME in Kenya cont…….
 Although the Portuguese had introduced
Christianity to the East African coast in the 16th
century,
 it was not until Ludwig Krapf and John Rebman
came to the region of Mombasa that western
education began in Kenya.
 through their mission within the Church Missionary
Society (CMS), they opened mission schools at
Mombasa and Rabai mpya in the 1940s.
 CME in Kenya cont……….
 except for the freed slaves stationed at Freetown,
Christian education was not enthusiastically
received by the coastal people.
 There were two reasons specifically responsible
for that cold reception.
• Africans were not all that prepared to forgo their
own culture in favour of the foreign culture.
• Islamic civilization had been deeply rooted along
the coast for more than 800 years..
 CME in Kenya cont……….
 As that fundamental, there were a number of
Arabs who opposed the establishment of
Christianity as the competitor of Islam.
 Through their Quranic schools, which by that
time had been established along the coast,
many Africans had also been converted to Islam.
 Consequently, Christianity did not spread
substantially in the Mombasa region. Even today
it is not the predominant religion in the area.
 CME in Kenya cont………
 it was not until the establishment of the colonial
rule in 1895 and the building of the Uganda
railway (1895-1901), the missionary education
spread upcountry.
 Between 1895 and 1910, many mission stations
were opened upcountry.
 The Church of Scotland Mission (CSM)
evangelized from Mombasa to Kibwezi and then
to Kikuyu where it founded a station in 1898.
 CME in Kenya cont……..
 From there, it spread to Tumutumu in Nyeri and
Chogoria in Meru.
 The CMS, on the other hand, established stations
at Kabete, Weithaga, Kahuhia, Mahiga and Embu
between 1903 and 1910,
 while the United Methodist moved inland mainly
to Meru.
 The African Inland Mission (AIM) established
itself at Kangundo, Kijabe, Githumu and Kinyona.
 CME in Kenya cont……….
 The Catholic Holy Ghost Fathers also came in and landed
at Kabaa, Kilungu, Nairobi and Kisabu by 1910.
 The Consolata Catholic Mission invaded Nyeri and Meru
regions.
 It is pertinent to note that in the western region of
Kenya, most of the missions there were the off shoots of
the missions already established in Uganda.
 By 1910, the CMS had established stations at Maseno,
Butere and Ngiya.
 CME in Kenya cont………
 The Catholic Mill Hill Mission (MHM) missionaries
had stationed at Yala, Mumias, Mukumu,
Nyabururu and Asumbi
 while the Seventh Day Adventists had settled at
Gendia, Kamagambo and Nyanchwa.
 The Friends African Mission stationed its
headquarteres at Kaimosi.
 Christian missions evangelized and got established
in the highlands of Kenya and so did Islam.
 CME in Kenya cont……..
 But while Christian missionaries preached into the interior of the
country to establish churches and schools as they invaded those
areas,
 the carriers of Islam concentrated in the urban centers.
Consequently, Quranic schools mushroomed in towns where even
to this day one would find Mosques.
 It should be noted that Quranic schools never intended nor took
their pupils high enough in the educational ladder. As that
fundamental, it was difficult for Quranic schools to have a
widespread impact in the country.
 This is why, perhaps, one might have not heard of or seen them
growing in terms of number of classes, learners as well as teachers.
 CME in Kenya cont………
 This might also be one of the reasons why where
Quranic schools predominated, for example, the
coast and the North Eastern Provinces;
 the spread of modern education is still backward as
compared to the other areas of Kenya.
 After the completion of the inception of all these
mission stations, a number of missionary bodies
began scrambling for territories and converts.
 CME in Kenya cont……….
 Their major tools were religion, education and
propaganda. However, our main concern here
is education.
 missionaries regarded Africans as pagan,
uncivilized, backward and uncultured.
 Their education was therefore to remove
these negative elements and convert Africans
to Christianity and thus become civilized.
 CME in Kenya cont………
More on CME Curr. content

 the 3Rs (Reading, Writing and Arithmetic)

were also taught, but not to such level as to
make the recipients literary giants.
 The objective was to enable the Africans to
read the bible, to propagate the gospel and to
win more African converts.
 CME in Kenya cont………
 Another component of missionary education
was industrial or technical education.
 This ranked next in importance to religious
education. It was intended to discipline
Africans, remove laziness from them and make
them hard workers.
 It should however, be noted that industrial
education also remained elementary since no
African artisan class was established.
Government and African Responses to Early
Missionary Education

 Although the colonial government was not much comfortable

with the emphasis placed on religious education, however, in
general terms it supported the education provided by
missionaries.
 The government was particularly interested to the industrial
education offered in mission schools. As that fundamental, the
government institutionalized a grant- in- aid system from the
middle of 1910s to help those mission schools which offered
acceptable technical education.
 The missionaries were also nominated in government
commissions which reviewed education from time to time. This
was true in the 1909 and 1919 Education Commissions.
 CME in Kenya cont……..
 Regarding African response, one may say it was indifferent,
hostile and apathetic since Africans greatly resented the
establishment of missionary education.
 A number of reasons were responsible for this resentment.
 The first reason for this situation was that missionaries preached
against African culture.
 Secondly, parents were reluctant to allow their children go to
school in favour of family chores. This was particularly so because
the usefulness of that western education was not immediate.
 Thirdly, manual work in mission schools overwhelmed classroom
work.
 CME in Kenya cont………
 We should always recall that the Africans did not cherish being just handy men
 and for that very case they did not regard the missionary education as a right
vehicle to make them stay aside with manual works.

 Another aspect worth mentioning regarding African resentments following

Christian missionary education concerns their teachings. To be precise, the
Africans were uncomfortable with some teachings that were in contrast to
their culture.

 For example the Christian missionaries preached a strict puritanical code in

which they opposed dancing, drinking, non-religious singing as well as any
category of sexual freedom outside the confines of monogamous marriage.

 In the East African and African context at large, this was equated to great
condemnation of the African fabrics.
 CME in Kenya cont……….
 The consolidation of mission education was however,
assisted by the fact that chiefs and headmen sent
their own sons to school, and forced those of their
wards to go too,
 otherwise mission education would have delayed to
take root in East Africa.
 Above all, since those who had received western
education got employed and began enjoying the
benefits of their education, majority of Africans
came to embrace western education.
 CME in Kenya cont……….
 It should be noted that acquisition of western education
was later on seen as an avenue to secure colonial
administrative jobs and hence to new ways of getting
rich.
 It was thus regarded as an opportunity to do away with
manual works which were wrongly regarded as relevant
to the uneducated people.
 Similarly, a more detailed exploration may reveal the
strengths of Christian missionary teachings and
evangelizations particularly in preaching against the evils
of slave trade not only in East Africa but Africa at large.
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