The Role of the Catholic Church in the Development of Secondary School Education in Southern Nyanza: the Case of Asumbi Girls High School, 1965 - 2015

Abstract

This project intended to examine the role of the Catholic Church in the development of secondary school education in Southern Nyanza. The school of focus was Asumbi Girls High School (AGHS). The research work restricted itself to a time frame, starting from 1965 to 2015; 1965 as the time the Catholic Church started AGHS in Southern Nyanza, while 2015 as the year AGHS celebrated its fiftieth anniversary. The major communities that were observed in relation to the institution were the Luo and the Abagusii communities. The research was guided by three specific objectives namely; to highlight the contribution of the Catholic Church towards girl education in Southern Nyanza, to trace the development of AGHS spanning from 1965 to 2015, and lastly to analyse the impact of AGHS on the education of girls in Southern Nyanza. The Catholic Church via the Mill Hill Missionaries reached Southern Nyanza in 1908, and got involved in educational practices under the umbrella of evangelization, which was their key engagement in Africa. These engagements had not been intensively and satisfactorily given scholarly attention. In addition, works on AGHS to illustrate its historical development as well as influence on the local community is yet to be documented. This is the concern, the researcher sought to look at. The research being historical in nature, required the use of historical approach to actualise it. A historical approach to a research work aims at reconstructing a previous period in the spirit of a critical enquiry; it, therefore, targets at achieving a truthful representation of the period in question. This work intended to reconstruct the role of the Catholic Church to the development of secondary school education in Southern Nyanza; it purposed to attain a truthful illustration of their educational engagements in the region, and hence, the reason the approach was considered to be suitable, for this research work. The study used the primary as well as secondary data. Oral information was obtained majorly from relevant respondents in Southern Nyanza. Interview sessions informed by interview guides were applied to attain data from informants. Archival data was attained from Kenya National Archives, Kisii Diocese Archives, Homa-Bay Diocese Archives, and AGHS Archives...