A history of Secondary School education in the Coast Province of Kenya: the nature of its growth and development

Abstract

The principal aim of this study is to survey and analyse the development of secondary school education in the Coast Province of Kenya. This thesis examines the part played by various agenoies such as the Christian missionaries, the Government and other voluntary bodies to spr ael secondary school education in th Province, nd brings to light the problems they faced. It also attempts to question the validity of the ccusations often levelled at the people of the coast Province of being less education-minded than their upcountry brethren and to show whether this alleged lack of interest in education is attributable to the shortcomings of those who set upon themseIves the task of providing education or th receipients themselves, namely the people of th Coast Province, or the factors beyond the control of them all. namely the hot and the unhealthy climate, poverty and centuries of Islamic tradition prevalent in the Coast Province.

This study is divided into six chapters. The first chapter attempts to give a general background of the Coast Provine. It tells the reader about the type of land that Province has ,and the people who live on it describe the ororigin and their economic activity. An account of the tremendous influnces of those foreign races who for centuries have had content with the East Coast hasa lso been given. The advent of the missionaries who introduced in East Africa wes t of educatlon and who throughout the colonial period remained the greatest voluntary agents of education forms apart of this chapt er. And finally it deals with the British, who as colonialist shaped the development of Kenya up to the time when lndependence was achieved in 1963. Thus the reader is introduced to the Cosat Province before he is told of the development of secondary school education in the Province. The second chapt er gives a general overview

of the development of education in Kenya. The aim to glve,the r eader an overall picture of the historical dev elopment of education in Kenya and to enable him to compare it with the dev elopment of education especially secondary school education

in the Coast Province which is a theme of the subsequent chapters. During the colonial period educ ation was divided into four watertight compartments according to the-four races, namely, African, Arab, Asian and European. It has therefore been found necessary to discuss under separate headings the development of educ tion of different races. The missionary contribution which was of vital importance has also been discussed here. Also included in this chapter are tr ditional education and Is1amic education in the coastal areas of the country. In the third chapter an attempt is made to survey the contribution made by various missionary bodies to develop secondary school education in the Coast Province. Their efforts to spread education in each district of the Province and the response of the local people in ach district have been explained. It was found essential to take into consideration first the development of elementary and intermediate schools, for most of the mission secondary schools in the Coast Province have developed from these.

The fourth chapter is concerned with the

contribution made by the Government tOlf/ards developing secondary school education in the Province.

The division of this chapter once ag in follows the racial pattern, for as mention d earlier during the colonial era there was separate development in the field of education for each race. The attitude and the policies of the colonial government towards the education of each race bas been discussed first. The final part of the chapter surveys the contribution of the independent Government towards the development of secondary school education 1n the Province. The fifth chapter has three broad divisions • The first part attempts to urvey the voluntary contribution made by various Asian communities towards the development of secondary school education. The discussion of Harambee effort in the field of secondary school education forms the second part of the chapter, and in the third part an attempt is made to discuss the development of private secondary schools in the Province. The conclusions that the author has reached about the nature of the growth and development of secondary school education are detailed in the sixth chapter.