Arista's+Paper

Kenyan schoolchildren. [|http://www.dol.gov/_sec/media/reports/annual2002/images/p__112.jpg)]

=Education in Kenya: A Case Study=

Arista Gates

Kenya’s post colonial legacy is marked by a large emphasis on Western countries as developed models of culture, intellectual thought and society. This emphasis has had a direct effect on the Kenyan educational system throughout its history. The major flaw of the current educational system also resonates throughout the Kenyan culture and can be traced back to Kenya’s post-colonial legacy. The Kenyan educational system fails its students by educating them primarily in the Western culture, devaluing the Kenyan culture and molding students into citizens who struggle to engage productively in the socio-economic realities of Kenya. Although Kenya interacted actively in trade with the Arabian Peninsula beginning as early as 100 A.D., the Arab traders settled almost exclusively on the coast of Kenya, establishing trading centers including Mombasa (Federal 2). It was not until the British became active in the area in the 1800s that interaction occurred between Kenyans and Europeans inland. The first school in Kenya was established in 1846 by the Church Missionary Society in Mombasa. The missionary education aimed to educate Kenyan priests and encourage them to spread Christianity and therefore Western culture to the Kenyans. The education also functioned to produce interpreters for the Anglo-settlers and clerical staff for the British businessmen. The first form of Western implemented education in Kenya was therefore paternalistic and devaluing of all Kenyan culture. Missionary students were taught to read and write, but only in order for them to communicate easily with the colonial administrators (Eshiwani 15). This system set up the precedent of the Western implemented Kenyan educational system. The most pressing flaw in the system was the missing connection between the curriculum of the educational system and the Kenyan cultural history. The system also set up a prevailing indirect rule enforced by the persuasion of Kenyans into the service, labor and clerical classes. The inherent attitude of the British in implementing the missionary education was to re-educate the Kenyan population in the superior intellectual, religious and cultural belief system of the West. Unfortunately many Kenyans (and the Kenyan culture) absorbed this Western value and have been culturally conditioned to believe that education is a process of ridding their lives of their inherently Kenyan cultural characteristics and knowledge. By the 1900s, Kenyans began to see the value of Western education as a social and economic ladder out of poverty. However the colonial education continued to favor all things European, in terms of curriculum, structure, and attendees. This created the link between education and development. As Kenya was seen as “underdeveloped” and therefore inferior to the United Kingdom, its culture was seen as “antiquated” and “obsolete”. There was a growing cultural value system in Kenya that to be educated was to be modern, developed and Western. The 1932 Law of Development and Welfare for the Colonies exemplified this strive towards development by mandating the improvement of Kenyan nutrition, health and education. The law deemed the pre-existing Kenyan models underdeveloped and inferior, and in need of improvement. With the building of the Uganda Railway which ran from Mombasa to Kisumu in 1902, settlement of the unoccupied (due to famine and disease) land of the inlands, specifically the White Highlands, flourished. This further opened up the inlands to British settlement and exploitation. The British obtained the most fertile farming land and the control of the colonial government. African labor on the farms in the White Highlands was largely reduced to forced labor. It was not until the Mau Mau rebellion from 1952 to 1956 that the Kenyan protest was solidified into a strong, audible force. Following the rebellion, the British increased African representation in the colonial legislative council, ultimately leading to a Kenyan majority and independence in 1963. The colonial legacy morphed Kenya’s educational system into a subjugation tool which had a racist and exploitive curriculum irrelevant to life as a native Kenyan and exploitive of Kenyan labor. This caused a large backlash by the Kenyans, who demanded (as a part of their fight for independence) both vocational and academic training in the Kenyan curriculum. Jomo Kenyatta, the first president of Kenya, introduced widespread reforms throughout the government, designating 1/3 of the Kenyan budget to education (Federal 3). Immediately following independence, the Kenyan educational curriculum shifted from a largely vocational (training) emphasis to an emphasis on academic subjects. Kenyans believed that a Western academic education was the best tool for the social and economic development of the newly independent Kenya.

DATA: Number of primary school age children out of school. Total (Taken from UNESCO)

After 1970, the number of Kenyans receiving diplomas increased, and the white-collar job opportunities shrunk. Agricultural and technical jobs became abundant. Academic degrees continued to be valued “in social discourse as a means of social advancement”, yet many Kenyans began criticizing the curriculum for being too narrow and emphasizing knowledge that had little relevance to the employment opportunities in Kenya (Ntarangwi 216). In general, the political situation of Kenya in its post independence period has been remarkably stable considering the instability occurring in many countries immediately around it. However, internal graft and corruption have been large factors under the surface of the three presidents since independence. The current government is the National Rainbow Coalition, which came to power in 2002 with the election of Kibaki. The 8-4-4 system is the current educational system and was implemented in 1985, following the social outcry against a “too narrow”, academically focused curriculum of the 1970s. The 8-4-4 system aimed to refocus the curriculum towards skill-based, vocational knowledge that would offer a wide range of educational and post-educational opportunities for Kenyans. Structurally, it is very similar to the American educational system, consisting of three levels: eight years of compulsory primary education (beginning at age six), four years at the secondary level, and four years of higher education (Onsumu et al, 24). Kenya today boasts a 75-85% literacy rate with a 75% enrollment in primary school and a 23% enrollment in secondary school (Federal 7). The 75% enrollment in primary school is on the rise after the implementation of Universal Free Primary Education in 2003. Kenya’s primary enrollment fluctuated due to the repeated implementation and repeal of educational fees throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Currently, core primary courses include English, Kiswahili, mathematics, science and agriculture, geography, history, civics and religious studies, art, craft and music and home science and business education (Ministry of Education). Primary students are currently required to take a minimum of 12 out of an available 17 courses each year. Core secondary courses include English, Kiswahili, mathematics, biology, physics, chemistry, history and government, geography, religious education and physical education. The 8-4-4 system has highlighted many of the current problems with the Kenyan educational system. There is a definite over-emphasis on giving each student a balanced education which includes some training and vocational curriculum as well as academic curriculum. This is overwhelming the students, the teachers, and the resources of the system. Many teachers were already considerably underpaid and under trained. Many students struggle to prepare for the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education, which determines which students proceed to secondary school. The facilities and resources of many of the vocational centers are considerably out of date and because of this, are not preparing the students to interact in the technologically obsessed global economy. Further problems affecting the educational system include the impact of poverty, and HIV/AIDS. At the end of 2005, Kenya had an AIDS orphan population of 1.1 million children (UNESCO 27). Regional disparities also continue to plague the Kenyan educational system: in many remote areas there is poor access to educational services, and unequal distribution of learning and educational resources. Currently, 75% of Kenyans are employed by the agricultural sector (UNESCO 23). The current Kenya Ministry of Education states that “since 1963, sector development has been centered on issues of access, retention, participation, equity, quality, relevance and financing. From January 2003, the Government implemented Free Primary Education (FPE) based on the realization that quality and affordable basic education form the window of hope for poverty eradication and combating other evils in our society” (Ministry of Education). In order to combat the evils of the Kenyan society through education, the 8-4-4 system must be evaluated on its effectiveness. The 8-4-4 system exasperates the effects of Kenya’s colonial legacy, though its inability to tailor the educational content and curriculum to the socio-economic and cultural realities of Kenyan students. The lack of effective government action and corruption also continues to be a prevalent problem in the educational system of Kenya. The Kenyan government has a history of using reports and commissions to convince their people they are working on education, while never actually acting on the findings of these reports. The Kenyan government currently spends 30% of its budget on education, yet much of the money does not reach the students, teachers and facilities that need it most (Ntarangwi 219). Although Universal Free Primary Education is increasing the primary enrollment, potential problems lie in the current proposal to extend the concept of Universal Free Education to the secondary level. Many problems which plague the Universal Free Primary Education have yet to be addressed. Primary gross enrolment rates are almost six times lower in the North-Eastern Province than in the Western Province (UNESCO 24). In urban slums, the arid and semi-arid areas, poor children and AIDS orphans are still vulnerable to exclusion from schooling. Without the influx of educational fees from the parents of Kenya’s primary students, the facilities are under-funded and the teachers are underpaid. In many ways, the Kenyan educational system and government is working far ahead of their means and not addressing the most basic and detrimental problems in the educational system. The current goals of the Ministry of Education include the achievement of Education for All by 2015, development of a national strategy for technical and vocational training, expansion of universities, and improvement of transition rates between primary and secondary school (UNESCO 23). Although all of these goals are important and should be addressed at some point, many of the current problems in the educational system need to be addressed before the Ministry of Education designates time, resources and funding towards the “expansion of universities” and other loftier goals. The Kenyan government must implement an educational system that encourages a positive national identity in order to encourage and re-emphasize the value of “inherently Kenyan” intellect and culture. This indigenous knowledge must be used in the classroom to demonstrate that Kenyan intellect is not obsolete or static, but can be used actively to reaffirm different ways of interpreting the world. An accurate and Kenyan-created historical overview of the nation must be created which represents the contributions of all ethnic groups and could be implemented into the curriculum of the educational system. The 8-4-4 system must be evaluated on its basic effectiveness before the Ministry of Education puts funding, resources and time towards its goal of Education for All by 2015. A Kenya appropriate curriculum must be implemented, without overwhelming students and teachers. This curriculum would prepare students to enter the Kenyan labor system, and place positive value on the agricultural and technical jobs. Through a successful implementation of this curriculum, there can be a shift in the media and cultural acceptance of the vocational/technical career path. Throughout the government, corruption and government effectiveness must be addressed. It would be especially beneficial to implement citizenship skills directly into the primary and secondary classrooms to encourage questioning and critical thinking skills that could be directed towards the government. Citizenship skills place the responsibility of checking the government and understanding the political system directly into the hands of Kenyans through education. Many Kenyans today identify more strongly with Western values than their own—an empty and useless sense of modernity in many Kenyan lives. A life without extensive formal education is regarded as primitive, however successful that life may be in its local Kenyan community. The value-judgment placed on all facets of Kenyan life hinders the educational system by providing education which leaves the students unequipped to attain their potential. With the implementation of a positive national identity, the people of Kenya will be able to be active members in the socio-economic and cultural realities of Kenya.

__Annotated Bibliography:__

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Eshiwani, George S. __Education in Kenya since Independence__. Nairobi, Kenya: East African Educational Publishers Ltd., 1993.

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Kaga, Yoshi. "The Impact of Free Education on Early Childhood Development in Kenya." __UNESCO Brief on Early Childhood__ Jan 2006 22 Nov 2007 <[|http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0014/001433/143320e.pdf>.]

Ministry of Education, "Republic of Kenya: Ministry of Education." __Republic__ __of Kenya__. (2007). Republic of Kenya. 14 Dec 2007 <[|http://www.education.go.ke/index.htm>.]

Ntarangwi, Mwenda. "The Challenges of Education and Development in Post Colonial Kenya." __Africa__ __Development__ XXVIII, nos 3&4(2003) 07 Nov 2007 <[|http://www.codesria.org/Links/Publications/ad3_03/ntarangwi.pdf>.]

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