Kenya's Forgotten Independent School Movement

Can Education System be Repaired? Ideological Dearth in Kenya’s Educational Practice and its Implications for Reforms in the Education Sector

“…Originally intended to train teachers, the College soon included an elementary, primary and secondary school, with enrolments increasing to over 1,000 by 1947. As James Stanfield (2005), noted these findings help to shed light on the importance of independently controlled schools in a free and democratic society. In Kenya's struggle against colonial rule it was their schools which first gained independence providing the momentum for future reforms.…”

“…According to Stanfield (2005), the European model of schooling was introduced in Kenya towards the end of the nineteenth century with the first school opened by the Christian Missionary Society near Mombasa in 1846. While few schools were built further inland until the turn of the century and the building of the Uganda railway, it is estimated that mission schools had been established throughout Kenya by 1910.…”

“…James Stanfield (2005), points out that only those schools which adhered to the principles set out in the 1909 Fraser Report qualified for government funds. Therefore, while academic education was to be given to European and Asian children, African children were to receive industrial and agricultural training.…”

“…According to James Stanfield (2005), following a ban on female circumcision by three missionary societies in 1929, the Kikuyu in CentralProvince began to boycott mission schools and demanded an end to the monopoly on education held by the missions. After failing to persuade the government to open its own secular schools free from missionary control, the Kikuyu began to open their own.…”

African Biblical Studies: An Introduction to an Emerging Discipline

“…Christian teaching became compulsory and African customs and traditions were subsequently neglected ' (2005: 82). When, in response, Africans formed African independent schools that would allow aspects of African culture and realties to be part of education, they were promptly shut down by the colonialists on the pretext that Africans did not have the financial and organizational skills to run educational institutions (Stanfield 2005).…”