The Struggle for Transformation in Education in Kenya since Independence

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Periodical article

Title:	The Struggle for Transformation in Education in Kenya since Independence
Author:	Furley, O.W.
Year:	1972
Periodical:	East Africa Journal
Volume:	9
Issue:	8
Period:	August
Pages:	23-27
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Kenya
Subjects:	educational policy Education and Oral Traditions
Abstract:	The purpose of this paper is to describe the main directions in which education in Kenya has developed since independence, and to suggest that fundamental changes in education in a rapidly developing country are harder to achieve than might be supposed. In some aspects the policies pursued by the independent government were surprisingly similar to those of the colonial government. From a system of racial segregation, and of multiple educational agencies, Kenya progressed to a unified system under central control, even though primary education was largely left in the hands of local authorities. Firm faith was placed in a general education for primary school-children but at higher levels there was a determination to produce the necessary output of trained artisans, technicians, and agriculturalists. Secondary and higher academic education forged ahead in the belief that this would generate an overall expansion in the modern sector. As time went on this was related more closely to estimated manpower needs, though there was no inclination to limit candidates 'in the pipeline' to precisely forecast numbers, as in Tanzania. Notes.