"The History of Kabaa-Mangu High School and the Contribution of the Holy Ghost Fathers Upon Education in Kenya.".

Abstract

This thesis is about the educational work of the Holy Ghost Fathers in Kenya, especially as carried out at their first school of higher learning for Africans at Kabaa and later at Mangu after the school was transferred to the Latter site; hence the name Kabaa- Mangu High School. The thesis examines the educational programme of the school through a period of forty years from its humble and difficult beginnings in 1925 to the period shortly after Kanya's independence in 1965, and brings to light the many challenges that had to be faced and the obstacles that had to be overcome throughout that period. An attempt has been made to give a detailed history of the school as the only way of showing the immensity of the programme undertaken and the strengths and weaknesses of the Holy Ghost approach over the "Thole issue of culture contact in an African setting. In the introduction and the final chapter of the thesis, an attempt has been made to register the earlier pioneer efforts of the Holy Ghost Fathers with particular reference to their educational activities right from their arrival in East Africa in the 1860's to 1911 "Then the Kenya Government began taking an interest in African education, and then to 1924 when an important Education Ordinance was passed by the Kenya Government leading to the foundation of Kabaa in 1925, and its Protestant counterpart, the Alliance High School Kikuyu in 1926; these two schools for a long time acted as the main institutions of Higher Learning for Africans in this country. An attempt is also made in Chapters VII and VIII to outline the part played by the helpers of the Holy Ghost Fathers, such as the Brothers and the nuns whose work both supplemented and complemented the efforts of the Holy Ghost Congregation; for,their collective contribution and impact is in effect part and parcel of the Congregation's work both in the field of education and in other areas. Finally this thesis attempts an assessment of the collective Holy Ghost effort by relating it to the general development of Kenya throughout the colonial era.