Institute for Development Studies, University of Nairobi

This paper presents preliminary results of an ethnographic study of the Kuria of Kenya. The analysis highlights the factors and processes of socioeconomic differentiation and seeks to demonstrate how key institutions, ideologies and cultural typifications reproduce unequal situations. The paper begins with a history of formal education in South Nyanza District and in the two locations under study. The second section examines patterns of school attendance; the third section explores the quality of education; and the fourth looks at the relationship of educational attainment to employment and income.