| dc.description.abstract | The principal aim of this study is to survey
and analyse the development of secondary school
education in the Coast Province of Kenya. This
thesis examines the part played by various
agenoies such as the Christian missionaries,
the Government and other voluntary bodies to
spr ael secondary school education in th Province,
nd brings to light the problems they faced. It
also attempts to question the validity of the
ccusations often levelled at the people of the
coast Province of being less education-minded
than their upcountry brethren and to show
whether this alleged lack of interest in education
is attributable to the shortcomings of those
who set upon themseIves the task of providing
education or th receipients themselves, namely
the people of th Coast Province, or the
factors beyond the control of them all. namely
the hot and the unhealthy climate, poverty and
centuries of Islamic tradition prevalent in the
Coast Province.
This study is divided into six chapters. The
first chapter attempts to give a general background
of the Coast Provine. It tells the reader about
the type of land that Province has ,and the people
who live on it describe the ororigin and
their economic activity. An account of the
tremendous influnces of those foreign races
who for centuries have had content with the East
Coast hasa lso been given. The advent of the
missionaries who introduced in East Africa wes
t of educatlon and who throughout the colonial
period remained the greatest voluntary agents of
education forms apart of this chapt er. And
finally it deals with the British, who as
colonialist shaped the development of Kenya
up to the time when lndependence was achieved
in 1963. Thus the reader is introduced to the
Cosat Province before he is told of the development
of secondary school education in the Province.
The second chapt er gives a general overview
of the development of education in Kenya. The aim
to glve,the r eader an overall picture of the
historical dev elopment of education in Kenya and
to enable him to compare it with the dev elopment
of education especially secondary school education
in the Coast Province which is a theme of the
subsequent chapters. During the colonial
period educ ation was divided into four watertight
compartments according to the-four races,
namely, African, Arab, Asian and European.
It has therefore been found necessary to
discuss under separate headings the development
of educ tion of different races. The missionary
contribution which was of vital importance has
also been discussed here. Also included in this
chapter are tr ditional education and Is1amic
education in the coastal areas of the country.
In the third chapter an attempt is made to
survey the contribution made by various missionary
bodies to develop secondary school education
in the Coast Province. Their efforts to spread
education in each district of the Province and
the response of the local people in ach district
have been explained. It was found essential
to take into consideration first the development
of elementary and intermediate schools, for
most of the mission secondary schools in the
Coast Province have developed from these.
The fourth chapter is concerned with the
contribution made by the Government tOlf/ards
developing secondary school education in the Province.
The division of this chapter once ag in follows
the racial pattern, for as mention d earlier
during the colonial era there was separate
development in the field of education for each
race. The attitude and the policies of the
colonial government towards the education of each
race bas been discussed first. The final part
of the chapter surveys the contribution of the
independent Government towards the development of
secondary school education 1n the Province.
The fifth chapter has three broad divisions •
The first part attempts to urvey the voluntary
contribution made by various Asian communities
towards the development of secondary school
education. The discussion of Harambee effort in
the field of secondary school education forms
the second part of the chapter, and in the third
part an attempt is made to discuss the development
of private secondary schools in the Province.
The conclusions that the author has reached
about the nature of the growth and development of
secondary school education are detailed in the
sixth chapter. | en |
