Stages of effects western education on Kenyans

Stage One
While the Mzungu (white man) or the European was very busy working out detailed scheme about the African education, the Africans saw at the time that the early form of meaningful education was that one which made him similar to Mzungu. Right from the days of missionaries, the Kenyan Africans went to the missionary schools because they wanted to be like Whiteman.
This desire was made even more real and attainable by evidence of those from among them who finished schools irrespective of the level and were employed by the white men, looked different, behaved differently and even dressed differently. This class of Africans appeared and even talked like white men. Therefore going to school at this time was based on one objective only. That of attaining the white man status.
It was for this reason that that the Africans rejected the form of education meant for the blacks.
This was the attitude which lasted till about fifties. It was reported that at some time during the second half of the forties the late president Kenyatta supported this attitude politically when he addressed a public meeting saying
“Take your children to school. Let them learn the tricks of the white man so that they can come back to Kenya and fight the white man by the same trick”
Therefore, during the first stage of Kenyan history of education, we went to school so as to be like white man was the motive and educational guiding star.
Stage Two
The second stage in Kenya’s educational progression came at about the beginning of the sixties. This was a time when independence was just around the corner. It lasted till about the middle of seventies.
The special aspect of this stage was to go to go to school for the purpose of filling up the many white collar jobs. these jobs were available in both private and public sectors. The government even organized crash programmes in which to train the then urgently needed local manpower,
Therefore, during this stage, we went to school in order to obtain a certificate which would be able to fill up the white collar jobs. And in deed these white collar jobs were available.
Two factors contributed to this situation at the time. These were the following:
That, at the dawn of independence, many expatriates left the country thus creating many jobs.
That, there was a small population of Kenyans which was reported at the time to be about 7.5 million.
Stage Three
This stage comes up somewhere after independence. We note that Kenya’s population took on a rapid increase such that from about 7.5M at independence it was reported to be about 15 million by about 1975. This figure was reported to have jumped to 20 million by about 1984.
Therefore, it was a factor of common sense that somewhere a long the line of development in Kenya, pupolation would overtake that rate of economic expansion.
This factor begun to show itself from about 1975. This factor manifested itself in many complains which begun to be openly public that there were no jobs. People even begun to question the type of education system at the time. Hence the Gachadhi commission of 1976.
Pressure had started mounting for the need for the graduates through school who could be self-reliant. It was expected that such would be the person who could be able to meet the conditions of the changed situation in Kenya’s economic and population expansion.
In addition to the recommendations of the Gachadhi commission, there also came within four years the recommendation of the Mackey commission. Among others, the Mackay commission made recommendations where a stress was made to make provision through education, the teaching of subjects of agriculture, business education and the technical subjects. These courses are to be taught in both the primary and secondary school cycle.
This has the meaning that from these two commissions a stress was made that Kenyans should go to school to realize their own selves, which is the true meaning and the purpose of going to school.
Although, upto the time of writing, this particular stage has not been fully realized, a point has been made. that, self-reliance is the only purpose to be achieved through education. It is therefore a stage where entire education system and the teachers in particular, where teachers will need to learn to translate the principles of education such that the end product of their teaching becomes a truly self reliant Kenya citizen of the next millennium.

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Titany answered the question on August 30, 2021 at 13:51