| dc.description.abstract | The purpose of the study was to address the following
question: How and why did demand for schooling influence
primary and secondary school provision in Kenya in the
period 1965-1978, and what course did the pertinent
ideological discourse take? Utilizing available public
documents, other writings pertaining to education in Kenya
and theoretical insights, an interpretative reconstruction
of the evolution of primary and secondary schooling was
carried out. The notions of ideology and interpretation
acted as the frames of reference.
Emphasizing the primacy of economic growth, the
dominant Kenyan politicians intended to subordinate school
provision to the demands of economic growth. Resource
limitations called for restraint in the expansion of school
provision, initially at primary school level and later at
secondary school level. But the leadership also advocated
individual self-improvement and community self-help, both of
which had expansive implications for school provision.
Also, the leadership had to pursue the political goal of
distributing school facilities among competing interests.
As a result, the demands imposed on school provision by
(a) the primacy of economic growth, (b) individual self
improvement, (c) community self-help, and (d) political
iii
prudence in the distribution of school facilities tended to
be in conflict, a situation aggravated by some divergence
between the technocratic and the political rationales in
school prov ision.
The resolution of the conflicts consisted in a dynamic
compromise whereby the leadership, communities and
individuals all attempted to attain their goals. School
provision expanded under the pressures of self-improvement,
self-help and advancement of political careers. There was
public and private diversion of resources from investment iQ
immediate economic growth and from improvement of
educational quality. The qualitative distinctions among
schools and the large volume of enrolments enabled the
leadership to advance, with difficulty, towards its economic
and political objectives~ The possibility of individual
advancement, along with a number of adaptive mechanisms,
enabled the evolving school provision system to acquire and
retain a measure of both popular and official legitimacy.
As a compromise, the system only partially, and in some
crucial instances hardly, satisfied the goals the various
interests pursued.
Altogether, the ideological discourse accompanying the
evolution of school provision pushed the provision beyond
the levels sanctioned by the initial economic growth
rationale, but, particularly in the short-term perspective,
in accordance with the leadership's political requirements. | en_US |
