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Colonial Policy and Education in British East Africa, 1900-1950

Author(s): Ann BeckSource: Journal of British Studies, Vol. 5, No. 2 (May, 1966), pp. 115-138Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of The North American Conference on British StudiesStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/175320 .

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Colonial Policy and Educationin British East Africa, 1900-1950Since World War II much emphasis has been placed on the keyrole which education must play in East African affairs to promotethe economic and cultural growth of the new African states. The

problems of the intensification and the spread of education in EastAfrica deserve particular attention because they are different innature from those of well-established countries and have been com-plicated by peculiarities in the history of the region.Between 1900 and 1920 the groundwork for native education waslaid by missionary schools.1 Though limited in their objectives,they achieved tangible results. In spreading the knowledge ofreading and writing among a substantial number of natives, theyfacilitated native contact with western civilization. After 1919British officials in East Africa, humanitarians, and leaders in mis-sionary movements became concerned with the spread of nativeeducation and demanded a change in the existing system. At thesame time there emerged new native political movements, theleaders of which took a determined stand on matters of nativeeducation. They criticized the existing facilities and demanded theright of the African to be educated. To analyze the complexityof the problems of East African native education, particularly in theperiod from 1920 to 1950, is the purpose of this paper. It is neces-sary, however, first to look at the broader picture of the situation inEast Africa in the immediately preceding decades and then toexamine the achievements and limitations of East African educationin the period from 1900 to 19114?

1. Education in East Africa has been described in official and unofficial publi-cations. For a good presentation of education up to 1925, see W. G. A. Ormsby-Gore, "Education Policy in British Tropical Africa," Parliamentary Papers (1924-25), XXI, and Thomas Jesse Jones, Education in East Africa (London, 1924).Missionaries in East Africa had established mission schools before 1900. They werefar from satisfied with their initial experiments, however, as is evidenced by reportsand letters in the archives of the Church Missionary Society in London. See CMSArchives (London), H. K. Binns to Sir Arthur Hardinge, Dec. 7, 1898. The Re-port of the Committee of Management for Schools meeting in Freretown on July23, 1900, shows that a more systematic approach to teaching began to develop by1900.2. For a detailed study of East Africa's development, see John Robinson, JohnGallagher, and Alice Denny, Africa and the Victorians (New York, 1961), andRoland Oliver and Gervaise Mathew, History of East Africa (Oxford, 1963), I.A brief summary of the East African background can be found in Roland Oliverand J. D. Fage, A Short History of Africa (Baltimore, 1962).

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THE JOURNAL OF BRITISH STUDIESUnder Foreign Office control the prospects for economic devel-opment in Kenya and Uganda between 1894 and 1905 were not

bright.3 The Foreign Office did not intend to introduce generaldevelopment schemes. Strategic considerations were in the fore-ground. Lack of local revenue prevented all but the most urgentexpenses, and native education was left in the hands of the missions.Furthermore, the Foreign Office had inherited a chaotic socialstructure in the colonies. Successive waves of cultural contactsbetween the natives and their invaders had preceded the arrival ofthe British. Rivalries between Moslems and natives were succeededby friction between Moslems and Christians. By 1895 the pressurescaused by the earlier political and religious conflicts affected thenatives and their foreign invaders. The nonnative population wasa composite group of slave dealers, Arabian traders, merchants andsoldiers from India, missionaries, and Europeans employed by theBritish Government.4

IDuring the period of sporadic and unorganized development inBritish East Africa, government planning for native education can-not be detected. But from time to time education was considered

when medical requirements, labor recruitment, and agriculturalneeds made officials aware of the lack of skilled manpower. Underthese conditions changes in attitude toward education took placewhile a concerted attack on the problem itself was missing.To blame the administrators in the colonies for lack of foresight,however, would be wrong. The majority of the British public hadnot supported the acquisition of the East African colonies anddisliked the prospect of pouring the taxpayers' money into a doubt-ful economic enterprise. It is understandable, therefore, that of-ficials stressed in their early annual reports the temporary nature

3. The British East Africa Company had not seen fit to invest capital in thebuilding of a railroad, without which the territories could not be developed profita-bly. The Colonial Office was not yet ready to assume responsibility for East Africa.Liberals, and even some Conservatives, did not relish the idea of adding to Eng-land's African problems.4. Pioneer missionaries had come to Zanzibar as early as 1844, 1857, and1864. They represented the Church Missionary Society of the Anglican Church,the Universities Mission of Cambridge University, and the Catholic Society of theHoly Ghost, a French Order. In the 1870s the United Methodists, the LondonMissionary Society, the Friends, and the French White Fathers arrived for perma-nent settlements. For a description of the early missionary activities, see RolandOliver, The Missionary Factor in East Africa (London, 1952), and Reginald Coup-land, East Africa and Its Invaders (London, 1938).

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COLONIAL POLICY AND EDUCATION IN EAST AFRICAof expenses which, they hoped, would decrease within a short time.5Commissioners Harry Johnston and C. Eliot, administrators inUganda and the East African Protectorate during Foreign Officecontrol, may have been aware of the educational needs between1900 and 1904. In their recommendations, however, they did notspeak of education. Instead, they stressed the civilizing factor oftheir administration. Eliot reported in 1903 that East Africa was"the greatest philanthropic achievement of the later nineteenthcentury."6 The British, he felt, should be given credit for the "greatwork of humanity" which they had accomplished. There could beno doubt, he wrote, "of the immense progress made in renderingthe civilization of the African at least possible."7 But the time wasnot ripe as yet to translate these lofty ideals into realistic suggestionsfor the promotion of the development of an African civilization.Education figured at the bottom of items for which funds wereallocated.

The administration of the Protectorate consisted of fifteen de-partments in 1903, and not a single one was directly concerned witheducation.8 British administrators made use of missionary schoolsand continued to do so for many years after the Colonial Officeassumed responsibility for Kenya and Uganda in 1905. It is notsurprising that the British Government was slow in presenting goalsfor a system of education which it did not control, though by 1909a few guiding principles had been formulated. Governor E. P.Girouard said in his report for 1910 that the methods of lifting

5. The initial expenses for the Protectorate may not seem high by modernstandards. Uganda and Kenya received ?50,000 per year from the Imperial Treas-ury as grants-in-aid from 1893 on. Roland Oliver, Sir Harry Johnston and theScramble for Africa (London, 1957), p. 287.6. Eliot explained that East Africa was no longer the human hunting groundfor slave dealers. The mere rumor that a single child was kidnapped sufficed tosend warships out along the coast in search for the child. The naive certainty withwhich men like Eliot looked at their.task as being primarily humanitarian is dis-arming. It would be wrong to stigmatize him as hypocritical. At that time theabolition of the slave trade was still considered the major achievement of theBritish administration. The protection of the native population from attack byforeign invaders was the second objective. C. Eliot, "Report by His Majesty's Com-missioner on the East Africa Protectorate," ParliamentaryPapers (1903), XLV, 29.7. Harry Johnston's orders stated that he was to set up a Protectorate upon acourse that would make it self-supporting at the earliest possible date. He inter-preted his commission from the point of view of a progressive economist andintroduced a new system of taxation and a plan for the reallocation of land.8. The fifteen departments listed in 1903 were Judicial, Military, Treasury,Medical, Trade and Customs, Transport, Audit, Public Works, Post Office, Tele-graphs, Police, Agricultural, Forestry and Veterinary. Eliot, "Report on the EastAfrica Protectorate," Parliamentary Papers, XLV, 12. The list shows that admin-istrative services had become departmentalized. The omission of education indicatesan underestimation of its importance during this period.

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THE JOURNAL OF BRITISH STUDIESnatives to a higher plane of civilization must be gradual in order topreserve the good qualities of their native background and that intheir impatience for progress administrators had "trampled underfoot the very institutions which should have been preserved if theyhad any regard for the essential advancement of the people."9 Buthe did not say what role education could play in this gradual trans-formation. In 1911 Girouard mentioned that a scheme of educationwas under consideration according to which the sons of chiefs andheadmen should receive special instruction in better methods ofagriculture and sanitation in order to assist administrative officersin their work.10 The improvement of the native population as awhole through education was not mentioned, however, and nochanges in educational policy were made until after World War I.Missionaries had set up a pattern of education by 1895 when theBritish came in. Since they were not plagued by the administrativetroubles of the British officials whose primary function was to servethe military, they could concentrate on their major purpose, thespread of Christianity. Though handicapped by economic strin-gencies and by political rivalries, their single-purpose orientationgave them a very different approach to education, and they con-cerned themselves immediately with the teaching of elementaryreading. All the problems that developed later out of this concernwith the rudiments of education were subordinated to the one over-riding question: How much or how little education was necessary?Because a cursory acquaintance with the Bible was the pre-requisite for baptism for Protestant converts, a nucleus of an educa-tional program based on religion was established. Since few trainedteachers were available during this early stage, much was left to theindividual initiative of pioneers who often lived in isolation. Schoolsin mission centers and elsewhere in native areas developed grad-ually. By 1900 general educational principles began to be dis-cussed. To some extent the spread of the British administrationfacilitated closer contact between the missionaries and the natives.Since evangelism was the raison d'etre of the missionaries,education could not be promoted systematically except as thenecessary adjunct to religious purposes. Nevertheless, educationalproblems were discerned by the missionaries stationed in EastAfrica and by church officials who received their reports back home.At the very beginning an important decision had to be made,

9. E. P. Girouard, "Annual Report, East Africa Protectorate," ParliamentaryPapers (1911), LI, 38.10. Ibid. (1912-13), LVII, 53.

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COLONIAL POLICY AND EDUCATION IN EAST AFRICAnamely, that instruction should take place in the vernacular lan-guage. Teaching for religious purposes should not interfere withnative tradition or, as Bishop Alfred R. Tucker expressed it, leadto the denationalization of the natives.11

IIAn evaluation of the role played by the Government during theyears of "salutary neglect" must be limited to an analysis of its

good intentions. In spite of the absence of planning, officials dulyrecorded educational statistics in their annual reports between 1900and 1914. While the Government did not operate schools itself,it stated gratefully the beneficial results obtained in the schools ofthe Church Missionary Society, the White Fathers, and the Mill HillMission. Hayes Sadler, East African Commissioner in 1904, ex-pressed his appreciation for the harmonious cooperation betweenGovernment and missions which showed to the natives that bothhad as a common aim the moral and material progress of the peopleamong whom they were working.12 It was tacitly understood thateducation could safely be left in the hands of the missions sincethey knew how to do the job properly.Statistics seemed to support the confidence expressed by Sadler.Between 1903 and 1906 the Church Missionary Society increased itsschools from forty two to forty five. During the same period theWhite Fathers increased their schools from thirty five to fifty one.The Church Missionary Society even operated a nondenominationalschool in return for a government grant. To promote secondaryschools, the Government gave ten-pound scholarships as grants-in-aid to mission schools.l3 As administrative services in the Protec-torate were growing, the bush schools in remote areas operatingon a primitive level could not supply the kind of training whichyoung Africans needed to serve as assistants in clerical and sanitary

11. Alfred R. Tucker, Eighteen Years in Uganda and East Africa (London,1908), II, 150. Tucker was a pioneering bishop who showed great interest in thedevelopment of Uganda and cooperated constructively with the British administra-tors. See also Kenneth Ingham, The Making of Modern Uganda (London, 1959),pp. 79-81. Ingham, referring briefly to missionary education in the 1890s, said,"Reading and writing were also taught by the missionaries, at first in a rather un-systematic fashion and purely as an adjunct to their main evangelical purpose. Hencethe title of 'reader' applied to those who were beginning to learn about Christian-ity." Ibid., p. 79.12. Hayes Sadler, "General Report for the Year Ending March 31, 1904(Uganda)," Parliamentary Papers (1905), LVI, 16.13. Hesketh Bell, "General Report for 1905-06 (Uganda)," ibid. (1907),LIV, 19.

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THE JOURNAL OF BRITISH STUDIESwork.14 In spite of urgent needs, however, government participa-tion in education remained extremely limited until the end of WorldWar I. The annual report for Uganda for 1919 repeated a state-ment made many times before that "no government schools [had]been established."15

Although education was almost universally limited to tleelementary level, a few missions experimented with the training ofan elite. In a school started by the Mill Hill Fathers in 1901, pupilsread books in English and studied mathematics, geography, andmusic.16 Bishop Tucker described the foundation of a high schoolat Mengo which served as boarding school for the children of upper-class families. He also mentioned another "intermediate" school,called King's School at Budo, at which students from nearby MengoHigh School received further training. Both schools were foundedin 1903 and, according to Bishop Tucker, had a "unifying"influencebecause they were instrumental in bringing together diverseelements, probably a reference to the diversity of the tribes attend-ing the schools.17 These experiments were made in the hope thatthe influence of western civilization would be established among alimited group. Thus their aim was not merely the promotion offormal education but also the diffusion of culture.Even the training of native teachers for native schools was begunby two missions. The White Fathers opened a training college atRubaga, and the Church Missionary Society set up a training schoolfor teachers at Namirembe. The results, however, seem to havebeen disappointing. When the Educational Commission appointedby the British Government in 1919 visited the East Africa Protec-torate, it remarked that "instead of being taught to read and to writeby the most primitive methods the Native should be educated inthe correct sense of the term, whether it be in a secondary schoolor in a village school. The Commissioners lay the greatest stress onthe creation of efficient normal schools."18As time went on, a purely Christian-oriented missionary educa-

14. Oliver described the purpose of the first schools of both Protestants andCatholics as the training of catechists. See Oliver, Missionary Factor, p. 212.Government statistics cited in the early colonial reports may be misleading. Theydo not indicate what is meant by "native schools" and by "teachers or catechists."In his comprehensive report for 1903-04 Commissioner Sadler wrote, for instance,that the Church Missionary Society had 2,052 teachers or catechists, the WhiteFathers had thirty-eight native schools each with a native teacher, and the Mill HillMission had twenty schools under native teachers. See Sadler, "Report for YearEnding March 31, 1904 (Uganda)," ParliamentaryPapers, LVI, 16.15. "General Report for 1917-18 (Uganda)," ibid. (1919), XXXV, 8.16. Ingham, Uganda, p. 123.17. Tucker, Uganda, II, 327-30.18. Quoted n Jones,Educationn EastAfrica,p. 116.

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THE JOURNAL OF BRITISH STUDIESIII

Official reports in the postwar period used the term "revolu-tionary" to describe the changes in educational policies toward thenatives, thus implying a complete break with the past as far asprinciples and methods were concerned. But was it really arevolution in native education that took place after 1920, or wouldit be more correct to speak of a new methodological approach to aproblem that had been seen but pushed aside whenever it couldconveniently be neglected?

Certainly by 1920 Government and missions were ready for anew approach to education. Moreover, the activities of the agenciesof the League of Nations stimulated a re-examination of the "right"of the African to improve his condition in life. The demand for"decolonization" was heard by liberals, humanitarians, and theLabour Party. The latter stated at its annual conference in 1921that the party opposed the exploitation of the workers in dependentareas and recommended protection of the "less civilized or weakerpeoples."21

A more direct and immediate influence on the development ofthe colonial administration was exercized by the condition in whichEast Africa found itself at the end of the war. During the warBritish officials had come into close contact with Africans in specialmilitary units, such as the Carrier Corps and the East AfricanMedical Corps. They had learned that natives who were physicallyfit and capable of further training had developed valuable skills.Their reliability was beyond doubt.22 Should this potential sourceof qualified manpower be permitted to drift back into tribal seclu-sion? In addition, the losses of African manpower during the warled to a chronic postwar shortage of native labor. Drastic measureswere needed. The limited objectives pursued during the firsttwenty years of the Protectorate had to be revised. As long as theBritish Government was primarily concerned with the financialsolvency of the colonies and the preservation of order, it had triedto maintain a balance between the aspirations of the settlers, the

21. "Resolutions for the Twenty-first Annual Conference," The Labour Party(1921), p. 14. Similar views were expressed at the conferences between 1920 and1925.22. G. J. Keane and D. G. Tomblings, The African Native Medical Corps inthe East African Campaign (London, 1926). The recruitment for this Corps beganin August 1914 with an initial strength of forty men. By the end of the war itnumbered fifteen hundred natives from nearly all tribes of British East Africa andthe former German territory.

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COLONIAL POLICY AND EDUCATION IN EAST AFRICAtraditional powers of the chiefs, and the conflicting interests of thetribes.23 After the war new plans for the Protectorate were for-mulated, and committees were appointed to examine measures forthe improvement of the social condition of the natives.

This change in attitude, however, did not come suddenly. Be-fore the end of the war several colonial administrators had deploredthe lack of concerted planning for the Protectorate. When sleepingsickness required the resettlement of large groups of natives in"safety belts" away from the reach of the tsetse fly, or when it wasnecessary to introduce sanitation to diminish the rat populationnear the cities, administrative regulations were ineffective unlessnative cooperation could be secured. To cooperate, the nativesmust have some understanding of the urgency of the situation. Onsuch occasions administrators tried to "educate" the natives for alimited and specific purpose but found that the results were un-satisfactory. On other occasions the causes of the shortage of laborwere analyzed, and it was suggested that the absence of "motiva-tion" might be responsible for the unwillingness of the native toseek labor. Here, too, it became apparent that motivation requirededucation.

A commission of inquiry was appointed in 1918, before the warwas over, to study the question of education throughout the Protec-torate. J. R. Orr from the Education Office in Nairobi urged thecommission to consider the problem of education in its totality -from the physical, moral, intellectual, and commercial point of view.He anticipated increased spending on education and wrote, "inrespect of Government expenditure on Education, the Protectoratestands almost at the bottom of the list of Crown Colonies."24 A fewmonths later he requested that the Chief Native Commissioner forma protectorate council on native education with an education officeras executive head.25 But British officials did not act promptly, andit required the continued effort of further commissions, the issuingof lengthy reports, and the backing of a broader cross section of theinformed public to implement Orr's requests.

23. Oliver describes the British prewar policy correctly by stating that theEast African territories "were regarded as being in cold storage against a time ofneed." He found that the Edwardian administrators were satisfied with modestinnovations in the fields of law and order, taxation and public works. Oliver,Missionary Factor, p. 246.24. Central Government Archives (Nairobi), Orr to Tate, June 11, 1918,File PC/CP/6/5/1, Native Affairs.25. Central Government Archives (Nairobi), Orr to Ainsworth, Sep. 19, 1918,ibid.

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THE JOURNAL OF BRITISH STUDIESIV

J. H. Oldham, the first secretary of the International MissionaryCouncil in 19'21,was among those who exercized a great influenceon the problem of labor and education in the postwar world. Hewas largely responsible for a memorandum issued to the ColonialOffice, entitled "Labour in Africa and the Principles of Trusteeship,"which concerned itself with land tenure, native civilization, and theinfluence of western civilization on the natives.26 Among the sig-natories were well-known personalities within and without themissionary circles. The memorandum was addressed to AlfredMilner at the Colonial Office, asking him to appoint a Royal Com-mission of Investigation. The request was granted and the EastAfrica Commission, appointed in 1924, published its report in 1925.27At the same time, but independent of the Royal Commission, theAmerican Phelps-Stokes Fund supported a study to determine theeducational needs of Africans. This report, originally requested bythe American Baptist Missionary Society and the Foreign MissionsConference of North America, was published under the headingEducation in East Africa in 1924.28 The British Advisory Committeeon Education, appointed by the Government in 1923, handed in itsreport on "Education Policy in British Tropical Africa" in 1925.29This new threefold attack on education in Africa showed thatmissionaries and government officials were equally concerned withthe problem of education although their views differed greatly. Theinvestigating committees studied the financial basis of East Africaneducation, the methods employed in the past, and the direction inwhich a new approach toward native education should proceed.Although the admission that in the future more money must be spenton native education in East Africa was self-evident, the prominencegiven to this admission in all reports showed a considerable changeof attitude. The Phelps-Stokes Commission found that "appropria-tions for education had been negligible in comparison with the

26. For an account of the preparation of the memorandum, see Oliver, Mis-sionary Factor, pp. 251-54.27. The personnel of the Royal Commission of 1924 was as follows: Chairman,W. G. A. Ormsby-Gore, M.P. (Conservative); Major A. G. Church, M.P.(Labour); F. C. Linfield, M.P. (Liberal); and J. A. Calder, Secretary (ColonialOffice). See House of Commons, Report of the East Africa Commission (1925).28. L. J. Lewis (ed.), Phelps-Stokes Reports on Education in Africa (London,1960). This is the abridged edition of Jones, Education in East Africa, cited innote 1.29. Ormsby-Gore, "Education Policy in British Tropical Africa," Parliamen-tary Papers, XXI. Among the nine members of this commission were five laymen,two bishops, and Oldham.

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COLONIAL POLICY AND EDUCATION IN EAST AFRICAgreat needs."30 The British Advisory Committee on Education of1923 found that "The rapid development of ... African Depend-encies on the material side [demanded] and [warranted] a cor-responding advance in the expenditure on education."31 The EastAfrica Commission of 1924 emphasized the necessity of allocatinggovernment funds for education on a larger scale. The problemresolved itself into making the best use of whatever funds the localgovernment could afford for this service.32 Sir Donald Cameron,governor of Tanganyika in 1925, wondered whether the new pro-gressive spirit in the colonies had reached the Colonial Office andwrote to Oldham that he feared his swollen education estimatesfor 1925 would be cut back by some clerk at Whitehall.33Data on the expenses of the postwar years substantiate the state-ments cited above. In 1922 there were 500,000 native children inKenya and 640,000 in Uganda who required education.34 The totalestimate for education in Kenya for 1925 was ?75,000 with only?37,000 earmarked for native education. Reduced to a per capitaexpenditure, it amounted to practically nothing.35 The East AfricaCommission was aware of the importance of enlarging the financialbasis of native education. Since the Government collected some?575,000 from the natives for hut and poll taxes annually, thecommission found it understandable "that the more intelligentnatives should ask that a fair proportion of the revenue contributedby them should be earmarked for native services,"36but cautionedthat "a great immediate increase in expenditure on native educationalone was not practicable." The British taxpayer could not be askedto assume the staggering burden of financing new roads and newrailway construction, the key to economic growth in East Africa,and at the same time to contribute to larger budgets through theImperial Government. The commission proposed that the ImperialGovernment raise a loan of ?10,000,000, even though the service

30. Lewis, Phelps-Stokes Reports, p. 8.31. Ormsby-Gore, "Education Policy in British Tropical Africa," Parliamen-tary Papers, XXI, 5.32. Report of the East Africa Commission, p. 50.33. Custody of Margery Perham, Oxford, Cameron to Oldham, Nov. 8, 1925,Oldham Papers.34. Jones, Education in East Africa, pp. 114, 152.35. Government expenditure for Uganda cannot be compared with that forKenya, since missions were entirely in charge of education until 1924.36. Report of the East Africa Commission, p. 175. Of the total estimated ex-penditure of ?2,000,000, the sum of ?327,000 was spent for the upkeep of themilitary, the police, and the prisons; ?133,000 for medical services; and only?37,000 for education.

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THE JOURNAL OF BRITISH STUDIESon the loan would make some demands on the tax expenses of theBritish public during the initial period.37

Important though it was, the problem of financing education inEast Africa was only the prerequisite for the major objectives dis-cussed in the reports. How could the raising of the standards ofeducation and its expansion throughout East Africa be achieved?On these issues administrators, government officials, missionaries,and educators did not reach agreement easily. The 19.25report ofthe British Advisory Committee on Education favored cooperationwith voluntary educational efforts but reserved to itself "the gen-eral direction of educational policy and the supervision of the oldEducational Institutions, by inspection and other means."38 Itsnew comprehensive program of education went far beyond thetraining of skills and literacy. It proposed to assume responsibilityfor raising the character and efficiency of the majority of the peo-ple and for the improvement of their condition of life. To carry outsuch an ambitious goal, the Education Department needed thebest available men for its training program. In addition to dwellingon the ideals of perfect government, the memorandum made spe-cific suggestions for voluntary grant-aided schools, the training ofnative teachers, and the instruction in technical and vocationalschools.39

VMissionary reaction to the new administrative and economicpolicies of the Government varied widely. Oldham, who repre-sented the liberal churchman's view, was known to favor coopera-tion between Government and missions, and he heartily approvedof the additions to the curricula which the reorganization of 1925

37. The commissioners added that the demand on the taxpayer's purse couldbe justified "on the grounds of the moral obligation imposed on Great Britain forthe development of its great tropical possessions." Ibid., p. 182.38. Ormsby-Gore, "Education Policy in British Tropical Africa," Parliamen-tary Papers, XXI, 3.39. The memorandum stated that grant-aided schools "should be regarded asfilling a place in the scheme of education as important as the schools conducted byGovernment itself." Ibid., XXI, 5. From this statement missionary schools couldderive a claim for equality in the proposed expansion of education. The report wasgenerous in its recommendation that all government departments should concernthemselves with vocational training and services for apprentices. It made recom-mendations for the training of girls and women and even mentioned adult educa-tion in order to interest older people in the education of their children. It assignedto education a central role in the cultural development of the East African de-pendencies.

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COLONIAL POLICY AND EDUCATION IN EAST AFRICAimplied. Education, he concluded, was properly included in thegoals of Christianity, "since the God to whom man is asked to sur-render his heart is a stupendously rich reality." On the other hand,he was apprehensive that the purely Christian character of educa-tion in missionary schools was endangered by the new trends andthat government supervision of missionary schools and the teach-ing of religion on a nondenominational basis in any school regard-less of its orientation would deprive religious teaching of its value.He also feared that the new emphasis on technical and scientifictraining would lead to a materialistic outlook which would bringonly a distorted aspect of western civilization to the new Africangeneration.40 At a remarkably early stage in the transformationof life in Africa, Oldham perceived the dangers with which thedeveloping African countries would have to cope later on, but heoverlooked the fact that the new African culture of the postwarworld was no longer exclusively oriented toward the ChristianChurch. He was realistic enough, however, to understand that theBritish Government, formerly the weaker partner in the joint opera-tion of educational affairs, had become the determining factor inthe new educational system. It was, therefore, imperative thatboth the missions and the Government have a clear understandingof their mutual aims. He feared that in the future mission schoolswere bound to lag behind government schools because their fundscould not keep up with the increased official school budgets fi-nanced by imperial and colonial revenue. He courageously weighedthe problems and came to the conclusion that Christian schools inAfrica had a role to play in the future of East Africa.

The Bishop of Uganda was more specific in his evaluation ofthe new plans. He criticized a memorandum on native educationin Uganda presented by E. R. Hussey, the former educationalinspector in the Sudan and more recently education director ofUganda.41 He disapproved of Hussey's proposals for a system ofdual education, preferring to leave primary education entirely inthe hands of the missions and to let Government take over second-ary education. He did not think that religious education was suffi-ciently safeguarded in the new plans of the Government and wasconvinced that tribal chiefs would not care for an extension ofgovernment influence on education.

40. J. H. Oldham and B. D. Gibson, The Remaking of Man in Africa (London,1931), esp. pp. 19-21.41. Edinburgh House (London), Memorandum by Bishop of Uganda, Apr. 21,1924, File General.

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THE JOURNAL OF BRITISH STUDIESVI

What the average African thought and wanted during this stageof African development cannot be ascertained with certainty.The bits of evidence here and there give only fragmentary answers.At the Pan-African meeting in Paris in 1919, which did not claimto speak for East Africa in particular, the adoption of a resolutionon education is probably characteristic of the thinking of manyAfricans after the war. The resolution spoke of the "right"of everynative child to learn to read and write and to attain a higher edu-cation if desired.42 This statement represents only the feeble be-ginning of a movement that later assumed political proportions.The earliest postwar East African political organization foundedby Harry Thuku in 1921 may have been concerned with educa-tion, since it drew attention to the low wages for agricultural labor.Four years later the Kikuyu Central Association, the successor ofthe East African Association, summarized the aims of the Kikuyuin a memorandum to Sir Edward Grigg, who was then governorof Kenya. Prominent among the grievances was the demand forbetter education, especially in high schools and girls' schools, andthe inspection of schools by European personnel as well as chiefs.In 1926 the District Commissioner reported that the Kikuyu Cen-tral Association's request for high schools deserved sympathy butthat both technical schools and high schools must wait until theKikuyu taxpayers could afford them.43 Though the demand formore and better education by Kikuyu leaders continued, it appearsthat the Government's proposals after 1925 did not raise greathopes in the minds of the Africans. A memorandum submitted tothe visiting Hilton Young Commission in 1928 reflected the appre-hensions of the Kikuyu, for it stated clearly what the Kikuyuconsidered their minimum needs. "Younger and older men wantnow that there shall be schools where our boys can go to school.Many of us older and all of us younger men want to go to school.. . . Provisions need to be made in every area of our districts forschools where the masses of our children can attend." They alsowanted "sufficient educated girls to be the wives of these educatedboys" and asked for advanced schools for the best of their childrenso that the boys might fill important posts in the governmentservice and improve their country. They stated, "we are willing to

42. Colin Legum, Pan-Africanism (New York, 1962), p. 133.43. Central Government Archives (Nairobi), District Commissioner to SeniorCommissioner (Nyeri), Jan. 2, 1926, File PC/CP/8/5/2.

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COLONIAL POLICY AND EDUCATION IN EAST AFRICAhelp ourselves by cessing our people and they will be willing topay these cesses for these two purposes, the education of the manyand the higher education of the few."44In his book Facing Mount Kenya Jomo Kenyatta devoted anentire chapter to the system of education in Kenya, with particularemphasis on the description of tribal education for participationin the African social life. In his evaluation of the European edu-cators in Africa, he showed less interest in the subject matter orthe economics of education than in the unfavorable bias of theEuropean toward the "primitive" African culture.45 Kenyatta wasmore specific in the Petition which he submitted to the Secretaryof State as representative of the Kikuyu Central Association inLondon in 1929. He requested compulsory education for primary,agricultural, and domestic schools, proposed free access to second-ary and high schools for those who had successfully completedtheir primary education, and recommended government scholar-ships for the training of all natives of ability in local schools orabroad.46

Statements like these show that by 1930 the African leadersunderstood the pivotal character of education. They considered itas the key to their economic and social advancement. Between1919 and 1930 government planning for an expanded system ofnative education had aroused hopes among the Africans. As timewent by without tangible results, however, impatience and sus-picion arose as to the real intentions of the Government. Thatthese hopes and suspicions would be exploited politically in thesucceeding two decades was apparently not anticipated by thosewho genuinely endeavored to advance the social and economiccondition of the East Africans.

VIIAccording to the Kenya White Paper of 1923, it was "the mis-sion of Great Britain to work continuously for the training and edu-cation of the African towards a higher intellectual, moral and eco-nomic level than that which they had reached when the Crown

44. Central Government Archives (Nairobi), Memorandum by Kikuyu Associ-ation, Southern District of Kikuyu, for Hilton Young Commission, 1928, p. 6, ibid.45. Jomo Kenyatta, Facing Mount Kenya (London, 1938), ch. v.46. Church of Scotland Archives (Edinburgh), A Petition to the Right Hon.H. M. Principal Secretary of State, 1929. The Petition was read at a meeting be-tween Kenyatta and members of the Church of Scotland Foreign Missions Com-mittee in Edinburgh on May 30, 1930.

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THE JOURNAL OF BRITISH STUDIESassumed the responsibility for the administration of the territory."47A practical beginning was made by the introduction of advisoryboards or committees of education in Kenya, Uganda, and Tangan-yika.48 Since missions had been the principal agents of educa-tion, their cooperation and advice were essential if the new ad-visory boards were to function. Oldham and the Archbishop ofCanterbury agreed with the Government and Ormsby-Gore on thecomposition of the first permanent advisory committee set up inLondon, which included the Parliamentary Under-Secretary ofState, the Head of the Africa Department at the Colonial Office,and representatives of missions and professional educators.49 Fromthe point of view of local educational administration, however, theestablishment of advisory boards in the three territories was ofgreater practical importance. Kenya had its advisory board whenthe East Africa Commission visited in Nairobi in 1924. In Ugandaand Tanganyika some time passed before the boards were prop-erly established. By 1930 the boards in all three colonies had thesame composition but were not necessarily equally effective. Theirmembership consisted of official members, nonofficial members,and missionaries. The East Africa Commission had words of highpraise for the Kenya Advisory Board of Education in its 1925Report. It had, the commissioners wrote, "an excellent effect insecuring a policy in education which commends itself to missionsand to the Government."50On the other hand, there were complaints that the chiefs werenot represented on the advisory boards. The cooperation of thenative councils, even though they were a relic of Lord Lugard'spast, was considered essential. At a time when Government andmissions hoped to stimulate the native African to play a moreactive role in local and tribal organizations, the native councilswere not an unmitigated blessing. They might promote socialdevelopment, or conversely they might try to preserve an archaicideal of tribal life which could not be maintained since westernstandards permeated even the remoter native communities. Theymight even lead to friction if they were unable to gain the confi-dence of the younger generation of Africans and failed to prevent

47. "Indians n Kenya,"Parliamentaryapers(1923), XVIII, 10.48. The missionary leaders were consulted before the advisory committeeswere set up.49. Oliver, MissionaryFactor,p. 270. Regardingthe personnelof the Ad-visory Committeefor Native Education n Kenya, Uganda, and Tanganyika, eeOldhamandGibbs,Remaking f Manin Africa,pp. 159-63.50. Reportof the EastAfricaCommission, p. 145-46,176.

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COLONIAL POLICY AND EDUCATION IN EAST AFRICAclashes between them and the missionaries.51 Nevertheless, H. M.Grace, a missionary and an educator, commented critically in 1930on the failure of the advisory boards to give the tribal leaders achance to express themselves on educational problems. He feltthat without native participation on the boards the self-sacrificingefforts of the educational officers must be incomplete.52 Thoughopinions might vary on the effectiveness of the advisory boards ofeducation, they at least made it possible to promote a more uni-form policy in education.

VIIIIn discussing cooperation between Government and missions,several difficulties arise. If one relies on official statements alone,one may arrive at the conclusion that cooperation was achievedbetween 1924 and 1950. If one reads between the lines and studiesprivate accounts from unpublished sources, one is tempted to mod-ify one's conclusions.53 Both sides publicly announced their desirefor cooperation. But administrators in East Africa and officialsin England expressed doubts at times about the feasibility and thevalue of cooperation, as did the missions. Officially, however, themissions adopted the position that they were ready to follow majorgovernment directives in their schools in order to implement thegoal of education for the entire African native population.When Ormsby-Gore was appointed chairman of the nonpartyEast Africa Commission in 1924, the prospects for cooperationseemed good. As time went on, the British Government empha-sized far-reaching objectives in African education, such as thetraining of the general mass of the people, the spread of com-munity schools concerned with all aspects of community life in aconcerted way, the improvement of health and social conditionsthrough education, and the teaching of technical skills in vocationalschools. The ultimate goal toward which all these efforts shouldbe directed was the preparation for independence. Education con-ceived in these general terms was the basic factor in a vast new

51. See, for instance, the absence of leadership exercised by the native councilsin Kenya during the beginning of Kikuyu political activities, 1924-30. The Native,District, and Provincial Commissioners complained frequently that the authority ofthe chiefs was disregarded by the younger members of the Kikuyu Central Associa-tion.52. Edinburgh House (London), Memorandum by H. M. Grace, principal ofKing's College, Budo, to SecretaryCMS, Namirembe, Feb. 1930, File General.53. In personal discussions with former missionary educators and governmentofficials in East Africa, the author's interpretation of cooperation between missionsand Government changed considerably,

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THE JOURNAL OF BRITISH STUDIESscheme.54 Literary education would be continued, but it was onlyone aspect of the new program. All efforts were to lead towardthe advancement of the economic well-being of the entire popula-tion.Such an approach differed from the original pattern set for edu-cation by the missions. Long before 1914 missionary educatorshad debated whether the African needed literary training orwhether he should be given an agricultural and vocational educa-tion, and many missions had given instruction in this area. But themajor concern of all missions had remained the preservation ofChristianity where it had been established, and the spread of theGospel where it had not yet penetrated. Although the aims of themissions might parallel those of the Government, there began todevelop very clearly a disparity of motivation.To coordinate the Government's far-reaching program and toestablish the machinery to administer it proved to be difficult.Colonial experts like Sir Donald Cameron, E. R. Hussey, andArthur Mayhew and university professors like W. M. Macmillanand Margery Perham anticipated a gradual change of Africansociety in well-defined stages. But even then the implications ofthe plans within the framework of the colonial political and socialscene of the 1930s and 1940s required the tact of well-informedadministrators in the educational, medical, and agricultural depart-ments, and the cooperation of the settlers and the official com-munities. And in order to reach out into the African communities,government offcials had to rely heavily on the work of the mis-sions at a time when their share in educational planning andadministration began to decline.In 1925, 1933, and 1943 the Advisory Committee on Educationstressed the need for cooperation between missions and Govern-ment.55 There was, however, one problem involved. Would mis-sionary policies in education supplement the goals set by the Gov-ernment, or would they conflict with them? This problem waswell expressed by F. J. Bagshaw, Provincial Commissioner in Tan-ganyika, in a letter to J. H. Oldham in London in 1930. He beganhis letter with the assurance that missionaries and government offi-cials desired to work for the benefit of the natives. But while themissionary considered primarily the salvation of the natives, the

54. See memoranda of 1933, 1935, and 1943 of the Advisory Committee onEducation in the Colonies.55. Advisory Committee on Education in the Colonies, "Memorandum on Ed-ucational Grants-in-aid," Parliamentary Papers (Colonial No. 84, 1933), p. 5.

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COLONIAL POLICY AND EDUCATION IN EAST AFRICAgovernment official was entirely concerned with their worldly wel-fare. The diversity of religions preached made it impossible forthe official to enter into an invariably controversial field. He mustlimit his task to building slowly and carefully on the foundationswhich he found upon entering the scene. "Christianity,"he wrote,"and the improved method of life which we, between us, hope tointroduce, are not part of the foundation: they must be built uponit and not allowed to break it." Missionaries, he felt, were notexercizing the influence in the building team which they ought tohave, for they were not entirely aware of their obligations to thenatives outside religion and were hostile toward natives whoopposed conversion. The young generation of Africans faced anuncertain future. Though probably inspired by a desire for reli-gion, they were bewildered by the rival claims of missionaries,non-Christian tribal leaders, and the semieducated malcontents.The chief, the government official's right-hand man, distrusted themissionary and with him went the bulk of the people, thus widen-ing the breach between the missionary and the official.56These views cannot be dismissed as the expression of frustra-tion by just one official. That Bagshaw was sincerely concernedwith the future of African civilization as a whole was clearly indi-cated by the tone of his letter. In his local experience he hadbecome aware of the different approach taken by the missions.He thought that private and public educational systems could verywell coexist, but he felt that Christian schools must widen theirscope in order not to cancel out the cultural aims laid down by theAdvisory Committee. He wondered whether the missionary couldbe expected to have a concern for more than the souls of thenatives, and he was not certain whether the Government couldshare with the missions its vision of the African community of thefuture. Such considerations seemed to point at basic problems inthe scheme of cooperation between missions and the Government.Missionary officials were also aware of the potentially grave effectscaused by the new orientation of secular education. Because oftheir long African experience and their close contact with nativeaffairs, they felt themselves better equipped than the governmentofficials to analyze the latest changes. Far from objecting tocooperation, however, they wanted a more decisive role in the mak-ing of policy.57

56. Edinburgh House (London), Bagshaw to Oldham, Oct. 14, 1930, FileTanganyika, Missionary Council.57. The author is relying on material in the Files of Edinburgh House, Lon-don. Comments on cooperation found in the Edinburgh House Files and in

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THE JOURNAL OF BRITISH STUDIESIn 1922, before the introduction of an official government policyon education, a standing committee of the Alliance of MissionarySocieties in Nairobi58 expressed regret that government grants tomissions were reduced in the Estimates for the coming year. "The

Standing Committee are conscious," it said, "of the growing feelingin Government Circles towards cooperation with Missions in mat-ters which concern natives, and are very grateful for the same.They desire respectfully to point out that by far the most economi-cal way for the Government to carry out its genuine desire to domore for the natives in the way of education and medical servicesis to subsidize Missions." Missions had the facilities of schools,hospitals, dispensaries, and a European as well as a native staff,but they lacked funds for the expansion of schools.59 In 1923 thecouncil of the Alliance invited the Colonial Secretary, E. B. Den-ham, to discuss cooperation with them. On this occasion theyspoke of cooperation which should be "distinct" and "compli-mentary." This may be interpreted as meaning that the missionsdesired to maintain their identity in a new educational networkin which the Government would play a larger role. The councilwas critical of the Government's failure to provide for elementaryeducation of some 500,000 children of school age.60 In 1924 astanding committee of the Alliance submitted three resolutions.The first asked for a trial period of cooperation for at least fiveyears. The second welcomed government proposals for consulta-tion between the missions and the Director of Education. Thethird asked for assistance in elementary schools in which the rudi-ments for vocational training were prepared.61

In 1926, after a visit to Uganda, Oldham wrote to GovernorWilliam Gowers that remarkable progress had been made since theintroduction of the new educational policies in Uganda and ad-mitted that missions must strive for better professional training oftheir teachers.62 In 1930 H. M. Grace criticized the Governmentmemoranda addressed to officials do not necessarily represent the entire body of themissionaries in East Africa. Statements selected in this section, however, representthe judgment of the Christian Councils in East Africa or of individuals who werethe spokesmen of their churches.58. The Alliance of Missionary Societies, constituted at CMS House, Nairobi,on Apr. 28, 1919, was the forerunner of the Kenya Christian Council.59. Kenya Missionary Council (Nairobi), Minutes of Meeting, Standing Com-mittee, Apr. 12, 1922, Minutes 1922-44, Book No. 2.60. Kenya Missionary Council (Nairobi), Minutes of Meeting, Nov. 19-23,1923, ibid.61. Kenya Missionary Council (Nairobi), Minutes of Meeting, Feb. 1, 1924,ibid.62. Edinburgh House (London), Oldham to Gowers, Apr. 20, 1926, File EastAfrica, Uganda General.

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COLONIAL POLICY AND EDUCATION IN EAST AFRICAbecause it was too much concerned with administrative and eco-nomic affairs. One should not both economize on people's soulsand cut out the teaching of vernacular literature when the cost wasnegligible compared with the contribution which such teachingmade to the African's understanding of his own culture.63 In 1934Oldham wrote to A. V. deWade, newly appointed Colonial Secretaryin Nairobi, about his concern with the lack of qualified teachersin mission schools, a fact which could not be attributed solely tothe lack of funds. The churches produced men of character whocontributed to the missionary schools through their moral quality,but the teachers often lacked qualifications to teach under the neweducational policies. He recommended a careful evaluation ofmissionary schools. The good ones should be supported by theGovernment; in the case of poor ones, the Government shouldstep in.The Second World War blocked educational developments inall schools, but before the end of the war memoranda began toappear in which the missionaries outlined plans for the future. In1942 the Tanganyika Missionary Council discussed a memorandumby the Church Missionary Society on postwar education of Afri-cans and pleaded for greater use of missions in the educationaldevelopment. It found that cooperation in order to be effectivemust be "implemented." Cooperation had presumably been estab-lished in 1926, but actually competition was practiced by the Gov-ernment. The bishop of Central Tanganyika who presided overthe meeting proposed a self-defeating remedy when he suggestedthat government subsidies for teachers' salaries should be cut from100 per cent to 75 per cent in order to maintain freedom of action.L. B. Graeves, advisor to the non-Roman missions in Kenya andUganda, warned of optimism regarding future cooperation. Hesaid that government control of education would not be with-drawn, since the Government was responsible for both Christianand non-Christian education, but that the Government did notintend to deprive the missions of their present role in education.It was obvious that the missions were at a great disadvantage withtheir ten thousand shillings for every twenty thousand shillingswhich the Government could spend. Nevertheless, the missionsstill adhered to the opinion accepted by other colonies that "withproper safeguards for efficiency, and for the rights of non-Chris-tions, the avowedly Christian School is the best instrument of edu-

63. Edinburgh House (London), Grace to Secretary CMS, Namirembe, Feb.1930, File General.

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THE JOURNAL OF BRITISH STUDIEScation and should be used wherever possible."64 Among thesesafeguards Graeves listed the proper use of advisory boards. Plan-ning by central and local government boards had been done in thepast without the advice of the missionaries.

As is apparent, the missionary attitude toward cooperation hadchanged since 1926. At first the preservation of mission schoolsthrough government grants seemed to answer the problem of co-operation. Then it became clear that the new expansion of govern-ment schools, which included vocational and secondary schools,threatened missionary schools indirectly. While maintaining Chris-tian education as their central purpose, they were forced to enlargethe scope of their program of secular education. The reorienta-tion of the postwar years posed still another challenge to the un-equal "partnership,"for the question arose as to whether missionschools should include training for citizenship and the prepara-tion for political independence.The diversity of educational goals after 1945 seemed to diminishthe role which missions were prepared to play in East Africaneducation. Yet the traditional position which they had establishedin religious education appeared to be secure. The plural Africansociety with a mixed African, Arab, Asian, and European popula-tion deprived the Church of its central place. The demand formass education presented in a government memorandum in 1943made education more complex and more costly. Nevertheless, theAfrican Affairs Conference held at Cambridge in 1952 concludedthat "partnership between Church and State exists and is in factdesirable."65 The conference recommended that all grant-aidedschools should eventually become state schools and religiousschools and that the Government should "plainly declare theirmoral support for deep and sincere religious beliefs as the basisof all education." Finally, the Conference on Christian Educationin Africa, held under the auspices of the All Africa Churches Con-ference in Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia, in 1962-63, arrived at apositive evaluation of the partnership between Church and Statein Africa in the twentieth century. It found that this cooperationhad contributed to the progress from one-teacher school to theuniversity scholarship candidate.66

64. Edinburgh House (London), Minutes of Meeting of Tanganyika Mis-sionary Council, Nov. 25, 1942 (Dodoma), File Tanganyika, Missionary Council.65. Nuffield Foundation, African Education. A Study of Educational Policyand Practice in British Tropical Africa (Oxford, 1953), p. 64.66. Z. K. Mathews (All Africa Churches Conference), Christian Education inAfrica (Oxford and London, 1963), p. 29. This view was confirmed to the authorin a letter by Graeves, Aug. 26, 1963.

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COLONIAL POLICY AND EDUCATION IN EAST AFRICAWhen independence came to East Africa between 1961 and1963, the Christian churches were forced to reconsider their stand.

The Christian Council of Kenya at its conference in Limuru in 19'64endorsed the views expressed by the Minister for Education whenhe characterized the position of the churches prior to independ-ence as one of privilege. He said that since 1950 they had beenlargely responsible for the rapid growth of education in Kenya butthat a national society could no longer regard the churches as thechosen agents of the State for education. They were now an ele-ment in the State, alongside other elements, and enjoyed the samerights and principles as all the others.67 The General Secretary ofthe Christian Council seemed to accept this interpretation of theAfrican State when he wrote in May 1964 that "the Churches inthese times of change towards Nationhood, have become aware ofthe need to increase their efforts towards aiding the people tobecome more conscious of their place in a National Society."68

IXThis paper does not claim to deal with education in East Africain a comprehensive way. A few episodes in the story of educationin the colonies, which was dramatic even though its pace was oftenrather pedestrian, have been selected to illustrate the basic issuesbetween missionary and governmental purposes and policies.69From the beginning of the Protectorate to 1950, British colonialrule produced developments in education in a piecemeal way.During the first twenty years the Government concentrated its

efforts on those administrative areas which were essential for thepreservation of peace and order and left education almost exclu-sively in the hands of the missions. During this period westerncivilization entered East Africa but did not penetrate below a thinlayer of the upper classes. When the pace of changes began topick up speed after World War I, conditions in East Africa werenot flexible enough to permit an immediate transition to a modernsystem of education. It was during this period of gestation that

67. Minister for Education (Kenya), "The Future Role of the Church in theEducational System of Kenya," Address delivered to the Christian Council of Kenya,Jan. 29, 1964.68. John C. Kamau, Memorandum to the Kenya Education Committee onAdult Education conducted through interchurch cooperation, May 26, 1964, TheChristian Council of Kenya (Nairobi).69. Since this paper concentrates on the contribution to native education bymissions and the Government, it does not present the attitude of the nonofficialcommunity of settlers and their political influence on the Government.

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138 THE JOURNAL OF BRITISH STUDIESnew and excellent ideas of education for the masses were presented.But it was also during this period that the technological revolutionreached East Africa. The older methods of colonial administrationwere breaking down. While missionaries and government officialsset up new goals for African education, the leaders of the nationalmovements that arose presented their own goals for a truly Africaneducation. Before these fluctuating influences could be reconciledand permit the growth of a stable and permanent educational sys-tem, World War II checked further developments. After 1960 thenew national states of Tanganyika, Uganda, and Kenya absorbedthe existing system of education whose orientation had been pre-dominantly religious and whose direction had been in the hands ofthe State. They faced the gigantic task of preparing the newAfrican citizen for life in a multiracial and multireligious society.

ANN BECK

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