Higher Education in British East Africa

Abstract

British East Africa is poor. In this region, comprising Uganda, Kenya and Tanganyika, there are approxi:rnately 700,000 square miles and 18.,'000,000 people, of whom ninety-eight per cent are Negro. By far the major part of British East Africa appears to have relatively few natural resources, although there are some fertile and potentially rather wealthy sections. Over most of the land, however, rainfall is either low or so poorly distributed that the main use of the land is for grazing. Because of the limited -water supply in lakes and rivers it is not easy to see how irrigation could 'be widespread. The mineral resources which have been located are' not extensive. There is, of course, very little manufacturing. Per capita income in this region is estimated at $25-$30, one of the lowest averages in the world. ' This basic fact of poverty must be taken into account in explaining the backwardness of production, of transport, of health and of education. An estimated nine-tenths of the people cannot read. The great majority live many miles from any all-weather transport route, unless a footpath through the bush can be called such. Other regions of the world have offered more encouraging fields for investment and development. The stated intention of both Labor and Conservative parties in Britain is to give the East African countries eventual self-government. For this the preparation of leaders is essential. In the last few years the training of African leaders has been very much on British minds and it hasbrought forth much generous thought. Obviously the shortest cut to the training of leaders is through higher education. But what kind of education does this need to be? Responsible leadership at its best demands preparation of two different kinds. One is acquaintance with the best of the past, familiarity with at least a part of the world's accumulated store of wisdom, which belongs to us all. Such a preparation for leadership is a universal need at any time and in any country. The other aspect of leadership is preparation for the specific needs of the particular time and place in which the leaders are to function. These specific needs vary very greatly with time and place, and some of them are very different today in East Africa from what they are in Britain or in the United States or in any other country with a higher technological development than East Africa and a very different social and cultural setting. In East Africa today these needs may be analyzed and grouped to comprise the following three: A. Close touch between the leaders and the masses of the people. B. Conservation of the greatest values of the old society in the period of transition to a new society.