Technical Education Policies in Colonial and Independent Kenya

Abstract

Policy evolution on technical education in Kenya can be traced back to the recommendation of the Fraser commission of 1909. The Commission recommended education on a racial basis. Africans were to receive vocational and industrial education. The Phelps-Stokes commission in 1924 formulated plans designed for the education needs of Africans. The commission transferred to Kenya theories on Negro education developed at Hampton and Tuskegee institutes in the United States of America. The theories advanced that Africans’ cranial capacity was smaller than that of the Europeans and hence Africans were considered to be non-rational beings. Therefore, they stressed that education best suited for Africans was in manual skills. Following independence, the first education commission (Ominde Commission) established in 1963 addressed the issue of technical and vocational education. The successive education commissions adhered to Ominde’s recommendations. The national conference on education and training convened in 2003 emphasized the need for Technical and vocational education. The issue had to be captured by Kenya's education sector support program, the sessional paper no.1 of 2005, the technical education Act of 2013, and sessional paper number 1 of 2019. The education system had, therefore, to emphasize technical and vocational education as envisaged in sustainable development goals and vision 2030. It thus gave Technical and vocational education a legal framework for proper implementation.