Kenyans today are very conscious and assertive of their rights. They ensured that basic human rights are enshrined in the new Constitution of Kenya 2010 that they passed. Despite all these, it is relevant to question how knowledge about human rights is transmitted and acquired by young Kenyans. We carried out a study in an attempt to provide an answer to this question. Using content analysis method we examined the rights of children as discussed in various social studies text books that are currently used in Kenyan primary schools. The objective was to identify rights of the children, interrogate them as well, as compare and contrast how various authors/publishers have presented them. In addition, the same method was used to identify and document incidents of violation of children rights as reported in the Daily Nation. The major finding of this study is that the social studies curriculum in primary schools as presented in the books that we examined adequately exposes young Kenyans to their rights and related issues. Pupils who suc-cessfully complete primary school course can be viewed to be knowledgeable and aware of their rights. Examining the reported incidents in the Daily Nation however showed that there is still a societal problem in protecting children from abuse. Children are vulnerable and defenseless. Generally, they are not capable of asserting their rights. This is evident, especially, in situations where violators of children rights are people close to them such as parents, guardians and teachers.
This paper examines the ideology of the German Neukirchen Mission and its implication on education in Tana River County, Kenya 1887 to 1986. Western education and Christianity in Africa were introduced by Christian missionaries from Europe as early as the 16th century but took root in around the mid-nineteenth century. In Tana River, several missionary organizations ventured in the area notably the Methodist Missionary Society (MMS), the German Neukirchen Mission (GNM), the Holy Ghost Fathers (HGF) and the Swedish Mission. They all gave up in the area due to a multiplicity of hardships save for the GNM which hang on and continued with evangelization and education. Consequently, there is need to look at the ideology of the GNM that influenced its resolve to persist in an area shunned by its contemporaries. An understanding of GNM’s ideology would come in handy in helping to improve education standards in the area bearing in mind that the same problems that bedeviled the region have to a large extent remained to date The study had three objectives which were: to identify the educational institutions opened by the GNM in Tana River County 1887-1986; to establish the hardships experienced by the GNM in Tana River County in the period 1887-1986 and to examine the ideology which influenced GNM’s activities in Tana River County in the period 1887-1986. The time frame was 1887 to 1986. This period covers the time the GNM arrived in Tana River to the year the first secondary school was established at Ngao i.e 1986. Ngao served as GNM’s mission base or station since the arrival of the missionaries in the region. The study was historical in nature and utilized a historical research design. Sources of data were both primary and secondary sources. Primary sources were mainly drawn from the Kenya National Archives (KNA) and schools and churches in Tana River. Document analysis was also utilized as a data collection method. The research instruments were interview schedules and Focus Group Discussions (FGDs). Respondents to these research instruments were retired educationists, civil servants and politicians, church leaders and village elders selected through purposive and snowball sampling techniques; all totaling 33. Collected data was analyzed through qualitative and quantitative methods while documents were analyzed through external and internal criticism. The study found out that the GNM established 31 primary schools 28 of which are still operational. The GNM missionaries experienced several challenges among them deportation during the two World Wars, frequent Somali attacks, floods, poor transport network, malaria infections and inadequate finances. The ideology was examined under five perspectives namely The Great Commission, Faith Mission, Reformed Theology, Social Darwinism and Socio-Political and Economic view point. The study recommends improvement of road and school infrastructure, investing more on Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions, opening of a secondary school wing in every primary school, delocalization of teachers and establishment of an institution of higher learning in the area.
The purpose of this study was to examine the contribution of the German Neukirchen Mission (GNM) in the advent of Western Education in Tana River County, Kenya in the period 1885-1986. The historical research design was preferred as the topic in question was a historical survey of the establishment and development of Western education in Tana River County from late 19th century to the last two decades before the close of the 20th century. Both primary and secondary sources of data were utilized. There were three research instruments namely; interview schedules, Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) and Document Analysis. Both quantitative and qualitative data analysis techniques were utilized though the latter to a larger extent. Documents were analyzed through external and internal criticism. The results revealed that Western education was introduced in Tana River County majorly by the GNM. This was in spite of many hardships and challenges that saw some other Christian missionary organizations like the Swedish Mission, Holy Ghost Fathers (HGF) and United Methodist Mission (UMM) vacate the area to other more friendly locations. The British colonial government equally shied off from the area probably for perceiving it as an area without immediate and direct economic gains to the colony. At independence, of all primary schools in existence in Tana River County, over 90% of them had been started by the GNM. The four leading secondary schools in Tana River County namely Tarasaa, Hola, Wenje and Ngao all developed out of GNM initiatives. The GNM achieved this even after being deported twice by the British Government during the WW I and WW II which put Germany and Britain in opposing camps. The findings point out the need to acknowledge the role of the German Neukirchen Mission (GNM) in the introduction of Western Education in Tana River County. The findings also show that there is need as much as possible to ensure that differences of political nature are not allowed to affect the provision of vital social amenities like education. The German missioners ought not to have been deported due to the conflict pitting their country and the British at the international level. Moreover, the resilience and success of GNM where everyone else seems to have failed or avoided should be a reference point to stakeholders in education, notably, both the county and the national government on how to improve the education sector in the county and similar arid and semi-arid lands (ASALs).
At the turn of the 21st Century, Kenyatta University (KU), whose niché is teacher education, had realised that the traditional Teaching Practice (TP) was becoming inadequate in the preparation of its student teachers. Firstly, was the problem of matching the fast-growing student population in education programmes with the declining staff population qualified to supervise them during TP. Secondly; the trend of rising related costs was posing considerable challenge. It was therefore necessary to interrogate the situation systematically through action research with the aim of developing innovative interventions that would help cut down financial costs and enhance quality of the TP. Literature review in this area indicated that TP could be greatly enhanced through teacher-mentorship programmes that addressed quality of graduate teachers in cost-effective ways. Consequently, in Year 2012, Kenyatta University Management mandated the Directorate of the then Teaching Practice and the Office of Dean, School of Education, to explore the viability of transforming the traditional TP through innovative approaches that entailed teacher-student mentorship programme. A pilot study was designed within the framework of Action Research and historical approaches. The pilot study was organised within partnership of KU and its TP participating schools. It was conducted in 6 purposively sampled TP zones. There were 34 duly recruited teacher mentors and their school principals as well as the KU students posted to those schools. The results of the pilot study strongly supported the intended transformation thus allowing KU to successfully implement the current Teaching Practicum and Mentorship programme.
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