Formal Education in Kenya was largely conceived by the Christian Missionaries who spread.
Other schools were built to accommodate the racial differences within the country.
Rabai School near Mombasa – established 1846
Christian missionaries who came to spread Christianity in eastern Africa established schools in Kenya. Europeans were the missionaries’ origins. German missionary John Ludwig Krapf established the first mission school in Rabai, close to Mombasa, in 1946.
The Prince of Wales now Nairobi School – established 1902.
In Nairobi, Kenya, there is a national secondary school called The Nairobi School. It was established in 1902 by British settlers who had moved to Nairobi after the Uganda Railway’s construction.
Students could enroll in a paramilitary-standard cadet training program at Nairobi School.This was started when Mau Mau’s activity was at its height during the colonial era.
The school continued its cadet program until it was discontinued by the government following the unsuccessful coup d’état in 1982.
Former Vice President Musalia Mudavadi, Member of Parliament Paul Otuoma, British politician David Steel, as well as Nzioka Waita, Gitobu Imanyara, and George Nyamweya are notable alumni.
Friends School Kaimosi, now Kaimosi Friends Primary School, established in 1903
The first formal school in Kenya was founded at Kaimosi Friends Primary School. The Western Province town of Kaimosi is where the primary school is situated.
When American Quaker missionaries left South Africa to expand their missionary work in East Africa, they founded the school under the name Friends Africa Industrial Mission.
The school changed its name to Kaimosi Friends Elementary School in 1904 and expanded its educational offerings to include reading, writing, carpentry, and dressmaking.
Maseno School, established in 1906
The oldest formal education institution in Kenya’s Kisumu County is Maseno School. It was founded in 1906 as a school for the children of African chiefs by the Missionaries of the Church Missionary Society (CMS).
Rev. James Jamieson Willis, better known by his stage name J.J. Willis, served as the school’s first head of administration.
Six sons of African chiefs were among the first batch of students. Young boys from all over Western Kenya came to the area to attend the school that was established there.
Students were taught a variety of skills in addition to reading and writing, including carpentry, tailoring, printing, building, telegraphy, and clerical work.
Alumni include former Vice President Oginga Odinga and Barack Obama Senior.
Government Indian School or The Duke of Gloucester School, now Jamhuri High School, established 1906
One of the oldest schools in Kenya is Jamhuri High School, formerly known as Government Indian School and then The Duke of Gloucester School.
In 1906, it was established as a railway educational center. The school, which is located in Ngara, Nairobi, used to be known as Government Indian School because the majority of its students came from the city’s Indian community before Kenya gained its independence from the British.
The Swahili word for “republic,” jamhuri, stood for freedom and Kenya’s authority as a republic.
Its alumni include Alfred Mutua, a politician serving as Machakos County’s governor, and Justice Abdul Majid Cockar, a former Kenyan Chief Justice.
Tumutumu Mission School, now Tumutumu Girls’ High School established in 1908.
Nyeri County is home to Tumutumu Girls High (Mathira Constituency). Tumutumu Girls High is a secondary boarding school for females.
European Girls’ School, now Kenya High established 1908
The Kenya High School is a public high school for girls that is situated in Nairobi, Kenya’s Kileleshwa neighborhood.
The Kenya European Girls’ High School was founded in 1908 as the institution’s first name. Following the country’s independence in 1963, it was renamed The Kenya High School.
Kabaa Boys High School, Machakos County established 1923
A priest from the Netherlands named Fr. Michael Witte of the Holy Ghost Fathers founded Kabaa High School in Mbiuni, Machakos County, in 1924 with 35 students.
Waa High School, Kwale County established 1923
Kenton College, established 1924 Kijabi 1935 Kileleshwa
In January 1924, Kenton College was established in Kijabe, drawing inspiration from the Kenya Grange School in Lumbwa.
The school was extremely remote. Our current school was constructed in 1934 on undeveloped land in Kileleshwa, five kilometers outside of Nairobi’s downtown, as a result of this isolation.
At the start of World War II, the first structure in Kileleshwa was Kenton College. The school moved to the Westwood Park Hotel at Ngong for the duration of the war while Kenton was used as a military headquarters and later as a hospital.
Mang’u High School, established 1925.
Mang’u High School is a Kiambu County-based Kenyan Roman Catholic National High School that was founded in 1925.
Mang’u High School was the first African institution in East Africa to offer a complete science curriculum, including physics, chemistry, and biology, in 1951.
A Maasai word that was incorporated into the Kikuyu language is the name Mang’u. The ‘a’ sound is lengthened in the Kikuyu pronunciation to sound more like maang’u.
Former President Mwai Kibaki, Former Vice President Moody Awori, Tom Mboya, John Michuki, Professor George Saitoti, and Central Governor Dr. Patrick Njoroge are just a few of the notable alumni.
Kapsabet High School, established 1925.
The Government African School was the name of the institution’s founding year, 1925. (GAS). At a time when British colonialists still separated students based on race in schools, it was founded to serve African students.
The Kapsabet High Primary School is located on the original school campus where the institution once stood.
Several cabinet ministers Nicholas Biwott, Kipruto Arapkirwa, Henry Kosgey, Senator Samson Cherargei, Governor Stephen Sang, and javelin legend Julius Yego are notable alumni.
