THE UNIVERSITY OF LEIPZIG

eadily available for the researcher at the house hold level. But all that said, age plays a very
critical role in the transfer of local knowledge.
Education of Respondents
In the study, all respondents were asked about their education attainments. It was however
found out that, the greatest bulk of the respondent had an education attainment of only
primary six. These accounted for 57% of the entire population interviewed. These were
followed by 20% who had an education of attainment of secondary level. Only 9.13% had
achieved vocational education. However, 10% of the respondents did not have any formal
education at all.
The low degree of formal education may be attributed to the age in the sample. The dominant
age bracket of the respondents in this study (65-74), is a clear statement that can be used to
explain the education levels in the sample. For instance, it is important to note that, most of
the respondents in the upper age limit didn’t have a chance to acquire formal education, while
the others only had a chance to acquire primary education, which was also appreciated to have
been an average acquisition at the time. This is partly explained by the British colonial
policies for native education which were ambivalent; for they had a difficulty in choosing
between education for African development on one hand and education for the colonial
economy on the other. 598 It was also established that during the pre-independence years
formal education was discouraged and emphasis was put in production of cash crops and
provision of labour on the white settler farms, an aspect which may explain the low levels of
education in these areas. 599
The early colonial economy in Kenya was premised upon a spatial dichotomy between settler
core of “scheduled areas” and a periphery of African labour reserves. The core was expected
to the generate export income and internal development, and the major function of the
reserves was to provide a labour force for urban and rural sections of settler economy. 600 A
classic labour migration system was developed with circulation of workers between labour
reserves and areas of labour demand in this settler economy. 601 The above political economy
analysis offers us an invaluable insight into the historical perspectives that in part explains the
current education trends in Western Kenya and Kakamega in particular.
598
Whitehead, C.1982. Education in British Colonial Dependencies. 1919-1939: An Appraisal. In Education and
The Third World edited by J.K,P Watson. London: Croom Helm.
599
Overton, J. 1987. The Colonial State and Spartial differentiation: Kenya 1895-1920. Journal of Historical
Geaography13:267-209.
600
Ominde, H.S. 1972. Rural Economy in Western Kenya. In Studies in East African Geography and
Development edited by S.H, Ominde. Nairobi: Heinnemann.
601
Berman, B.J and L.M, Lonsdale. 1980. Crises of Accumulation, Coercion and the Colonial State: The
Development of of Labaour Control System in Kenya. Canadian Journal of African Studies14:37-54.
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