List of The Oldest schools in Kenya

List of The Oldest schools in Kenya. Historical records, not only from the travels of Johann Ludwig Krapf and Johannes Rebmann, reveal that Swahilis had access to education as far back as 1728 with a Swahili manuscript Utendi wa Tambuka (Book of Heraclius) attesting to the fact. The CMS missionaries interacted with locals in the coastal town of Mombasa and set up one of the earliest mission schools in the country at Rabai in 1846.

With the expansion of the railway from Mombasa to Uganda, the missionaries expanded their work into Kenya’s interior. An attempt to set up a school and mission at Yatta in 1894 was resisted by the Kamba tribe. The missionaries then penetrated into western Kenya and set up schools and missions. The first school in western Kenya was established at Kaimosi in 1903. During the colonial era, the number of Kenyans with exposure to education steadily increased and a good number of them were privileged to proceed abroad for further education.

Among those who furthered their education abroad in the colonial era were Jomo Kenyatta, who attended Woodbrooke College and London School of Economics, Charles Njonjo, who attended Gray’s Inn Law School, Peter Mbiyu Koinange, who attended Columbia University, Mwai Kibaki who attended London School of Economics, R. Mugo Gatheru who attended Roosevelt University, Tom Mboya, who attended Ruskin College, Oxford, Masinde Muliro, who attended University of Cape Town, Julius Gikonyo Kiano who attended Stanford University, and Barack Obama Sr., who attended the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

Julius Gikonyo Kiano was the first Kenyan to obtain a PhD. The trend steadily rose over the years and by the time of independence in 1963, 840,000 African children were attending elementary school.

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Here is a List of The Oldest schools in Kenya

1. School at Rabai near Mombasa – established 1846
2. The Prince of Wales now Nairobi School established 1902.
3. Friends School Kaimosi, now Kaimosi Friends Primary School, established in 1903
4. Maseno School, established in 1906
5. Government Indian School or The Duke of Gloucester School, now Jamhuri High School, established 1906
6. Tumutumu Mission School, now Tumutumu Girls’ High School established in 1908.
7. European Girls’ School, now Kenya High established 1908
8. Kabaa Boys High School, Machakos County established 1923
9. Waa High School, Kwale County established 1923
10. Kenton College, established 1924 Kijabi 1935 Kileleshwa
11. Mang’u High School, established 1925.
12. Kapsabet High School, established 1925.
13. Kakamega High School, Established 1925.
14. Alliance School, now Alliance High School (Kenya) established in 1926.
15. Nakuru High School, established in 1927.
16. St. Mary’s School Yala, established in 1927.
17. Hill School Eldoret established in 1928
18. Highlands High School, now Moi Girls’ High School – Eldoret established in 1928.
19. Kitale Primary, later Kitale Academy, now Kitale School established 1929
20. Kisii School, established in 1932
21. Mugoiri Girls High School in Muranga (formerly Gaiteiguru Intermediary School) established in 1938
22. Kangaru schools, established in 1947
23. European Boys’ School, Duke of York, now Lenana School, established 1949
24. Kapsisiywa was attained after two years of high school at that time distinct from secondary school with students sitting for the East African Advanced Certificate of Education (EAACE).