§ 16. Colonel WEDGWOODasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he is aware that in February of this year the Kenya Government, subject to his sanction, proposed to raise a loan of £125,000 for purposes of education of Europeans, Indians, Arabs, and Africans; and that this proposal was reviewed by a committee consisting of three officials and 1803 all the elected European members of council, which suggested that the sum of £80,000 should be spent on one European school; and whether he proposes to sanction this allocation or to insist upon a more equal division of the total sum over the four races in question?
§ Mr. ORMSBY-GOREThe provision referred to represents capital expenditure mainly on buildings, and I am confident that the expenditure of £80,000 on a central school for European boys at Nairobi is both essential and urgent. Not only in Kenya, but elsewhere in Africa, it is desirable that better facilities should be provided for European children who have in most cases no prospect of education elsewhere. The proposed loan also provides for capital expenditure on the erection of a new technical school for Indians, the extension and improvement of the present Indian school at Nairobi, improvements in the Arab schools on the coast, and £25,000 for the erection of a new industrial training depot for African artisans. Further, a training school for African visiting teachers is already in course of erection, and I welcome the increasing provision that is being made in Kenya for the better education of all races in the colony.
§ Colonel WEDGWOODDoes the hon. Gentleman suggest that £80,000 out of £125,000 is the proper proportion to spend on a school for Europeans, in view of the fact that there is already a school for Europeans in Nairobi; and before he sanctions this enormous allocation out of the £125,000 for the whites in Kenya, will he inquire how many children in Kenya are likely to take advantage of the £80,000 building?
§ Mr. ORMSBY-GOREI am satisfied, from what I saw, that the most urgent requirement in East Africa, in the interest of the native population, is to prevent a number of uneducated Europeans growing up in their midst, and the most unsatisfactory buildings in Nairobi are the present European schools. This should be done at once and, as I pointed out in the answer, in addition to this £125,000 allocation, other sums are already being spent on the education services for the other purposes. I hope this will be sanctioned at the earliest possible moment.
§ Colonel WEDGWOODIs the hon. Gentleman not aware that the Minister for Education in Kenya himself protested against the money being spent in this way?
§ Mr. ORMSBY-GOREI had a letter recently from the head of the Department of Education saying that this was a most important matter. At present there is no science laboratory and no provision for scientific education for the children of white officials. I hope these new schools will be built to educate the children of European artisans, not only in Kenya, but from the neighbouring territories as well. The well-to-do settlers have their own private schools, but there is inadequate provision for the less well-to-do Europeans in East Africa.