§ 61. Mr. J. Johnsonasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he is aware that the Government of Kenya were recently granted a loan of £5,000,000 for agriculture, and that their similar request for the same amount for education was refused; and if he will state the reason for this decision.
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydI assume that the hon. Member refers to the request made by the Kenya Government in 1953. As my predecessor said on 9th December, 1953, in announcing the grant by Her Majesty's Government of £5 million for the specific purpose of intensifying African agricultural development, the same case could not be made out for distinguishing Kenya from other African territories in regard to education.
It is estimated that from the beginning of 1953 to the end of the current financial year the Kenya Government will have spent a little over £4½million on African education from the ordinary budget. In the development plan for the period 1954–57 almost £1¼ million is allocated to 197W African education. The considerable financial assistance which Her Majesty's Government are making available to Kenya, both towards the cost of the emergency and under the C.D. & W. Act, has helped to make it possible for the Kenya Government to undertake expenditures on this scale on African education.