Islamic Education in Kenya from Colonial Period to Date

Abstract

Islamic education has existed side by side at times without dissonance but more often than not with conflicts and disagreements. Over the years, the failure of Muslim children to attain the same level of participation in education as well as academic success compared to members of other faiths has made actors in Islamic education to pursue an innovative alternative system of education that allows children to receive the two types of education at the same time and in the same venue. In kenya, Islamic education has caused duality of education namely modern schooling offered in the formal schools and traditional Islamic religious education provided in the Qur‘anic schools and Madrasas . This has been coupled by parent‘s fears ‘for their children to lose their identity as Muslims due to the strong nonIslamic influence in the formal schools. In a bid to have the children benefit from formal education and still fulfil their religious obligation of getting the basic religious knowledge, without having to attend several institutions, some Muslim organizations and individual entrepreneurs have established what are referred to as Islamic Integrated schools‘ in the predominantly Muslim regions of North Eastern, Coast province, Nairobi, Western province particularly around Mumias and Kakamega. The study noted that in the teaching and learning of IRE one can get a proper understanding of what is meant by a truly religious approach to life. Going by the spiral presentation of the themes, it is evident that the IRE curriculum has been developed based on the precepts and tenets of Islam which are further drawn from the first two sources of Sharia(Islamic Law) that is, Quranand Sunnah. The role played by the Nairobi Province IRE panel in organizing educational symposiums and rallies and the content of the rallies have been identified