Multilingual education in Kenya: debunking the myths

Abstract

Arguments that have been advanced against multilingual education in Kenya and Africa in general are not new. Most post-colonial African governments have stuck to the pre-colonial education policies which have no relevance to the present day Africa and were, at best, guided by the interests of the colonial power. Unfortunately, most of the claims and arguments against multilingual education are often made on a priori grounds and are, more often than not, not backed by any objective data or scientific or pedagogical underpinnings. This article makes a case for multilingual language in education policy for Kenya and critically examines such claims that have been made within the Kenyan context with a view to sieving through them and arriving at a more informed position with regard to the issue of multilingual education in Kenya.