The Contributions of the Church of God in the growth and development of education: A case study of Bunyore Girls' High School, Vihiga County, Kenya 1938 -1989

Abstract

The early Christianity-educational nexus formed the important milestone of further participation of the church in development of education in western Kenya. Since then, the church has continued to contribute and play an important role in this direction. The purpose of the study was to establish the contribution of the Church of God in the growth and Development of education in Bunyore girls' high, Kenya. The specific objectives to the study were to; trace the origin of the Church of God in Western Kenya, identify factorsthat made the Church to propagate the growth and development of Bunyore girls' highschool and examine the infrastructure, land, materials and the Human resources the churchprovided to enhance education in Bunyore girls' high school, Kenya. The study was guided by functional theoretical frame work as expressed by Emile Durkheim and Radcliffe- Brown the 16th century sociologists that proposed, a fact can exist without being useful and it may outlive its purpose or it may change its function with time. The research targeted 3000 former Bunyore girls' students, 200 former teachers, 7 former principals and 30 elderly Church of God leaders. The research adopted a case study research design. Purposive and snow ball sampling technique were used to select the respondents needed for the research. Questionnaires and oral interviews were used as instrumentsof data collection. Descriptive and content analysis were used to analyse the data. The findings of the study were; the Church of God originated from South Africa through Mr. Baker Wilson, the church constructed the classrooms and dormitories, it provided both the land and human resources to Bunyore girls' high school. The study concluded that the church of God has contributed to the growth and development of education in Bunyore girls' high school and it has made social - economic impact on the local society through the school. The study recommends that the church of God should continue providing land, material and human resources to their sponsored school. The significanceof the study was, policy makers can use it to formulate policies to encourage active participation of the church to enhance education. The findings of the study may help in shaping the involvement of the church in betterment of the relation ship between the school and the government. It may also help in causing the church to further assist in guidanceand counselling of students in their respective sponsored schools.