ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the context of Kenya, including the application of global policies on the education and health systems in Kenya, demographic trends, the social and historical context of coastal Kenya, and analysis of the reading scores in the former Malindi District in Coast Province. The history of the coast of Kenya provides a critical perspective for understanding the present state of social structures and educational achievement. These historical antecedents have created a legacy of separation and neglect between the central part of the country where the capital Nairobi is located and the coast. Resources in the Kenyan education system have been allocated according to a political power matrix. The coast of Kenya has had contact with foreign traders, merchants, missionaries, and governments for the past 2,000 years, with well-established links to the Indian Ocean trading system.
