Kenyan Schoolwear


Figure 1.--The children shown here are from the Pembroke House School in Kenya which celebrated its centenary in 2003.

We have only limited information at this time on school uniforms in Kenya. A HBC reader writes, "While watching BBC-TV yesterday, I saw a program on the Starehe Boys School in Kenya. Since there's nothing about Kenya on HBC, I thought I'd sent this along. The Starehe Boys School in Nairobi is Kenya's most prestigious private boys secondary school, with an enrollment of 1,100 boys up to age 19. Over 15,000 applications for admission are received each year. Many boys from poorer families are able to attend on scholarships. All boys wear the school uniform of salmon color shirt, school tie and navy blue blazer, medium blue short pants, and grey kneesocks with striped tops. On warmer days, the boys doff their blazers and attend class in hortsleeves. The only exception made to the school uniform is for the "prefects", a few upperclassmen selected as student leaders, who are permitted to wear adult-style suits with long trousers." The children shown here are from the Pembroke House School in Kenya which celebrated its centenary in 2003.

Types of Schools

HBC at this time has virtually no information on state schools. We have noticed reports in recent years that many parents are too poor to send their children to school. Government funding has been inadequate. Kenya is not the poorest of African states, but there is still considerble poverty in the country. Government funding has been so low that some state schools have had to charge fees. The Government has inoated programs to increase school attendance. We do not yet hsave information on uniform policy, but we believe that many state schools do have uniforms. Many children are unable to afford these uniforms. The country also has several private schools, many of wgich were fonded by the British when Kenya was still a British colony.

Individual Schools

We have only limited information at this time on school uniforms in Kenya. A HBC reader writes, "While watching BBC-TV yesterday, I saw a program on the Starehe Boys School in Kenya. Since there's nothing about Kenya on HBC, I thought I'd sent this along. The Starehe Boys School in Nairobi is Kenya's most prestigious private boys secondary school, with an enrollment of 1,100 boys up to age 19. Over 15,000 applications for admission are received each year. Many boys from poorer families are able to attend on scholarships. All boys wear the school uniform of salmon color shirt, school tie and navy blue blazer, medium blue short pants, and grey kneesocks with striped tops. On warmer days, the boys doff their blazers and attend class in hortsleeves. The only exception made to the school uniform is for the "prefects", a few upperclassmen selected as student leaders, who are permitted to wear adult-style suits with long trousers." The children shown here are from the Pembroke House School in Kenya which celebrated its centenary in 2003.



Carefull, clicking on these will exit you from the Boys' Historical Clothing web site, but several are highly recommended

  • Apertures Press International Project: Pictures at schools in different countries and a book on British schools
  • Apertures Press New Zealand book: New book on New Zealand schools available
  • School Uniform Web Site: Informative review of British school uniforms with some excellent photographs
  • British Preparatory Schools: A photographic book depicting life at British preparatory schools during the 1980s. Most of the schools are English or Scottish, but schools in Italy, New Zealand, South Africa, and Ulster are also included. The pictures show the uniforms worn at many different schools.
  • Information: Information about school uniforms in America



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    Related Chronolgy Pages in the Boys' Historical Web Site
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    Related Style Pages in the Boys' Historical Web Site
    [Long pants suits] [Knicker suits] [Short pants suits] [Socks] [Eton suits] [Jacket and trousers] [Blazer] [School sandals] [School smocks] [Sailor suits] [Pinafores] [Long stockings]


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    Created: November 9, 2003
    Last updated: June 11, 2004