Cultural policy

Cultural exchange, promotion of German as a foreign language and a cooperation in the education sector are the main parts of the cultural and educational policy. The basis of the cooperation is the in 1987 signed cultural agreement. Germany especially funds projects in the areas of music, theater, film, arts and sport. The funding of the Oscar nominated German-Kenyan short film “Watu Wote” 2018 was a milestone.  

The Goethe-Institute Nairobi is active since 1963 in Kenya and offers German classes on all levels. Further, it is present with a wide range of cultural activities.

Educational policy

The Kenyan development strategy “Vision 2030” intends extensive restructuring in the underfinanced sector of education. For example, in primary schools there are plans to establish continuous exams to verify the competences instead of single ones that might decide the career of a child. As a general rule, English is the teaching language, Kiswahili a separate subject. Many Kenyan schools offer German classes. Facing the rapidly growing amount of pupils, many schools are suffering from overcrowded classes and a lack of teachers. From 1995 to 2016, the amount of colleges has risen from 5 to 30 because of the population growth. In the sector of colleges/universities the main work concerns quality assurance.

There is the plan of establishing a German-Kenyan University of Applied Science, which is supposed to offer a practically-based academic training for students from whole East Africa. The German Foreign Exchange Service (DAAD) is based in Nairobi with a regional office. Two sent lecturers from the DAAD are teaching at the University of Nairobi and at the Kenyatta University. The DAAD offers scholarships and supports the cooperation of universities between Germany and Kenya. The foundation Alexander von Humboldt offers scholarships as well.

The German School Nairobi (DSN) is leading to the German high school diploma “Abitur”, is able to record an increasing number of pupils and is celebrating its 50^th anniversary in 2019. Because of its bilingual direction the DSN is highly appreciated by parents even without a German background. The school also has a nursery/kindergarten.