In the early days of the colonial era in Kenya, the colonialists believed that Africans should not be allowed an education beyond the basic level as they were only useful as a source of cheap labour, and would thus not benefit from any higher education.[1] Missionaries who had been arriving in the country from the beginning of the 20th century strongly opposed this idea. They had been trying to set up primary schools to provide basic education to Africans, but faced challenges due to a lack of funding. Dr. John Arthur, head of the Kikuyu mission, arranged for a conference with other Protestant missions to address these problems. The first meeting took place in 1913 in Kikuyu. In 1918, the Alliance of Protestant Missions was formed, comprising the Church of Scotland Mission, the Church of the Province of Kenya, the African Inland Mission, the Friends Church (Quakers) and the Methodist Church.
Dr. Arthur pushed the British government to open education to Kenyans and all Africans in all colonies. He believed that Kenyans should be given access to primary, secondary and tertiary level education as a matter of right. His efforts led to the Devonshire White Paper of 1923, which gave African colonial subjects the right to quality education. Dr. Arthur realised the need to have new institutions set up, establishing a high school for Africans in Kikuyu. The school was established on 1 March 1926 under the auspices of the Alliance of Protestant Missions, as the Alliance High School.[1]
Academics
AHS Students in a biology class
The school is the highest performing high school in Kenya academically, ranked within the top ten best schools in each year's National Examinations.[2] The school had the best results in the national exams continuously from 1960-1985.[citation needed] In 1986 it lost its top ranking for the first time in 25 years, slipping to third. It was ranked first in the country in 2005 based on the results of the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE). In 2006, it was ranked third. In 2009 and 2010, the school emerged top in the KCSE results. In 2011, the school dropped one place to second. In 2013 the school was on top again with a average grade of A−.
Notable alumni
This article's list of alumni may not follow Wikipedia's verifiability policy. Please improve this article by removing names that do not have independent reliable sources showing they merit inclusion in this article AND are alumni, or by incorporating the relevant publications into the body of the article through appropriate citations.(March 2021)
