People and Population - CBC Grade 5 Social Studies Revision Notes

• Language Groups in Kenya
  • Interdependence of Language Groups in Kenya
• Population Distribution In Kenya
• Cultural and Social Organization
  • School Administration

Language Groups in Kenya

The main language groups in Kenya are

• Bantu
• Nilotes
• Cushites
• Asians
• Europeans

THE BANTU

They originate from Congo Forest
They are the largest group in Kenya
They consist of Abakuria, Abagusii, Abaluhya, Abasuba, Agikuyu, Ameru, Aembu, Mbeere, Akamba, Mijikenda (Giriama, Digo, Duruma, Kambe, Kauma, Jibana, Chonyi, Rabai and Ribe), Wapokomo, Wataita, Wataweta, and Waswahili)

THE NILOTES

They originated from Bahr- el- ghazal in South Sudan.
They kept animals and grew crops such as millet and sorghum.
They consist of Nandi, Kipsigis, Keiyo, Markawet, Tugen, Pokot, Sabaot, Terik, Luo, Maasai, Samburu, Iteso, Turkana and Elmolo.

THE CUSTHITES

They originated from the Horn of Africa, popularly known as Somalia.
They consist of the Dahalo, Sanye, Makogode, Sniah, Borana, Rendile, Burji, Oromo, Ormo, Awera and Gabbra

THE ASIANS

They originated from Asia
They include the Indians, Japanese and Chinese.
They live in towns and work as traders and business people.

THE EUROPEANS

They came from Europe
They were interested in african land in order to get raw materials and settle.

They include people from Germany, France, Italy and Spain.

Interdependence of Language Groups in Kenya

Language groups in Kenya depend on each other through various means. They include:

• Food
• Treatment
• Education
• Market

Benefits of interdependence among the language groups in Kenya include:

• It promotes love and unity among different language groups
• It brings development e.g. the development of roads which connect different communities.
• It discourages tribalism, racism and corruption
• It leads to the exchange of culture, goods and services.

Population Distribution In Kenya

• Population refers to the total number of people living in an area at a particular time.
• The total number of people living in Kenya makes up the population of Kenya.
• The population of an area can either be sparse or dense.
• If an area has many people the area is said to be densely populated.
• If an area has few people it is said to be sparsely populated.
• Population density is the number of people living in an area per square kilometre.
• Population density can be described as high, medium or low.
• Areas of high population in Kenya include:
  • Highlands such as western highlands and central highlands, parts of Machakos.
  • Lake basins such as Nyanza region, especially north of Lake Victoria
  • Coastal areas
  • Major towns such as Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu, Nakuru and Eldoret
• Areas of low population density include:
  • Deserts like Chalbi and Taru
  • Steep slopes of mountains.
  • Restricted areas such as near game parks and airports

Culture And Social Organization

• Culture is the way of life of people. It includes how they eat, what they eat, how they dress, their religion among other things.
• African traditional education is a form of learning in traditional african societies in which knowledge, skills and attitudes of the community were passed from elder to children to prepare them for adult life.
• Methods of instructions used in african traditional education include:
  • Apprenticeship
  • Songs and dances
  • Storytelling
  • Narratives or narrations
  • Proverbs
  • Riddles
  • Ceremonies
  • Learning from specialist
• Skills taught to girls included:
  • Cooking
  • Fetching water
  • Looking after young ones
  • And fetching firewood
• Skills taught to boys included:
  
  • Herding
  • Hunting
  • Cultivating the land

Importance of african traditional education in promoting values

• It emphasizes the value for respect for all
• It emphasizes obedience
• It encourages honesty among all members of the community
• It encourages responsibility and hard work
• It encourages faithfulness.
• It promotes generosity and kindness as people take care of each other.
• It encourages people to live together in peace and unity.

School Administration

Administrative leaders in school They include:

The headteacher
              ↓
The deputy head teacher
              ↓
The senior teacher
              ↓
Teachers (class teacher)
              ↓
Children’s government

Duties of administrative leaders in school

1. Duties of the head teacher
   • Overall in charge of the school
   • Links the school to the department of the school
   • Admits new learners
   • Maintains school records
   • Oversees day-to-day running of the school
   • Allocates tasks to other members of staff and supervises
   • In charge of funds and security of the school
   • Overall in charge of discipline.
2. Duties of the deputy head teacher
   • Assistant to the head teacher
   • In charge of discipline
   • Secretary to staff meetings
   • Prepare the school timetable and routine
   • Ensure safety and security of learners
   • Teaches learners
3. Duties of the senior Teacher
   • Assists in administration in the absence of the headteacher and deputy headteacher.
   • Helps supervising curriculum development in school
   • Guide and counsels learners
   • Teaches the learners
4. Duties of teachers (class teachers)
   • Prepares and maintains class register
   • Maintains class discipline
   • Provides guidance services to learners
   • Resolves conflicts arising in class
   • Teaches subjects assigned
5. Duties of children’s government
   • Acts as a linkage between the students and the school administration
   • Acts as a role model to other learners
   • Supervises school activities including maintaining cleanliness
   • Provides feedback to the school administration concerning student affairs.