The weakening of traditional societies was not simply a consequence of the efforts of missionaries but one of their main objectives, stemming from their belief in the civilizing mission. Supporters of the civilizing mission believed that European colonial enterprises were justified as the Europeans were imparting their superior Western culture and ideas to the ignorant heathens of Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australasia. Properly meant by Anglo-Saxon standards. Just look at the lyrics of this evangelizing song written in 1819 by Reginald Heber, a prolific English hymnist in the Anglican church. One Liberian student recalls that we were taught to dress properly, to eat properly, to speak properly. Yes! Soon after, in 1835 they moved up to Akropon on the hills in Akuapem, where the pioneer missionary the Rev. Series CLR. Initially,. They were closed down in 1852 in favour of schools opened in Lagos which, in 1851, had one time British control. Indeed, the quality of the education could be so poor that the colonial governments complained, as in the case of the Nigerian government, which complained that the secondary school graduates provided by the missions were illiterate and ignorant and therefore poorly suited to fill the lower levels of the administration (Ayandele 1966:294-5). Despite the skills and opportunities mission schooling afforded, many Africans were not willing to pay the price. Their personal and family choices influenced the expansion speed of missionary education. 2236624), The beginning of Africanisation : the dawn of the missionary motive in Gold Coast education, Early colonial and missionary records from West Africa, West Indies material in the archives of the USPG, 1710-1950. hb```,,g@( B(Pi xD r[e}v'$ImK *e()dP#jjTNl=VtN(%!30p0040tt0B GGc2m2@M``a$]x2\YkvIaB1b`h6f` (eAKPU d Education (2002), the latest committee to work on education reforms in Ghana, recommended a critical review and approach to making teacher education relevant to the devel-opment of the country. These missionary societies laid the foundations of the Roman Catholic Church in West Africa, which lasted through to the independence period when African clergy replaced the white pastors. Our academic experts are ready and waiting to assist with any writing project you may have. For example, they preached against human sacrifice. Series CLS. station in 1858, it was not until 1889 that the missionaries entered Hausaland, which was predominantly Muslim. If a government fails to regulate schools at all, they have no right to complain that the education in their colony is poor. self help New missionary societies (the LMS, the CMS, the Holy Ghost Fathers, the White Fathers, etc.) The missionary impact on education would have far-reaching consequences, as their creation of a weak basis of education would slow down the political and educational development of many former colonies in Africa. Theres still so much to be learned from the history of education in Africa and its long-term consequences. The three models of Secondary education in Ghana since colonial times are the Mfantsipim School founded by the Church (mission) in 1876, Achimota School in 1927 established by the British Colonial government To apply, students simply fill out a quick form. Besides, the missionaries had to travel longer distances to inland towns from their southern stations. The Scottish Missionary Society had been working in Calabar, Nigeria, also a British colony adjacent to the Gold Coast and it was from the Calabar Presbyterian Church in Nigeria that a missionary was sent to take charge of the Presbyterian work in the Gold Coast after the deportations. This Western education imparted to the Ameru by the Church of Scotland Missionaries, Consolata . They were followed in turn by the Methodists and the Roman Catholics. As happened in Ghana, the development of training colleges in Nigeria was slower than secondary schools, though the C. M. S. had opened the first training college at Abeokuta as far back as 1849. There were several reasons for this poor education, some intentional and some not. A new era began with the settlements of Black Christians from Nova Scotia in Sierra Leone in 1787 and the missionary advance inland from Cape Town beginning with the arrival there of J. T. van der Kemp in 1799. They need YOU. For instance, in Nigeria in 2006, approximately only 51.2% of primary school teachers of either gender were trained as teachers, and the enrolment rate in primary education for both genders in 2000 stood at about 62.7%, compared to 99.5% in Canada (UN Data 2010). The impact of Christianity on West African society has persisted to this day. It is important to emphasize that the modern history of the Christian Mission in Africa started from the late Eighteenth Century, the Catholics had been there earlier in the first centuries of the Christian era especially during the first Portuguese adventures. PROBLEMS FACED BY THE CHRISTIAN MISSIONARIES. All the three secondary schools in Cape Coast were mission institutions. As a predominantly Roman Catholic country, France encouraged Roman Catholic missionaries right from the start of her colonial activities in West Africa. The Contribution of christian missionaries to education in Meru 1908-1963. As an institution introduced by agents with radically different values, the Christian religion damaged the culture and traditional beliefs of the people of West Africa. Containing 9,566 pages belonging to 77 documents housed in 6 volumes As outlined in the short history entitled. Among these were the Congregation of the Holy Ghost (commonly known as the Holy Ghost Father), the Society of African Missions (SMA), the Society of Missionaries of Africa, popularly known as the White Fathers because of the white Muslim-like clothing which the Fathers wore, and the society of the Divine Word (SVD, abbreviated from its Latin name). Not only did mission education strengthen colonial rule, but it also weakened traditional societies and implemented poor standards of Western education. mock tests They had to speak through few interpreters who did not have sufficient education to interpret correctly. After earlier unsuccessful attempts by the missionaries Chretien Proten, Henrick Huckuff and Jacobus Capitein, the Anglican, Rev. First, missions saw education foremost as a means of conversion (Ayandele 1966: 286; Bassey 1991: 36; Berman 1974:527; Foster 1965:85; Sheffield 1973:11). Christian missions also took a leading role in the campaign to end the slave trade and to suppress slavery. Other difficulties the early Christians faced were the problems of the many languages and dialects and their ignorance of the true meaning of the various cultures, beliefs, values and ways of life of the people whom they set out to convert to Christianity. Education - Education in British colonies and former colonies A History of West Africa, Cambridge University Press, 1969, Fynn , J. K and R. Addo-Fening History for Senior Secondary schools. The Presbyterians, also, opened hospitals in several parts of the country, including the one at Agogo in Asante-Akyem. While colonial administration in colonies such as Kenya attempted to some degree to provide training for Kenyans to fill the high-level positions (Sheffield 1973:86), the attempts in many cases fell short, and when the European administration left, Kenya, for instance, had few sufficiently educated replacements (Sheffield 1973:88). senior high school history Often drumming and the harmless songs and dances of the people were condemned. Consequently, they couldnt do much to promote the cultivation of food crops like maize, cassava, cocoyam and plantain. The restrictions intensified until in the second week of 1917, when all German missionaries were rounded up, brought to Accra and deportations began on December 16. English comprehension This post may contain affiliate links. While it has brought undoubted benefits, it has also harmed the traditional way of life. The Methodists founded the Boys High School in 1874, and another high school for girls six years later. They relied very much on their home churches for their funds. Efforts to change these norms were often aimed at women. In fact, most of the norms opposed by missionaries concerned gender relationships. Box 6000, Techny, IL 60082-6000. In addition, while missionaries did run many academic primary schools, they provided little secondary education, a practice which prevented natives from becoming too educated (Ayandele 1966:286) and potentially subversive. The churches opened primary schools both in the capital and in the rural communities. The Essay Writing ExpertsUK Essay Experts. The Basel missionaries arrived on the shores of the Gold Coast in 1828 and The late Eighteenth Century witnessed the rise of Christian groups in Europe that resorted to the evangelization of Africa. Although there were many disagreements between European missionaries and African populations, antagonising polygamy is probably the best-documented norm conflict. In 2006, Father Burke was appointed lecturer at the newly founded Catholic University College of Ghana in Sunyani. It would be wrong, however, to blame all these ills on the Christian missionaries alone. The problems created by the white missionaries themselves arose largely from a misconception of what Africa represented. For the next decade, the Church grew in Ghana at an accelerated pace. Missionaries and the intellectual history of Africa: a historical survey. Itinerario 7, no. Christian converts were indoctrinated to frown upon the use of indigenous first names in favour of Christian ones. For the West Africans, the acceptance of Christianity meant the total rejection of most of the cherished institutions upon which their society rested. That missionaries used the vernacular illustrates the fact that missionaries were principally evangelists, and that they considered their other roles, including their role as educators, as less important. Wed love to get to know you and discuss how God is calling you. Instruction in the Colonial School and the Wesleyan Mission schools at Cape Coast Castle was in English despite the fact that Fanti was the language of the native people. The South African War is not covered in this grouping of letters. opened was the Christian Institute, established in 1814 for the training of teachers, catechists and priests. In an ironic twist, the more Africans became versed in the Bible, the more they began to challenge missionaries. Agricultural school graduates did not compete with European industries or European farmers, as they mainly grew crops that could not be grown in European climates. It was only after the Second World War that the colonial governments started to show a real interest in the promotion of formal education in West Africa. Initially, their activities focused on coastal areas. The Ghana Education Decentralization Project (GEDP), launched in 2010 and ended in 2012, has increased the influence of local authorities over management . His immigrant Irish-born parents instilled faith and a firm work ethic in their sons. In Sierra Leone, the Church Missionary Society (CMS), offshoot of the Anglican Church, was the first to become firmly established chiefly among the freed captive and freed slave settlers from Britain, Nova Scotia and other parts of the New World. The effects of work done by Bishop Ajayi Crowther, assisted by the Igbo recaptive the Rev. Longman Publishing Group, 1980. The contents of this tutorial will serve as a guide for a suitable essay on the below WAEC/WASSCE History past question. Government & Politics CONTRIBUTION OF CHRISTIANITY TO WEST AFRICA. Role of Missionaries in Colonial African Education - UKEssays.com In 1876 the college became associated with Durham University in England, which awarded degrees to students of the college. After six years at St. Peters, Father Burke was named chaplain and professor of English literature at St. Thomas Aquinas Secondary School in Osu, Ghana. As one Eritrean student remarks, Our sisters [the Italian Sisters] would have undoubtedly taught better and more, but the Italian government in the colony did not permit Eritreans to get good instruction (T.T. This involved learning to read in the vernacular (Hadfield cited in Bone 1969:7). Andreas Riis, assisted by a team of West Indian evangelists, laid the foundations of the Basel Missionary Church in the country. Request Permissions. These attempts were traumatic for the students and threatened the survival of unique cultures. Some earlier scholarship on mission education has taken this as a positive impact of the missionaries. The quest for an all-inclusive development model of Ghana and other developing nations, therefore, calls for an insight into the role and responsibilities of religion toward education. Christian Religious Studies Debate Speech: Religion Has Failed Society, A Speech Outlining the Achievements and Problems of Your School, 7 Factors Accounting for the Shortage of Capital In West Africa, The Resurrection of Jesus According to Marks Gospel. I have used my expertise to design and implement strategies for major projects including new programme development, global proposals, book launches, international talks, lectures, and executive . Then lets begin straightaway. Buchi Emecheta Earlier in 1846, the Rev. In 1858 the Rev. Several missionaries died at a youthful age due to the unfriendly tropical climate. Moreover, the Islamic religion was also being introduced to the southern section of the country by Muslim immigrants from the north of the colony. Mission schools provided a steady stream of educated Africans capable of filling the lower levels of the colonial administration and operated vocational and agricultural schools (Ayandele 1966: 295; Foster 1965: 90-91; Sheffield 1973: 10-11). Discipleship and leadership development are needed in order to support local churches and their growth in Ghana. S.J. Please click this link to download the chapter. Thomas Thompson, arrived in Cape Coast in 1752. He is survived by two brothers, Walter and Kevin Burke. Similar developments were carried out by the missionaries in other Nigerian languages, Efik, Kanuri, Igbo, etc. Edward Berman notes that contemporary critics of the missionaries felt that missionaries were more interested in increasing enrolments in their respective churches than in pooling their resources for the benefit of African education (Berman 1974:533). I also matched up locations that differed in proximity to the mission stations, but otherwise had similar preconditions for educational development. 517 0 obj <>/Filter/FlateDecode/ID[<2E41B338ACB2B2110A00B08D5A5CFE7F>]/Index[503 20]/Info 502 0 R/Length 86/Prev 357984/Root 504 0 R/Size 523/Type/XRef/W[1 3 1]>>stream crs questions and anwers Their converts increased steadily in numbers until 1821 when a section broke away to form the first independent African, Christian church in West Africa, called the West Africa Methodist Church. Governments are also not free from blame even if they had a laissez-faire educational policy, as in Ghana, where until 1944 the registration of schools was not required and no attempt was made to exert detailed control even over the activities of grant-aided [by the government] institutions except for a series of minimal registrations (Foster 1965:114). And yet the Asafo provided most of the services which a community needed: protection against military attacks, communal services, etc. In 1954, he became the first Deaf African American to earn a bachelor's degree from Gallaudet University, the American university for the Deaf, and the first to earn a master's degree from Eastern Michigan University.He earned a second master's degree from Seattle Pacific Christian . These contradictions are surprisingly absent from contemporary research. In the Gambia, the Methodist missionary and first principal of what later became known as the Gambia High School, the Rev. In 1827 it grew into Fourah Bay College. The contribution of the missionaries to the development of Setswana as Etherington, Norman. From simple essay plans, through to full dissertations, you can guarantee we have a service perfectly matched to your needs. The study examines the historical foundations of Western education in Meru and factors that influenced its development. better grades Father Burke spent more than half of his lifealmost 50 yearsin Ghana on the West Coast of Africa, said Father Edward Tetteh SVD, pastor of Blessed Sacrament-Our Lady of Divine Shepherd in Trenton, N.J. During his many years in Ghana, since he worked mostly in educational institutions, he produced excellent professionals: teachers, priests, ministers, doctors, engineers, lawyers, pharmacists, journalists and many others who work in different parts of the world.. Again, the missionaries helped to pacify Africans while their rich natural resources were being plundered by the colonial government. Many Ghanaian communities got divided along religious lines. First, I looked at how educational outcomes depended on the distance to historical missions. Among other missionary hospitals of long standing and reputation are those run by the Methodists at Wenkyi in the Brong-Ahafo Region, and by the Seventh Day Adventists at Kwahu Atibie in the Eastern Region. I well remember when he came to live with me in Trenton. In addition to contributing to fluctuating educational standards across the colony, inter-denominational rivalry caused a disparity in access to education. This study simply offers systematic, long-term evidence of it. In Nigeria, one of the lasting works of the C.M.S. In Nigeria, one of the lasting works of the C.M.S missionaries was the development of literature in Yoruba. Predominantly Muslim territory, the North received western education later than the South. We were expected to accept the European language as the superior one, and this was reinforced throughout my school career (Abu cited in Berman 1974:536). These Christian converts considered themselves to be holier than their traditional rulers and elders. Therefore the period for the rise of Christianizing Missions in the late Nineteenth Century has been considered as reprise. The early Christian missions concentrated their activities not only on religious matters. Father Vincent Burke SVD, 83, recipient of Ghanas Officer of the Order of Volta Award, passed away at Techny, Ill., on Sept. 21. endstream endobj 504 0 obj <>>>/Lang(en)/MarkInfo<>/Metadata 55 0 R/Outlines 135 0 R/Pages 498 0 R/StructTreeRoot 142 0 R/Type/Catalog/ViewerPreferences<>>> endobj 505 0 obj <>/MediaBox[0 0 612 792]/Parent 499 0 R/Resources<>/Font<>/ProcSet[/PDF/Text/ImageC]/XObject<>>>/Rotate 0/StructParents 0/Tabs/S/Type/Page>> endobj 506 0 obj <>stream Among several others, the native Bishop Ajayi Crowther produced the first translation of the Bible in Yoruba.