contribution of missionaries to education in ghana

Mission schools were popular because of the new skills and opportunities they offered. As happened in other territories, the Christian missionaries did not confine their work to the spread of the gospel alone. They provided missionaries a way to spread Eurocentric norms and attract new converts. famous poems No plagiarism, guaranteed! After a time the idea becomes ingrained -it is heathen and unchristian to be an African culturally (Awori cited in Berman 1974:536). This finding was supported by two types of analysis. The missionaries opened schools further inland, and by 1880, the Wesleyan Mission had eighty -three schools. 'In view of this idea, Mmofraturo, the first girls boarding school in Ashanti was officially . For instance, in southern Nigeria, the CMS policy was to teach in the vernacular at the primary level, while the Roman Catholic Missions policy was to teach in English (Bassey 1991:42). Frank Ogodo Ogbeche Help those suffering in Turkey and Syria. It included the opening up of Africa to forces of change namely commerce (legitimate commerce, i.e. Consequently, they couldnt do much to promote the cultivation of food crops like maize, cassava, cocoyam and plantain. This was the work of the great missionary, Thomas Birch Freeman, who placed two missionaries, Mr and Mrs. de Graft, in charge of the school. His work, however, did not extend much beyond Cape Coast and the neighbouring area. 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. JNE sustains a commitment to a threefold mission: first, to stimulate the collection and facilitate the dissemination of facts about the education of Black people; second, to present discussions involving critical appraisals of the proposals and practices relating to the education of Black people; and third, to stimulate and sponsor investigations of issues incident to the education of Black people. They relied very much on their home churches for their funds. Therefore, considering that the impact of mission education continues to have serious repercussions today, one must question whether the First World should continue to interfere in African education. PDF OVERVIEW OF EDUCATION IN GHANA - WikiEducator ), Father Auguste Moreau and Father Eugene Murat, arrived at Elmina and revived the Roman Catholic Church in Ghana. The others include the British and Foreign Bible Society in 1804, which was tasked with the responsibility of promoting the translation and printing of the Holy Bible. An attempt to respond to this question informs the underlying interest for this paper, namely, to explore the extent to which these institutions, especially . The tropical climatic condition in the country was not favourable to the early missionaries who came to the shores of West Africa. Free resources to assist you with your university studies! He had a special devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. ), Father Auguste Moreau and Father Eugene Murat, arrived at Elmina and revived the Roman Catholic Church in Ghana. The most momentous discovery in western Africa came in 1471, when Portuguese captains first reached the coast of modern Ghana between the mouths of the Ankobra and Volta rivers. The others include the French trading posts at Grand Bassam (Ivory Coast), Assinie and Libreville in Gabon. While it has brought undoubted benefits, it has also harmed the traditional way of life. Missionary Work in Ghana: The Genesis - African Research Missionaries and the intellectual history of Africa: a historical survey. Itinerario 7, no. Introduction, spread and effects, 6: Christian Missionary Activities in West Africa, 7: Scramble for and Partition of West Africa, 9: Problems of Independent West African States, 10: West Africa and International Organizations, 11: Women and Authority in West African History, 12: The Environment in West African History. 2018). Although Lokoja had a small C.M.S. 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). Young Vincent began his studies with the Society of the Divine Word at Divine Word Seminary at Miramar in Massachusetts in 1947. However, as Jonathan Miran (2002) argues in his work on the roles of missionaries and the Italian state in Eritrean education, missionaries should not be held solely accountable for the poor standards of education. Christian Missionaries. In addition to teaching, he served as national spiritual director of the Ghana Sacred Heart Enthronement Centre and spiritual director of the Accra Diocesan Sacred Heart Centre. As they could not recruit British missionary volunteers initially, the Church Missionary Society sponsored the services of German missionaries, who were Lutherans, to come out to Sierra Leone. During this period, difficulties encountered were different from the initial difficulties which will more related to sickness, deaths and the suspicion of indigenous people in accepting the Gospel. Also, the traditional doctors more often than not could not diagnose illness accurately. A History of West Africa, Cambridge University Press, 1969, Fynn , J. K and R. Addo-Fening History for Senior Secondary schools. By February 2, 1918, all Basel missionaries had been deported from the Gold Coast. 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 Origins, organization and effects in the development of West Africa, 3: Islam in West Africa. The Journal of Negro Education, 8 8 The Effect of Western Formal Instead of needing to import skilled workers such as carpenters, the mission schools provided colonial governments with workers capable of building and maintaining the colonys infrastructure and basic technology, a contribution that kept the colonies running smoothly. %%EOF Being able to speak and write in the colonisers language was considered a privilege. The Ghana Education Decentralization Project (GEDP), launched in 2010 and ended in 2012, has increased the influence of local authorities over management . PROBLEMS FACED BY THE CHRISTIAN MISSIONARIES. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations in the name of Father Burke can be made for the care of elderly and infirm missionaries and sent to The Rector, Divine Word Residence, 1901 Waukegan Road, P.O. The greatest problem faced by the early European Christian missionaries was, the tropical climate and health Hazards. Father Jean Marie Coquard, operating in and from Abeokuta for forty years, was renowned among the Egba as a priest and surgeon in the second half of the nineteenth century. Human Zoos: Untold History of Suppression, The Legend of King Ulu (Ancient Thai Folklore), The Kingdom of Saud of The Arabs (Saudi Arabia), The Wesley Brothers of Oxford University (1700s), Razia Sultan of Medieval India (786 Years Ago), The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade (The Revelation), Education in Africa: The Impact of Colonialism, Why The Legendary Geneva Bible was Banned. Thomas Thompson, arrived in Cape Coast in 1752. While they frowned upon bridewealth, female genital cutting, or matrilineality, they held a special grudge against polygamy. T. Nelson. However, accustomed to monogamy, few European missionaries were open to such arguments. 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 . They constitute the benefits that the missionaries brought to Africa as a whole. ]v#5%{,%Y{iKsZ|Cm7NismGmg_zxKYh?>bQ?ni8G.wx:qAm$ eb!^Kr$,.9Qq^|1. The South African War is not covered in this grouping of letters. However, the motivation behind teaching Africans basic literacy and mathematics might not have been a cause for concern if not for the fact that the religious motivation curtailed education. 2: Trans-Saharan Trade. The European missionaries believed that European culture was superior to African culture. It is simply one of the gross evils of heathen society which, like habitual murder or slavery, must at all costs be ended. As happened in parts of Yorubaland in the last century, some of the Christian missionaries often engaged in local politics and took an active part in helping the colonial authorities in their wars of territorial expansion. In fact, most of the norms opposed by missionaries concerned gender relationships. Among the Christian missionaries that came to the Gold Coast (Ghana) were the following. The original letters from abroad cover West Africa from 1899 to 1933. He professed vows in 1953 in Conesus, N.Y., and was ordained to the priesthood in 1961 at Techny, Ill. First, I looked at how educational outcomes depended on the distance to historical missions. Their economic activities went beyond the development of agriculture. Thomas Birch Freeman, son of a London-based West Indian father and an English mother. Johann Christaller produced a similar work in Twi. The system was devoid of any cohesive national policy. 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. By 1914 there were barely thirty schools in that vast area. The lead was followed by other missionaries, notably the Roman Catholic, whose first higher institution was St Edwards Secondary School in Freetown. It is important for several reasons. To their minds, Africans were too backward and needed help to become more civilized. To supplement these missionary efforts in the field of higher education, the government opened its own secondary school in Lagos in 1909, this was Kings College. In conclusion, the educational enterprise of the Christian missionaries in the British and Italian colonies of Africa during the mid-nineteenth to mid-twentieth centuries was primarily negative for the African pupils. Education in Ghana - Wikipedia endstream endobj startxref The history of education in Ghana from the earliest times to the 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. 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). senior high school history African Drama Their activities had both positive and negative effects on Ghanaian society. 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. This instruction in 1948 developed into the University College in Ibadan. J. C. Taylor, in these parts of southern Nigeria can still be seen today. 4; img 109. What would have happened if missionaries had not insisted on monogamy? Website design and development by Americaneagle.com, Inc, Society of the Divine Word- Western Province, Society of the Divine Word- Southern Province. Missionaries travelled through dense evergreen forests, crossed rivers and climbed mountains to bring the Gospel to as many Ghanaians as they could. The expansion of the missionary movement into Africa was part of the growing conception of Christian responsibility for the regeneration of African peoples. Prominent among the early Christian missionaries to come to the Gold Coast (Ghana) were the Roman Catholic, Methodist, Basel, Bremen and Anglican missions. bible knowledge The Methodists, known as the Wesleyan Missionaries (after their founder), arrived in Freetown in 1811. Moreover, mission education formed a poor foundation for future educational conditions in the former colonies. This post may contain affiliate links. The problems created by the white missionaries themselves arose largely from a misconception of what Africa represented. Missions, Education and Conversion in Colonial Africa Among several others, the native Bishop Ajayi Crowther produced the first translation of the Bible in Yoruba. Role of Missionaries in Colonial African Education - UKEssays.com For terms and use, please refer to our Terms and Conditions if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[250,250],'cegastacademy_com-large-mobile-banner-1','ezslot_15',609,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-cegastacademy_com-large-mobile-banner-1-0');The European missionaries began their activities in Ghana as far back as the early fifteenth century. For instance, the Basel Mission established the first teacher training college in Ghana. In 1902 the Methodists opened a clinic at Igbo-Ora. station in 1858, it was not until 1889 that the missionaries entered Hausaland, which was predominantly Muslim. 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. began work in many parts of Africa. Although it can be said that Christian missionaries benefitted Africans by bringing in the more advanced Western education to the European colonies in Africa, it is believed that the mission schools in fact had a negative impact on the native peoples. However, the discovery of quinine and other curative medicines in the late 19th century made the history of the missionary work in West Africa a different thing altogether. However, with time, they brought some crops, which they cultivated and which sustained them. ), Father Auguste Moreau and Father Eugene Murat, arrived at Elmina and revived the Roman Catholic Church in Ghana. History Lake Volta provides a vital venue for aviation evangelism in remote areas. At the end of the eighteenth century, the Evangelical Revival began to bring to Africa an influx of missionaries whose laoburs would produce the first fruits of an enduring Christian presence in Sub-Sahara Africa. Crampton, Edmund Patrick Thurman. Father Burke, whose students included Father Tetteh and Archbishop Charles Palmer-Buckle of Accra, arrived in Ghana, West Africa, in 1963, only four years after the country gained independence from Great Britain. Groundless fears that the converts would become contaminated with paganism led some of the Christian missionaries, notably the Presbyterians, to separate the Christians from the rest of the township. This comes at no extra cost to you. The Roman Catholic Sisters provided medical care in the Upper and Northern Regions of the country before the government started to provide hospitals and clinics in the regional and district headquarters. In 1859, the first newspaper in Yoruba, called the Iwe-Irohim, was published by the missionaries. Despite the skills and opportunities mission schooling afforded, many Africans were not willing to pay the price. A history of Christianity in Ghana. The study traces the his tory of colonial education and the tremendous contributions of missionaries in the establishment of formal education in the region. Today, human sacrifice is generally frowned upon and considered an abomination. They impressed it upon their converts not to have anything to do with these traditional practices. The foreign exchange earnings helped to develop Ghanas infrastructure. 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. Just look at the lyrics of this evangelizing song written in 1819 by Reginald Heber, a prolific English hymnist in the Anglican church. The Christian Connector is a great resource for Christians and aspiring ministry leaders and missionaries to apply for scholarships. Today almost all of the population is Presbyterian, although the ancestral royal cult and many spirit cults still flourish. I found that while educational outcomes are generally better in places that were exposed to Christian missions in the colonial era, traditionally polygamous societies benefited less. Besides being an online tutor, Ralph is an author and expert digital marketer with proven skills in SEO content writing. Some of the positive development outcomes of former British colonies are arguably the result of a permissive attitude towards mission schools. They were followed by other major missionary bodies, including the Methodists and the Roman Catholics. Andreas Riis, assisted by a team of West Indian evangelists, laid the foundations of the Basel Missionary Church in the country. It was not until 1909 that the government opened a teacher training college and a technical school in Accra. In Ghana the Presbyterians were pioneers in reducing Ga and Twi into writing. Their records from World War One show their distance from the war and yet that it did affect their decisions. A tiny act of kindness is remembered by a young man in need. WAEC An Alumnus of the University of Cape Coast in Ghana, a Journalist, Author and a Philanthropist. Babalola, E. O. Christianity in West Africa. Volunteers and donors to organizations such as Compassion Canada believe that they are being humanitarian when they build schools in Africa, volunteer as teachers or help in other ways to improve the quality of education in African nations, yet missionaries and colonial governments were similarly lauded as performing a great work of humanity (Beck 1966:117) and likewise believed that they were helping their African pupils. cited in Miran 2002:128). According to the Head of the Methodist Church in Ghana, Mmofraturo was established in Kumasi, 'when it dawned on the early Wesleyan Missionaries that when the girl child was educated, she could grow up to face the challenges of the fast-changing world. His viewing and wake service took place on Sept. 26 at the chapel in the Divine Word Residence at Techny. Copyright 2003 - 2023 - UKEssays is a trading name of Business Bliss Consultants FZE, a company registered in United Arab Emirates. Ghana in Records from Colonial Missionaries, 1886-1951 Hugh Goldie and William Anderson. C.M.S. Also the missionaries set up model farms where scientific agriculture was taught and new crops were introduced for the people, to go alongside longstanding indigenous production. 3 (2002): 555-584. I compared data on the historical locations of mission stations since 1924, in 26 sub-Saharan countries with recent education data between 2008 and 2018. The first school in Nigeria was started by the Methodist missionaries at Badagry in 1842. The education provided in schools in early days also tended to place great emphasis on the superiority of western culture. grammatical name Therefore, whether through their rigid educational polices or lack thereof, colonial governments contributed to the poor education, though there is no denying that missionaries also contributed to the quality of education to a great extent. A history of African Christianity 1950-1975. The study examines the historical foundations of Western education in Meru and factors that influenced its development. In due course leprosariums and orphanages were built to supplement their medical services. For example, the missionaries preached against certain aspects of African culture they considered barbaric or satanic or both. If you need assistance with writing your essay, our professional essay writing service is here to help! Given the fluctuating standards between schools and regions and the lack of qualified teachers in the mission schools which had monopolies in well into the mid-twentieth century, it should come as little surprise that the quality of education continues to be a concern in many former colonies. 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Included on the website is information about the charitys programs, such as their Leadership Development Program in which participants earn a degree in their chosen field of study, and participate in Christian leadership training, enabling them to become a fully developed agent of change in their nation (Compassion Canada 2011). PDF Formal Education in Gold Coast-Ghana: An Overview of Colonial Policies PDF Challenges of Technical and Vocational Education and Training and Box 6000, Techny, IL 60082-6000. The missionaries condemned African religion, music, art, festivals and customary practices. S.J. student life Learn how your comment data is processed. Being ignorant of ones history causes one to lose part of ones identity and pride in that identity, and one is therefore more vulnerable to attacks denouncing ones culture as inferior, especially if at the same time one is being taught the noble history of another culture. 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. A second reason for the poor education of the mission schools was that in many cases the teachers in mission schools were unqualified as teachers, but were instead preachers by training. From 1870 to 1914 the Basel Mission succeeded in extending its work from the Akwapim Ridge to Kwahu, Akim and Asante and across the Volta as far as Yendi the north in 1913. Educational Reforms in Ghana: Past and Present - ResearchGate churches were firmly established in several important towns, such as Abeokuta (1846), Lagos (1851), Ibadan (1853), and Oyo (1856). At the time of its inception, however, there was no publication that systematically or comprehensively addressed the enormous problems that characterized the education of Blacks in the United States and elsewhere. Some observers have argued that the Europeans used the Christian bible to justify the practice of slavery and the slave trade. 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.. The constant tensions between traditionalists and Christian converts often erupted into all-out conflicts. He introduced the Methodist Church in Asante in 1839, and won the support of the Asante king. This was because all the ships that came to the coast at that time were owned by trading firms and companies whose interest were basically on trade. The agricultural schools the missions ran would have been even more advantageous to the colonial governments considering the discouragement of local industries that might have competed with the motherland. Hope Waddell started pioneering work, in 1846, in Calabar. In such asituation, provisions and other things had to be sent into the country not in large quantities as would have been desired by the missionaries. For instance, in Nigeria, one of the first groups of missionaries to introduce organised medical services were the Roman Catholics. Required fields are marked *. Mission Statement mock tests Andreas Riis, assisted by a team of West Indian evangelists, laid the foundations of the Basel Missionary Church in the country. The Church had its strongest hold in the Senegambia area. In regions where a denomination felt threatened by another denomination, the denominations were more likely to establish more schools in an attempt to gain more converts than their rival, while in regions such as northern Nigeria, where colonial policy prevented too much rivalry, schools were scarce (Bassey 1991:45). Kalu, Ogbu. Etherington, Norman. Cultural deprivation is what many of us suffer from []. Among other things the regulations required that all teachers should be registered, and a minimum salary was fixed. wassce literature questions. Government & Politics Vol. Soon after, in 1835 they moved up to Akropon on the hills in Akuapem, where the pioneer missionary the Rev. %PDF-1.7 % Get full access to all 9,566 pages that make up the Ghana in Records from Colonial Missionaries, 1886-1951 collection. The Missionary Role on The Gold Coast and In Ashanti: Reverend F.a 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. The Journal of Negro Education, 2019 The American Episcopal Evangelical (A.M.E.) Zion Church owes its foundation in Ghana to Bishop J. Bryan Small, who started work first at Keta in 1898. PDF Missions, Education and Conversion in Colonial Africa Christianity in northern Nigeria. Then share it on your favourite social media platform for the benefit of others you care about. Missionary, educator contributed to building independent Ghana. All the three secondary schools in Cape Coast were mission institutions. He moved to Techny in 2016. The academic education purposely did not train Africans for the higher level positions of colonial administrations, which were mostly reserved for Europeans (Ayandele 1966:295; Sheffield 1973:42), a practise which created dependency on the colonizers, as without them the colony did not have qualified administrators.