contribution of missionaries to education in ghana

Furthermore, missionaries, believing in the civilizing mission, attempted to disintegrate traditional society through education by choosing academic subjects, such as the histories of the Western colonial powers, that illustrated the superiority of the Western culture, as well as by teaching about the superiority of the West in non-academic matters such as hygiene. For instance the scholar E.A. He worked zealously as an evangelist and schoolmaster in the Castle School until his death in 1816. 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New missionary societies (the LMS, the CMS, the Holy Ghost Fathers, the White Fathers, etc.) But the funds and other needed materials even when available could not reach their station in time. He was followed, three years afterwards, by the Rev. Renewed evangelism started when the Basel (later known as Presbyterian) missionaries started work at Osu (Accra). By February 2, 1918, all Basel missionaries had been deported from the Gold Coast. In an ironic twist, the more Africans became versed in the Bible, the more they began to challenge missionaries. Following ordination, he was sent to Washington, D.C., and the Catholic University of America, where he earned a masters degree in English literature. 1991. English comprehension The government gave grants according to the strength of the staff and the efficiency of the school judged by inspection reports and the results of public examinations. These contradictions are surprisingly absent from contemporary research. 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). 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. Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Bremen, Research Center on Inequality and Social Policy (SOCIUM), Universitt Bremen. A short history of education in British 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. 1 (1971): 103-115. In Sierra Leone, among the earliest higher institutions which the C.M.S. As negative as all these impacts of the missionaries undoubtedly were for the African pupils, the long-term consequences are arguably as serious. 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. Study for free with our range of university lectures! As long as the Africans could read the Bible, the missionaries were satisfied that they had had enough academic education. Yes! In spite of the division, the parent Methodist missionary church played an important role in the history of Christianity in Sierra Leone. The country has diverse geography, people groups, and languageswith English as the common language, and more than 11 others with state recognition. The missionary activities in Nigeria, especially their educational programs helped to whip-up the consciousness of a shared identity and helped to train a new set of elite that championed the course of nationalism and constituted a virile leadership for the young nation at independence.Click to see full answer What is missionary education?A mission school or [] For instance, in the Salisbury region of Rhodesia, it was reported in 1924 that no male teachers had educational qualifications (Bone 1969:28). Apart from the extreme south and the Horn, the interior was hardly touched by Europeans before the last quarter of the Nineteenth Century. African poetry The Presbyterians, also, opened hospitals in several parts of the country, including the one at Agogo in Asante-Akyem. The system was devoid of any cohesive national policy. It is possible to hear the tune of this missionary hymn. Over time and with the dedication of teachers like Father Burke, the school rose to prominence. Within ten years of Father Bergheros visit, the Roman Catholic Church in Nigeria had become so well established that it ceased to be under administration from Dahomey. As a predominantly Roman Catholic country, France encouraged Roman Catholic missionaries right from the start of her colonial activities in West Africa. They worked tirelessly to lay a foundation for formal education The European missionaries established elementary and second-cycle institutions in the country. The Church had its strongest hold in the Senegambia area. Their arrival in South Africa was aimed particularly at spreading the Word of God. Among other things the regulations required that all teachers should be registered, and a minimum salary was fixed. Without denying that prior to the introduction of Christianity in West Africa the people had developed their own crafts, one must admit that it was Christian missionaries who introduced modern forms of crafts such as carpentry and masonry. No plagiarism, guaranteed! S.J. The governor had observed the bad moral life of the Europeans in the fort. It was not until 1909 that the government opened a teacher training college and a technical school in Accra. The Christian Connector Scholarship. A special memorial Mass was celebrated at the Holy Spirit Cathedral in Accra, Ghana, on Oct. 9. It happens that some people convert at the end of their life in order to be buried in the prestigious Presbyterian cemetery. 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. The high temperatures coupled with high rainfall patterns in some parts of the country experienced during the daytime, made the missionaries stay indoors, which slowed down their activities. West Africa owes to the Christian missionaries not only a new religious faith which has changed the beliefs and life of millions of people, but also the foundation of western education. For this reason, missionaries believed they were doing their students a favour by discouraging traditional practices and promoting Western ones. Joseph Dunwell. The foreign exchange earnings helped to develop Ghanas infrastructure. Call: +233558280780, Your email address will not be published. 1931. faceless characters We shall begin with the positive contribution of the Christian missionaries in Ghana. By 1914 there were barely thirty schools in that vast area. While they frowned upon bridewealth, female genital cutting, or matrilineality, they held a special grudge against polygamy. Rev. Just look at the lyrics of this evangelizing song written in 1819 by Reginald Heber, a prolific English hymnist in the Anglican church. Their records from World War One show their distance from the war and yet that it did affect . The missionaries condemned African religion, music, art, festivals and customary practices. 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. Establishment of Christian Churches In Sierra Leone. Thank you for supporting this project. The early European Christian missionaries in West Africa experienced a number of difficulties, some arising from factors outside their control and others of their own making. Their luggage and other necessities had to be carried on heads and took a long time before reaching the missionaries. Instead of adapting the teachings and practices of the new religion to suit indigenous values, as it did when the same Christian religion adopted Greek, Roman, German and Anglo-Saxon native practices, the early Christian missionaries condemned totally as pagan, and to be avoided by their converts, whatever they considered strange. If you need assistance with writing your essay, our professional essay writing service is here to help! 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. It also talks about all the mission societies from all denominations engaged in educational works. The others included the Christian responsibility for the regeneration of African peoples. If a government fails to regulate schools at all, they have no right to complain that the education in their colony is poor. The original letters from abroad cover West Africa from 1899 to 1933. Founded in 1875 by St. Arnold Janssen, we number more than 6,000 missionaries. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2004. One of them, Philip Quaque, returned in 1765 as an ordained priest. Thomas Thompson, arrived in Cape Coast in 1752. The Basel missionaries, in particular, established experimental farms and plantations in places like Akropong. government questions James Fieldhouse, produced a Wolof Grammar in 1876. Before we examine the contribution of Christian missionaries in Ghana, we need to identify the missionaries that came to Ghana. A notable example was the Asafo Company, a purely military and social organisation of the peoples of Ghana, which was condemned by the early missionaries because of its presumed connection with fetish practices. 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.

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