The school, which was established the year of independence in 1957, was a work in progress. Being ignorant of the significance of certain institutions and practices of the people of West Africa, and occasionally being misled by their over-zealous followings into wrongly interpreting the peoples heritage, the missionaries compelled pupils in their schools and docile adult converts to shun their own ancestral practices. J. G. Christaller produced a Twi Grammar and Dictionary. Longman Publishing Group, 1980. The Journal of Negro Education, 2019 life skills By 1914 there were barely thirty schools in that vast area. Hope Waddell was later joined by the Rev. It was difficult for the European missionaries to communicate freely with the local people. Father Vincent Burke SVD, 83, recipient of Ghanas Officer of the Order of Volta Award, passed away at Techny, Ill., on Sept. 21. 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. However the superficial motivations and ideologies have changed, at the most basic level both contemporary Northern charities and nineteenth century missionaries share the belief that the North must come and save the suffering natives, which in the case of the missionaries, has been proven to have inflicted more harm than provided relief. Barely ten years later, after the first missionaries arrived, the Methodists, for example, had started a station as far inland as MacCarthy Island. 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 . Indeed, most of our early nationalists were all products of mission schools. However, with time, they brought some crops, which they cultivated and which sustained them. Missionaries travelled through dense evergreen forests, crossed rivers and climbed mountains to bring the Gospel to as many Ghanaians as they could. The Roman Catholic, Presbyterian, Methodist and Anglican missions all made a major contribution to education in Ghana and Africa as a whole. J. C. Taylor, in these parts of southern Nigeria can still be seen today. The last two decades have witnessed the emergence of privately owned higher education institutions in Nigeria, including those owned by religious bodies and even by their individual members. 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. In Ghana the Presbyterians were pioneers in reducing Ga and Twi into writing. West Africa and Christianity. senior high school history Study for free with our range of university lectures! Another important missionary doctor was J. R. Stephen who for many years headed a missionary hospital at Ilesha. As founder and director at CEGAST, he has successfully coached thousands of students in English, Literature, and related subjects for major international examinations. Further, the missionaries introduced improved methods of farming together with modern farm implements. Similar developments were carried out by the missionaries in other Nigerian languages, Efik, Kanuri, Igbo, etc. As happened in other territories, the Christian missionaries did not confine their work to the spread of the gospel alone. More women than men attend church, and the more strict churchgoers tend to be wealthier and of higher social status than less churchgoers or non-Presbyterians. Lack of transport from the coast to the interior parts of West Africa was one of the major difficulties encountered by the missionaries. First, I looked at how educational outcomes depended on the distance to historical missions. 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). Christianity in northern Nigeria. The governor had observed the bad moral life of the Europeans in the fort. After earlier unsuccessful attempts by the missionaries Chretien Proten, Henrick Huckuff and Jacobus Capitein, the Anglican, Rev. As happened in other colonial territories, the government did not show great interest in the provision of education in Ghana until the missionaries had extended their services throughout the country and had set up primary schools and a few secondary schools and training colleges. Cultural deprivation is what many of us suffer from []. The early African converts to Christianity, were made to abandon their ancestral culture and way of life as pagan therefore to be shunned. Another reason why the Europeans came to spread the Christian religion in Ghana was to pave their own way into eternal glory. A notable example, in Ghana, was the Methodist experimental farm near Cape Coast whose crops included cotton, coffee, black pepper, mango, ginger, cinnamon and olive trees. Some earlier scholarship on mission education has taken this as a positive impact of the missionaries. 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. Predominantly Muslim territory, the North received western education later than the South. He also blogs at BloggingtotheMax.com. An Alumnus of the University of Cape Coast in Ghana, a Journalist, Author and a Philanthropist. The others included the Christian responsibility for the regeneration of African peoples. He is survived by two brothers, Walter and Kevin Burke. About the same time, the Church of Scotland (Presbyterian) headed by the Rev. Upon completing his degree, Father Burke received his first assignment abroad: Ghana, the first Black sub-Saharan country in Africa to gain independence from a colonial power. When he arrived in Nkwatia-Kwahu to teach English at St. Peters Secondary School, the town had yet to benefit from electricity and running water. They also introduced vocational education in the country. Do you have a 2:1 degree or higher? Textbooks were heavily biased towards western ideas and values. The city of Akuropong capital of the Akan state of Akuapem in Ghana, has known the Christian presence during the last 186 years, initially centered on the Basel Mission, then on the Free Church of Scotland, and now on the Presbyterian Church of Ghana. Discipleship and leadership development are needed in order to support local churches and their growth in Ghana. Often drumming and the harmless songs and dances of the people were condemned. For instance, in the Salisbury region of Rhodesia, it was reported in 1924 that no male teachers had educational qualifications (Bone 1969:28). Amidst much honest missionary activity in the country for two centuries, prosperity gospel teachers have also gained influence, and numerous indigenous cults have arisen with distinct appeal and just enough truth to create confusion and syncretism. Given their priorities, it should thus come as little surprise that missions often provided poor education to the African pupils. This thesis discusses and assesses contribution of Christian Missionaries to education in Meru from 1908 to 1963. Among his pioneering achievements, he arranged for three youths to be sent to England for training as evangelists. In 1845 the C.M.S. Founded in 1875 by St. Arnold Janssen, we number more than 6,000 missionaries. They worked tirelessly to lay a foundation for formal education The European missionaries established elementary and second-cycle institutions in the country. 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. Please read our privacy policy to find out more. Evans Brothers, Ltd. London. They constitute the benefits that the missionaries brought to Africa as a whole. 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. Thomas Birch Freeman, son of a London-based West Indian father and an English mother. The first missionaries to come to Ghana were the Roman Catholic missionaries in the 15th century and the Anglican missionaries. Because of rivalry, instead of building one common, multi-denominational school in a village that really only needed the one school, missionaries each built a school for their particular denomination and competed for students (Berman 1974:533). Even when governments discouraged domestic industries, graduates of vocational schools contributed to the economy of the colonies -and therefore indirectly the mother countrys as well. And traditionally polygamous societies would have higher educational outcomes today. In addition to contributing to fluctuating educational standards across the colony, inter-denominational rivalry caused a disparity in access to education. Soon after the start of elementary schools, the missionaries started opening higher institutions also. In 1925 the Governor introduced measures which helped the efforts of the missionaries. 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. Kuhne , his fellow captive and co-author joined him at the mission as a trader in cotton, an activity which was part of, and a means of, financing the mission. 2023 Society of the Divine Word. Senior High School Literature Ralph teaches English for Academic Purposes (EAP) online. The Methodists founded the Boys High School in 1874, and another high school for girls six years later. ), Father Auguste Moreau and Father Eugene Murat, arrived at Elmina and revived the Roman Catholic Church in Ghana. 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. While the protestant evangelical movements were gaining ground in West Africa, similar movements were being promoted by the Roman Catholic Church in Europe. university courses 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. Their arrival in South Africa was aimed particularly at spreading the Word of God. Another missionary whose memory is revered in Nigeria was Mary Slessor, she arrived in the country in 1876, and for many years worked assiduously as a missionary nurse. Ayandele (1966:283), writing in the 1960s, says, By their [the missions] efforts the main languages of Nigeria have been preserved as a lasting legacy to the Ibo, Yoruba, Efik, Nupe and Hausa. However, this practice was in fact probably more due to stereotypes of African ignorance than an interest in being culturally respectful: missionaries may have believed that it would take too long to teach a superior European language to the unintelligent natives when the natives souls were in such desperate need of saving. 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. It was not until 1909 that the government opened a teacher training college and a technical school in Accra. Schools were deemed important. 503 0 obj <> endobj 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). Clarke, Peter Bernard. 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). In line with this, formal education in Ghana was started by the western traders and the missionaries by the 15th century through the 18th century respectively. The consequences of norm conflicts are likely to manifest beyond educational pursuit. He professed vows in 1953 in Conesus, N.Y., and was ordained to the priesthood in 1961 at Techny, Ill. Sign in to view the collection.
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