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. Thomas Thompson, arrived in Cape Coast in 1752. 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). In 2006, Father Burke was appointed lecturer at the newly founded Catholic University College of Ghana in Sunyani. 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. Initially, their activities focused on coastal areas. Series CLR. Its general scope extends to both Roman Catholic as well as Protestant missionaries in relation to education works. Further, the missionaries introduced improved methods of farming together with modern farm implements. We use cookies to improve your experience on our website. He was followed, three years afterwards, by the Rev. These commercial activities, therefore, made an important contribution to the economic development of Ghana. 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 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. He introduced the Methodist Church in Asante in 1839, and won the support of the Asante king. Copyright 2023 ABWE. Some of the missionaries came with them (549 years ago) but many died from the cruel tropical weather of forested West Africa. Founded in 1875 by St. Arnold Janssen, we number more than 6,000 missionaries. It included the opening up of Africa to forces of change namely commerce (legitimate commerce, i.e. Apart from the extreme south and the Horn, the interior was hardly touched by Europeans before the last quarter of the Nineteenth Century. Andreas Riis, assisted by a team of West Indian evangelists, laid the foundations of the Basel Missionary Church in the country. As a predominantly Roman Catholic country, France encouraged Roman Catholic missionaries right from the start of her colonial activities in West Africa. 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. Moreover, mission education formed a poor foundation for future educational conditions in the former colonies. Sign in to view the collection. 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. Required fields are marked *. The first school in Nigeria was started by the Methodist missionaries at Badagry in 1842. Predominantly Muslim territory, the North received western education later than the South. An Alumnus of the University of Cape Coast in Ghana, a Journalist, Author and a Philanthropist. This hymn sums up the reasons why the Christian missionaries came to Africa and other parts of the world. THE CHRISTIAN MISSIONARIES AND VERNACULAR LITERATURE; Another valuable contribution of the Christian missionaries in West Africa was the development of literature in the local vernaculars, this included the translation of the Bible into some of the important local languages. As happened in other West African countries, many more mission-sponsored hospitals were founded in the course of the twentieth century. Last, missionaries provided a very poor education, causing their students to be ill-equipped for social or material success, as they believed education to simply be a means for proselytization, were unqualified teachers, and allowed inter-denominational rivalries to interfere. The expansion of the missionary movement into Africa was part of the growing conception of Christian responsibility for the regeneration of African peoples. student life EVANGELICAL MOVEMENTS AND MISSIONARY SOCIETIES IN THE ENGLISH COLONIES. Hugh Goldie and William Anderson. In due course leprosariums and orphanages were built to supplement their medical services. Today, human sacrifice is generally frowned upon and considered an abomination. They worked tirelessly to lay a foundation for formal education The European missionaries established elementary and second-cycle institutions in the country. One of them, Philip Quaque, returned in 1765 as an ordained priest. Hope Waddell of the Church of Scotland had opened a school at Duke Town, Calabar. It is interesting to note that this project is not a new concept. Shaw, Mark. WhatsApp : +233204700052
Africa Christian Press, 1996. 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. 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. The Basel Mission, as a result of this phenomenal expansion trained many local personnel to man the new stations. This Western education imparted to the Ameru by the Church of Scotland Missionaries, Consolata . One of the missions most important contributions to the colonial regimes was their role in educating the native Africans. 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). In addition to contributing to fluctuating educational standards across the colony, inter-denominational rivalry caused a disparity in access to education. The missions agricultural schools were especially beneficial for colonial governments considering that governments believed that manual labour was a means to prevent discontent and unrest in the tribes (Hansen 1984:232). In an ironic twist, the more Africans became versed in the Bible, the more they began to challenge missionaries. 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. In 1858 the Rev. This item is part of a JSTOR Collection. hR]0+^$%K{_"/HevgV+bH6L %)`\ #\E*63Z_TsxlRZj:[/\IL-1b-i crs questions and anwers Call: +233558280780, Your email address will not be published. This box contains: the correspondence of Bishop See thematic groupings of our digital collections, See all of our digital collections in one place, Ghana in Records from Colonial Missionaries, 1886-1951, Copies of letters received, 1890-1927; West Africa, vol. Furthermore, each denomination had differing policies on education, so standards in education fluctuated across each colony, depending on what denomination had schools in each area. For example, they made our people view polygamy and puberty rites as pagan practices. Mission Statement Then lets begin straightaway. English for life To their minds, Africans were too backward and needed help to become more civilized. PDF OVERVIEW OF EDUCATION IN GHANA - WikiEducator Missionaries were no doubt also aware that Africans came to associate European technological achievement with Western education (Bassey 1991:45) and therefore offered Western education as a means to attract Africans of this belief and then convert them. Although the aim of the traders was to practice commerce Missionary, educator contributed to building independent Ghana With the arrival of more missions into the country came an explosion in mission schools across southern Ghana. To put it differently, the motive was to gain acceptance in the sight of God so that after death they would be judged kindly by the heavenly father. Their personal and family choices influenced the expansion speed of missionary education. Indeed, in some situations the converts were taught to feel that they were absolved from obeying their own traditional rulers and certain laws of the state. Establishment of Christian Churches In Ghana. These attempts were traumatic for the students and threatened the survival of unique cultures. The traditions and values of the community, as well as the meaning of life, were taught to the child. Christian Missionaries and Education: Presbyterian Educational Among his pioneering achievements, he arranged for three youths to be sent to England for training as evangelists. From the second half of the eighteenth century, a fervent wave of evangelical spirit developed in the United Kingdom, Europe and the New World which inspired men and women with the missionary fervour to found religious societies whose members would go out to Africa and the other lands. Within ten years the C.M.S had opened twelve more schools in what is today Cross Rivers State. 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. A large percentage of Ghanas 30 million people are nominally Christian (more than 70% as of the last census), and 28% consider themselves evangelical believers. Among his pioneering achievements, he arranged for three youths to be sent to England for training as evangelists. Moreover, they introduced new crops into the Ghanaian economy. Therefore the period for the rise of Christianizing Missions in the late Nineteenth Century has been considered as reprise. Contribution of Christian Missionaries in Ghana, Reasons Why Christian Missionaries Came to Africa, Discontinuation of Outmoded Cultural Practices, Negative Effects of Missionary Activities, Negative Impact on Traditional Authorities, Limited Support for The Production of Local Food Crops. Within a short time the missionaries spread their activities inland. Their luggage and other necessities had to be carried on heads and took a long time before reaching the missionaries. As a member of the Church of England, it interests me to see echoes of Christian educational efforts by organizations such as Compassion Canada in the educational efforts of the missionary branch of the Anglican Church, the Church Missionary Society, or CMS. Longman Nigeria Plc., 1994, Boahen, A.A. et al Tropics in West Africa History. 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 . In the Gambia, as happened in other territories, the Christian missionaries did not confine their work to the spread of the Gospel alone. Many Ghanaian communities got divided along religious lines. 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. Burns & Oates, 1979. 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 this respect the Christian religion therefore differed from the traditional religions of West Africa, which along with an acceptance of one Supreme Being worshipped a hierarchy of gods. After a time the idea becomes ingrained -it is heathen and unchristian to be an African culturally (Awori cited in Berman 1974:536). She succeeded in stopping the killing of twins in the areas where she served. By the close of the nineteenth century the major Christian missionary churches had opened elementary schools in many part of southern Nigeria with an enrolment of about 74,000 by the First World War. Soon after secondary schools were opened in other parts of southern Nigeria, including Bonny High School, which was taken over by government in 1904. senior high school government Notably among these missionaries are the Wesleyan, Basel, and Bremen. The First Missionaries were sent as a result of a request by Major de Richelieu, Governor of Christiansborg. 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. Let's look in-depth into these scholarships. 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. Already have a license? In the field of education, however, the missionaries had to adjust their programmes to fit in with the policy of assimilation. Thank you! While it has brought undoubted benefits, it has also harmed the traditional way of life. They had to speak through few interpreters who did not have sufficient education to interpret correctly. The education and skill development of the people is the highest, most potent agent of national development that the Church imparts to its output of students, scholars, and professionals who perform various precious roles in the various sectors of the national economy for national development,' he stated. In spite of all this, with the advent of the First World War in 1914 in the Kwaku District there were 21 congregations with a total of over 2500 members. No plagiarism, guaranteed! In my study, I explored how colonial era conflicts and disagreements over marriage norms lastingly affected educational development. In the British colonies, as elsewhere, religious missions were instrumental in introducing European-style education. others adopted a system of education varied from one and the other hence, lacking consistency in the educational sector [3]. 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. ASSESS THE CONTRIBUTION OF THE CHRISTIAN MISSION TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF GHANA. In the days of Portuguese contacts with Nigeria, Catholic priests had established missionary stations in Benin and the neighbourhood. We've received widespread press coverage since 2003, Your UKEssays purchase is secure and we're rated 4.4/5 on reviews.co.uk. The greatest problem faced by the early European Christian missionaries was, the tropical climate and health Hazards. 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. 2006 - 2023 Microform Academic Publishers | Microform Academic Publishers is a division of Microform Imaging Limited (Company registered in England no. 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. These included the Basel Missionary Society, founded in Switzerland, and the Breman Mission formed in Germany. We shall begin with the positive contribution of the Christian missionaries in Ghana. In this essay on the impact of Christian missionary activities on Ghanaian society, we shall examine the role of the missionaries in the development of Ghana and the rest of Africa. However, accustomed to monogamy, few European missionaries were open to such arguments. Origins, organization and effects in the development of West Africa, 3: Islam in West Africa. The vast majority of the people of The Gambia are Moslems; but a sizeable percentage of the population, especially in and around the capital Banjul, are Christians. 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. Today, local communities and ethnic groups that were more exposed to mission schools, still achieve higher levels of education, when compared to communities where there were no schools. New missionary societies (the LMS, the CMS, the Holy Ghost Fathers, the White Fathers, etc.) With the exception of the first two volumes, marked "West Africa", these items are drawn from the volumes Series CWW. Also, the traditional doctors more often than not could not diagnose illness accurately. During the first half of the 19th century they targeted healthier places, with relatively lower malaria-risk, where European missionaries could survive and train local African missionaries and teachers (Jedwab et al. Was this information useful? The positive contribution of Christian missionaries in Ghana can be felt in such areas as education, local language development, stoppage of outmoded cultural practices, agriculture and commerce. Brief History. Ekechi, Felix K. Colonialism and Christianity in West Africa: The Igbo Case, 19001915. The Journal of African History 12, no.