In addition to contributing to fluctuating educational standards across the colony, inter-denominational rivalry caused a disparity in access to education. His work, however, did not extend much beyond Cape Coast and the neighbouring area. Christian missionaries were the first to introduce European-style education in sub-Saharan Africa. grammatical name The Christian religion teaches the doctrine of one supreme God and is opposed to the worship of any other forms of deity. By using postcolonial theory as a framework for analysis, it is evident that the Western formal education introduced to the people of the Gold Coast by the Christian missionaries and the British Colonial government did not serve the indigenous population well. Specifically, it addresses the unique role of Christian missions in. Ekechi, Felix K. Colonialism and Christianity in West Africa: The Igbo Case, 19001915. The Journal of African History 12, no. 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. Samuel Adu-Gyamfi And Benjamin Kye Ampadu, Ajayi, J..F.A and Michael Crowder History of West Africa. They worked to write the bible, dictionaries and textbooks in such Ghanaian Languages as Ewe, Fanti, Ga and Twi. However, the early missionaries established medical centres, at first at their mission posts, and later far and wide, to attend to the sick. 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. In fact in 1966, Father Burke led students to a victory in a national educational contest called the Ghana TV Cup. The first school in Nigeria was started by the Methodist missionaries at Badagry in 1842. Thus as early as 1823, the Roman Catholic Sisters started a clinic for the sick and for children in Banjul. Among the early Protestant evangelical societies founded in Great Britain were the Baptist Missionary Society, the Church Missionary Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, the Wesleyan Missionary Society and what became known as the Presbyterian Missionary Society of the Church of Scotland. Joseph Dunwell. One method of discouraging traditional practices was to give students a fully Western education. Longman Group Ltd. London and Basingstoke, 1986, Fage, J.D. This study simply offers systematic, long-term evidence of it. Besides education, they cared for the sick. As founder and director at CEGAST, he has successfully coached thousands of students in English, Literature, and related subjects for major international examinations. 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. Seeing as missions in the British and Italian colonies had monopolies on education for the nineteenth to mid-twentieth centuries, this reluctance meant that there were few secondary schools at all (Ayandele 1966:287; Beck 1966: 120). 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. They also prescribed many taboos which, in the light of modern medical science, had no relation whatever with the illness being treated. In Ghana, missions strategically weighted costs and benefits when choosing where to establish their churches and schools. Four volumes of incoming correspondence marked "West Africa" on the spine. Mobility depended on the . 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 three years, he taught English and biblical ethics. The Church had its strongest hold in the Senegambia area. It is important for several reasons. What would have happened if missionaries had not insisted on monogamy? He knew me as a boy [in Ghana] who washed his car and went with him when he said Mass at mission stations, yet [as an adult] he treated me as an equal, Father Tetteh said. African prose It was not until the nineteenth century, that the new religion was really established in West Africa. They preferred to hold onto polygamy, even at the cost of illiteracy. He professed vows in 1953 in Conesus, N.Y., and was ordained to the priesthood in 1961 at Techny, Ill. Today almost all of the population is Presbyterian, although the ancestral royal cult and many spirit cults still flourish. The latter, non-academic form of education provided by the missions has stimulated much interest among scholars, who are particularly interested in the failure of many of these schools and the hypocritical government support for the schools, seeing as the import of cheap goods from the mother countries caused many vocational school graduates, such as seamstresses, to be unemployed (Ayandele 1966:296; Foster 1965:134). Vol.
station in 1858, it was not until 1889 that the missionaries entered Hausaland, which was predominantly Muslim. Already have a license? university courses Please click this link to download the chapter. 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. Among other things the regulations required that all teachers should be registered, and a minimum salary was fixed. Economics As a mission school graduate noted, local history was almost totally ignored.
Christianity in Ghana - Wikipedia Yes! The Methodists founded Mfantsipim (1876) for boys and Wesley Girls High School (1884). 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. Johann Christaller produced a similar work in Twi. 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. Hundreds of believers were baptized, branches organized, and a mission established. Christian missions also took a leading role in the campaign to end the slave trade and to suppress slavery. Later that year, in recognition of his service to the Ghanaian people, President John Dramani Mahama bestowed the honor of Officer of the Order of Volta upon him. And yet this was what earlier missionaries in pagan Europe had done when, for example, they had changed the Sabbath to suit the pagan Sun Day (hence Sunday), and had also adopted the dates of the pagan festivals to celebrate Christmas Day and the Easter festival. The Christian Connector is a great resource for Christians and aspiring ministry leaders and missionaries to apply for scholarships. They include Sierra Leone 1900-1933; Ghana 1903; Cape Verde 1904-1910; and St Vincent 1907-1912. Almost all the missions in West Africa faced financial problems in the early stages of their missionary work. In 1859, the first newspaper in Yoruba, called the Iwe-Irohim, was published by the missionaries. Thomas Thompson, arrived in Cape Coast in 1752. Africa and the Winder World 3. The Roman Catholics established their first secondary school, St Augustines, at Cape Coast in 1936. 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. hR]0+^$%K{_"/HevgV+bH6L %)`\ #\E*63Z_TsxlRZj:[/\IL-1b-i
Educational Reforms in Ghana: Past and Present - ResearchGate While they frowned upon bridewealth, female genital cutting, or matrilineality, they held a special grudge against polygamy. 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. 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. In conclusion, the converts tended to look down upon many things in their ancestral culture. The European missionaries engaged in trading and other commercial activities as well. Another important missionary doctor was J. R. Stephen who for many years headed a missionary hospital at Ilesha. Apart from the extreme south and the Horn, the interior was hardly touched by Europeans before the last quarter of the Nineteenth Century. The Committee for Women's Work was responsible for the education of native girls. 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. It is much easier to interact on an equal basis or even challenge the authority of another group when one is able to communicate in that groups language, instead of having to rely on an interpreter or non-verbal gestures, which undermine ones ability to show authority or express ones beliefs. If a government fails to regulate schools at all, they have no right to complain that the education in their colony is poor.
The Journal of Negro Education, 8 8 The Effect of Western Formal This research was funded by the European Research Council. 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). Barely ten years later, after the first missionaries arrived, the Methodists, for example, had started a station as far inland as MacCarthy Island. 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. DISCLOSURE. Among the Christian missionaries that came to the Gold Coast (Ghana) were the following. 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. S.J. House, 1967. The first Europeans arrived at the West-African Coasts at the end of the fifteenth century. Discipleship and leadership development are needed in order to support local churches and their growth in Ghana. The Methodist Church Ghana came into existence as a result of the missionary activities of the Wesleyan Methodist Church, inaugurated with the arrival of Joseph Rhodes Dunwell to the Gold Coast (Ghana) in 1835.Like the mother church, the Methodist Church in Ghana was established by people of Anglican background. which were for females (Graham, 1971).
Asuikante Gabriella Atengdem - Senior Research Assistant - University Their economic activities went beyond the development of agriculture. In addition, the contributions of celebrity missionaries, such as Christian Schwartz, William Carey, Alexander Duff, and James . 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). senior high school economics The work of the Basel Missionary Society was taken over with the consent of the Basel Mission Home Board by the United Free Church of Scotland whose ecclesiastical organization was Presbyterian. 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.
The study examines the historical foundations of Western education in Meru and factors that influenced its development. These Christian converts considered themselves to be holier than their traditional rulers and elders. In 1910, a prominent report of the World Missionary Conference concluded: [T]here can be no question of polygamy. The Missionary Factor in Ghana's Development, pp.11 &135 categorically asserted that economic and social changes were brought about by the total effect of the various projects initiated by the. Perhaps the greatest service of the missionaries was the promotion of western education and the development of vernacular literature. This finding was supported by two types of analysis.
Brief History - PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF GHANA Thank you for supporting this project. Required fields are marked *. A.G. Frazer, did much to encourage the promotion of indigenous culture, but by and large the colonial authorities contributed to dwindling a good deal of our cultural heritage.
PDF OVERVIEW OF EDUCATION IN GHANA - WikiEducator Cookies are small, safe and secure text files that sit on your computer which we use to give you a better experience on our site and help us improve the service that we provide to you. The early Christian missions concentrated their activities not only on religious matters. They had to speak through few interpreters who did not have sufficient education to interpret correctly. Father Vincent Burke SVD, 83, recipient of Ghanas Officer of the Order of Volta Award, passed away at Techny, Ill., on Sept. 21. 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. 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. Its general scope extends to both Roman Catholic as well as Protestant missionaries in relation to education works. After a time the idea becomes ingrained -it is heathen and unchristian to be an African culturally (Awori cited in Berman 1974:536). 4; img 109. senior high school English He introduced the Methodist Church in Asante in 1839, and won the support of the Asante king, Otumfour Nana Kweku Duah I who reigned between 25th August 1834 to 27th April 1867). While missionaries could sometimes clash with colonial governments, for the most part missions were important tools for colonial governments. The missionaries opened schools further inland, and by 1880, the Wesleyan Mission had eighty -three schools. Lack of transport from the coast to the interior parts of West Africa was one of the major difficulties encountered by the missionaries. 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 Just look at the lyrics of this evangelizing song written in 1819 by Reginald Heber, a prolific English hymnist in the Anglican church. Unlike the Portuguese, the French colonial officials encouraged the Christian missionaries in the promotion of formal education and social services, notably health. In addition to promoting a monogamous lifestyle in their schools, missionaries often insisted on divorces before polygamists or their children could even enrol. Other difficulties they 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.
Contribution of Christian Missionaries in Ghana - Cegast Academy There were only bush paths, and no roads in the early times. primarily purposed to outline the contributions of religion and education to national development in Ghana. And yet the Asafo provided most of the services which a community needed: protection against military attacks, communal services, etc. That there are parallels between contemporary Christian organizations efforts and the missionary efforts of the mid-nineteenth to mid- twentieth centuries is a reason for concern, considering the similar impact of missionaries of all Christian denominations on the education of Africans in the British and Italian colonies in Africa. Porter, Andrew. 1931. Public money was spent only on the small number of government schools, totaling nineteen when Governor Guggisberg assumed office in 1919. Within ten years the C.M.S had opened twelve more schools in what is today Cross Rivers State. In 1876 the college became associated with Durham University in England, which awarded degrees to students of the college. For instance the scholar E.A. This instruction in 1948 developed into the University College in Ibadan. The kingdom of God in Africa: A short history of African Christianity. Government & Politics 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. 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. They were at the forefront during the fight for self-rule in Ghana. 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. 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). 503 0 obj
<>
endobj
The home page of Compassion Canada is that of a stereotypical Northern charity: showing pictures of suffering children alternating with those of post-intervention, happy children. education was an important means for mission evangelization. Hilliard, F.H., 1957. In many instances, they made their converts rebel against traditional rulers and other spiritual leaders. Grammar School for Boys in 1859, St Gregorys College opened by the Catholics in 1876, Methodist Boys High School 1878 and Methodist Girls High School 1879. One reason why the Christian missionaries came to Ghana and the rest of Africa was to convert the people to the Christian faith. Registered office: Creative Tower, Fujairah, PO Box 4422, UAE. In an ironic twist, the more Africans became versed in the Bible, the more they began to challenge missionaries. Are you ready to discover the points for an essay on the contribution of the Christian mission to the social and economic development of Ghana? Besides education, they cared for the sick. One of them, Philip Quaque, returned in 1765 as an ordained priest. NUUT Co. Ltd. Kumasi, Ghana, 2011, Baarkinado. 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 history Box 6000, Techny, IL 60082-6000.
PDF Challenges of Technical and Vocational Education and Training and The early success of the missionaries included areas like Freetown and surrounding villages. Consequently, they couldnt do much to promote the cultivation of food crops like maize, cassava, cocoyam and plantain. Origins, organization and effects in the development of West Africa, 3: Islam in West Africa. The activities of the early Christian missionaries negatively affected the development of African traditional political institutions. Ghana sits on West Africas coastline along the Gulf of Guinea, bordered by the Ivory Coast and Togo to the west and east and Burkina Faso to the north. By focusing on the African demand for education, I showed that Africans were not just passive recipients of mission schooling. Private Study These contradictions are surprisingly absent from contemporary research. This allowed me to estimate the impact of mission schooling directly.
Missionary Work in Ghana: The Genesis - African Research He also blogs at BloggingtotheMax.com. 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. They were closed down in 1852 in favour of schools opened in Lagos which, in 1851, had one time British control. As long as the Africans could read the Bible, the missionaries were satisfied that they had had enough academic education. In addition to studying the impact of these struggles on education, we also need to understand how they influenced gender inequality. (with Examples), Top 20 Topics in English for Academic Purposes, 7 Rules of Referencing and Citation in Academic Writing, 10 Importance of Referencing and Citation in Academic Writing, How to Get a Degree Without Going to High School, Joseph Rhodes Dunwell Methodist Missionary, 1835, Thomas Birch Freeman Methodist Missionary, 1838, Thomas Thompson Society for the Propagation of the Gospel/Anglican, 1752, Wesley Girls High School, Cape Coast Methodist missionaries, Mfantsipim School, Cape Coast Methodist, Adisadel College, Cape Coast Anglican Missionaries, Holy Child School, Cape Coast Roman Catholic, St Augustines College, Cape Coast Roman Catholic, Archbishop Potter Girls School, Takoradi, Aburi Girls Secondary School Presbyterian, St Monicas High School, Mampong Anglican. 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. Your email address will not be published. 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. The evangelical societies founded in the Americas included the Baptist Missionary Board and the Nova Scotian Methodists, whose members went to work among the Maroons, who had settled mainly in Liberia. For example, the missionaries preached against certain aspects of African culture they considered barbaric or satanic or both. And traditionally polygamous societies would have higher educational outcomes today. In 1827 it grew into Fourah Bay College. Hildebrandt, Jonathan. Thus, despite what the images of suffering African children on websites such as that of Compassion Canada might lead one to believe, it is time for Africans to educate their own, without any interference. The school, which was established the year of independence in 1957, was a work in progress. Listen as we explore missions, theology, and practice to help senders and goers alike. Christianity in northern Nigeria. This conditioning was focused on norms that missionaries deemed incompatible with a Christian way of life. Then share it on your favourite social media platform for the benefit of others you care about. This company promoted the import and export trade in Ghana. Predominantly Muslim territory, the North received western education later than the South. In the Gambia, as happened in other territories, the Christian missionaries did not confine their work to the spread of the Gospel alone. Through academic lessons and lessons on Western etiquette and hygiene, mission students were isolated from their traditional cultures, a traumatic experience that would continue to trouble many students for the rest of their lives. Another negative impact of mission education was that it weakened traditional societies, which in many ways further served the colonial cause. Soon after the start of elementary schools, the missionaries started opening higher institutions also. Establishment of Christian Churches In The Gambia.
Contribution of the Methodist Church to education in Ghana History If your specific country is not listed, please select the UK version of the site, as this is best suited to international visitors. *You can also browse our support articles here >. To their minds, Africans were too backward and needed help to become more civilized.
Andrew Foster (educator) - Wikipedia In 1858 ten years after the founding of the first college, the Presbyterians opened a sister college at Aburi for the training of women teachers. Therefore the period for the rise of Christianizing Missions in the late Nineteenth Century has been considered as reprise. In such situations, the message sometimes appealed to the local people depending on the efficiency of the interpreter. 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). Prior to the advent of western education, Ghana's traditional social structures had inbuilt opportunities for mobility. In 2006, Father Burke was appointed lecturer at the newly founded Catholic University College of Ghana in Sunyani. 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. J. G. Christaller produced a Twi Grammar and Dictionary. Meanwhile, the Scottish missionary, Mary Slessor, had established a reputation in the Cross River area as a nurse. The effort of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah. Amma Darko Establishment of Christian Churches In Sierra Leone. In the days of Portuguese contacts with Nigeria, Catholic priests had established missionary stations in Benin and the neighbourhood. Buchi Emecheta 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). The study traces the his tory of colonial education and the tremendous contributions of missionaries in the establishment of formal education in the region. 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).