contribution of missionaries to education in ghana

Andrew Jackson Foster (1925-1987) was an American pioneer of deaf education in several countries in Africa. Origins, organization and effects in the development of West Africa, 3: Islam in West Africa. 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 . cited in Miran 2002:128). This was around the same time that the first Portuguese sailors arrived on the coast of Ghana. Another negative impact of mission education was that it weakened traditional societies, which in many ways further served the colonial cause. Although modern scientific research has confirmed the medicinal properties of these concoctions, traditional medical practice had several shortcomings. However, attending mission schools also meant exposure to colonial indoctrination. 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. This Western education imparted to the Ameru by the Church of Scotland Missionaries, Consolata . Its message was that of love and the universal brotherhood of mankind. Get full access to all 9,566 pages that make up the Ghana in Records from Colonial Missionaries, 1886-1951 collection. If a government fails to regulate schools at all, they have no right to complain that the education in their colony is poor. Some of these new crops were grapes coffee, mango, ginger, and olives. It would be wrong, however, to blame all these ills on the Christian missionaries alone. The weakening of traditional societies was not simply a consequence of the efforts of missionaries but one of their main objectives, stemming from their belief in the civilizing mission. Supporters of the civilizing mission believed that European colonial enterprises were justified as the Europeans were imparting their superior Western culture and ideas to the ignorant heathens of Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australasia. In 1989-90, the government banned the activities of several religious organizations, including the Church. 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 due course leprosariums and orphanages were built to supplement their medical services. His viewing and wake service took place on Sept. 26 at the chapel in the Divine Word Residence at Techny. 0 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. They were to spread the message of the Gospel, render social services to the people and to assist in the suppression of slavery and the slave trade. Non-African Poetry 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. Brief History. This hymn sums up the reasons why the Christian missionaries came to Africa and other parts of the world. It is interesting to note that while in many ways missionaries sought to isolate students from their cultures, missionaries often insisted in teaching in the native languages. Looking for a flexible role? Christianity in northern Nigeria. Despite their significant contributions to education, local language development, agriculture and the economy as a whole, the missionaries have been criticized severally. Although most people are Presbyterians, they can also go to spirit and other cults, mostly Christian and Pentecostal movements, to find cures for disease and lack of success in this world. Their personal and family choices influenced the expansion speed of missionary education. These missions significantly influenced the systematic educational development in the Gold Coast. 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. Please click this link to download the chapter. Just look at the lyrics of this evangelizing song written in 1819 by Reginald Heber, a prolific English hymnist in the Anglican church. The training college later became part of Achimota College. It happens that some people convert at the end of their life in order to be buried in the prestigious Presbyterian cemetery. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Your email address will not be published. B. et al. Lets now take a closer look at both the positive and negative impacts of the activities of the Christian missionaries in Ghana and the rest of Africa. Governments are also not free from blame even if they had a laissez-faire educational policy, as in Ghana, where until 1944 the registration of schools was not required and no attempt was made to exert detailed control even over the activities of grant-aided [by the government] institutions except for a series of minimal registrations (Foster 1965:114). The kingdom of God in Africa: A short history of African Christianity. 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. Clarke, Peter Bernard. Within a short time the missionaries spread their activities inland. After World War I was declared in 1914, the German missionaries were restricted in their movements by the British in the British colonies. These trends occasionally brought kings into conflict with the missionaries and their converts. Their converts, for many years, were confined to the people of southern Nigerian extraction resident in the north, and to the-large non-Muslim population of the north. 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 1876 the college became associated with Durham University in England, which awarded degrees to students of the college. Europe in those days looked upon Africa as the Dark Continent with very primitive civilizations, and most Europeans refused to adapt their religion to suit the local situation. Foremost in the contribution of the early Christian missionaries to the development of Ghana is their efforts to bring Western education to Ghanaians. A tiny act of kindness is remembered by a young man in need. ASSESS THE CONTRIBUTION OF THE CHRISTIAN MISSION TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF GHANA. Thomas Thompson, arrived in Cape Coast in 1752. In Ghana the Presbyterians were pioneers in reducing Ga and Twi into writing. As founder and director at CEGAST, he has successfully coached thousands of students in English, Literature, and related subjects for major international examinations. While they frowned upon bridewealth, female genital cutting, or matrilineality, they held a special grudge against polygamy. From simple essay plans, through to full dissertations, you can guarantee we have a service perfectly matched to your needs. The country has diverse geography, people groups, and languageswith English as the common language, and more than 11 others with state recognition. Missionaries travelled through dense evergreen forests, crossed rivers and climbed mountains to bring the Gospel to as many Ghanaians as they could. Barely ten years later, after the first missionaries arrived, the Methodists, for example, had started a station as far inland as MacCarthy Island. In short, it was a very successful mission in making us little black Anglo-Saxon Protestants. 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. 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. The tropical climatic condition in the country was not favourable to the early missionaries who came to the shores of West Africa. A large body of studies show that missionaries had a lasting impact beyond their early years. 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. There were several reasons for this poor education, some intentional and some not. We shall now turn our attention to the activities of the Christian missionaries in Ghana. . A member of the CMS, Henry Venn, boasted that the mission schools of Nigeria would produce an educated African elite that could form an intelligent and influential class of society and become the founders of a Kingdom which shall render incalculable benefits to Africa (Venn cited in Bassey 1991:37). Success followed the efforts of the pioneer missionaries. 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. It included the opening up of Africa to forces of change namely commerce (legitimate commerce, i.e. T. Nelson. Founded in 1875 by St. Arnold Janssen, we number more than 6,000 missionaries. In such situations, the message sometimes appealed to the local people depending on the efficiency of the interpreter. 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. 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. As negative as all these impacts of the missionaries undoubtedly were for the African pupils, the long-term consequences are arguably as serious. These attempts were traumatic for the students and threatened the survival of unique cultures. Box 2 of the papers relating to the Society's activities in West Africa. 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. Their arrival in South Africa was aimed particularly at spreading the Word of God. faceless characters Some of the missionaries came with them (549 years ago) but many died from the cruel tropical weather of forested West Africa. Their records from World War One show their distance from the war and yet that it did affect . 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. 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. The Roman Catholics established their first secondary school, St Augustines, at Cape Coast in 1936. Thus, as early as 1823, the Roman Catholic sisters started a clinic for the sick and for children in Banjul. The blessings which Christianity has brought to West Africa are many. S.J. I will earn a commission if you follow a link to purchase a product. 26. Initially, their activities focused on coastal areas. Government & Politics In Ghana, for instance, they persuaded their converts to reject polygamy and human sacrifice. In this chapter, we shall examine how Christianity and Western-style education influenced West Africans values, attitudes and life-styles. Although there were many disagreements between European missionaries and African populations, antagonising polygamy is probably the best-documented norm conflict. A special memorial Mass was celebrated at the Holy Spirit Cathedral in Accra, Ghana, on Oct. 9. Moreover, it was not in the colonial powers interest for the natives to become too educated, as they might become self-reliant and could conceivably demand independence from the colonial power, so encouraging the less intellectual agricultural schools was in the governments interest. Ralph teaches English for Academic Purposes (EAP) online. A permanent station was established in Lagos in 1868, soon followed by others at Lokoja, Abeokuta and Ibadan. Notably among these missionaries are the Wesleyan, Basel, and Bremen. Series CLS. 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.. One of their scholarships is a drawing for $2,500. By focusing on the African demand for education, I showed that Africans were not just passive recipients of mission schooling. Soon after the start of elementary schools, the missionaries started opening higher institutions also. Isichei, Elizabeth. 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. senior high school economics 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. 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. Required fields are marked *. Sign in to view the collection. Hundreds of believers were baptized, branches organized, and a mission established. John G. Christaller (described as the Father of Twi Literature) produced a Twi grammar and dictionary, a collection of Twi proverbs, a Twi translation of the Bible as well as prayers and hymns. The Basel missionaries arrived on the shores of the Gold Coast in 1828 and This was a bitter pill for the Basel Mission to swallow after 19 years of devoted service in the mission field in the Gold Coast but they were not dismayed when they considered that in education and agriculture and artisan training and in the development of commerce, and medical services and concern for social welfare of the people, the name Basel by the time of expulsion of the mission from the country, had become a treasured word in the minds of the people. Samuel Adu-Gyamfi And Benjamin Kye Ampadu, Ajayi, J..F.A and Michael Crowder History of West Africa. Vol. The missionaries opened schools further inland, and by 1880, the Wesleyan Mission had eighty -three schools. Moreover, the Islamic religion was also being introduced to the southern section of the country by Muslim immigrants from the north of the colony. African poetry History of the church in Africa: a survey. It was however in the coastal territories filled with mulattos and other European trading communities that Christianity won some of its early success. While it has brought undoubted benefits, it has also harmed the traditional way of life. Being able to speak and write in the colonisers language was considered a privilege. The Basel Mission, as a result of this phenomenal expansion trained many local personnel to man the new stations. Public money was spent only on the small number of government schools, totaling nineteen when Governor Guggisberg assumed office in 1919. churches were firmly established in several important towns, such as Abeokuta (1846), Lagos (1851), Ibadan (1853), and Oyo (1856). Their economic activities went beyond the development of agriculture. They impressed it upon their converts not to have anything to do with these traditional practices. In the field of education, however, the missionaries had to adjust their programmes to fit in with the policy of assimilation. The CMS began to work in the freed slave villages in Sierra Leone in 1804 and the Methodist in 1811. But despite the work of Portuguese missionaries based on the island of Sao Tome and later of Spanish missionaries in Benin, it was not until the nineteenth century that the Christian religion was firmly established in Nigeria. Similar developments were carried out by the missionaries in other Nigerian languages, Efik, Kanuri, Igbo, etc. bible knowledge station in 1858, it was not until 1889 that the missionaries entered Hausaland, which was predominantly Muslim. 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. Johannes Zimmermann, for example, produced a Ga dictionary, Ga bible and grammar book. 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. They were at the forefront during the fight for self-rule in Ghana. Evans Brothers, Ltd. London. They were followed in turn by the Methodists and the Roman Catholics. 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. 2: Trans-Saharan Trade. The Portuguese were the first to introduce the Christian faith into West Africa but following their departure from the West Coast in the mid-seventeenth century, the Christian religion survived only in Upper Guinea where a bishop was maintained in the Cape Verde Islands serving also a part of the mainland. CUP Archive, 1979. 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. Further, the missionaries introduced improved methods of farming together with modern farm implements. Among the Christian missionaries that came to the Gold Coast (Ghana) were the following. DISCLOSURE. His immigrant Irish-born parents instilled faith and a firm work ethic in their sons. Free resources to assist you with your university studies! In December 1868 he went with his wife and child to Anum in the present-day Volta Region of Ghana. The original letters from abroad cover West Africa from 1899 to 1933. 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. In 1892, the Church Missionary Society opened the Iyi Enu Hospital in Onitsha which is today a leading hospital in Anambra state. It is important to emphasize that the modern history of the Christian Mission in Africa started from the late Eighteenth Century, the Catholics had been there earlier in the first centuries of the Christian era especially during the first Portuguese adventures. 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. Father Tetteh also took note of Father Burkes humility and devotion to his students. The next major Christian missionaries to go out to Sierra Leone were the Roman Catholics. Prior to the arrival of Europeans in the 15th century, informal education existed in Ghana with the goal of introducing young people into the society. Above, we have described the role that trading companies, missionaries, and the government played for the spread of Western education in the coastal areas from the late sixteenth century onwards. Hastings, Adrian. 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). Thus missionaries, by imparting education that promoted dependence on colonial rule, arguably contributed to the political instability that continues in the present day in many former African colonies, such as Kenya and Eritrea. Important among these, all in Lagos, were the Baptist Academy in 1855, the C.M.S. This comes at no extra cost to you. Reiterating what teacher education must encapsulate, Adegoke (2003) and Benneh (2006) indi-cated that the mission of Ghana's teacher education is to pro- We use cookies to improve your experience on our website. Learn how your comment data is processed. opened, in Freetown, the first boys secondary school in the country and another for girls in 1849, later renamed the Annie Walsh Memorial School. 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. Establishment of Christian Churches In Nigeria. In 1880, two Roman Catholic priests of the Society of African Missions (S.M.A. 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. One Liberian student recalls that we were taught to dress properly, to eat properly, to speak properly. This allowed me to estimate the impact of mission schooling directly. 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. The Christian Connector is a great resource for Christians and aspiring ministry leaders and missionaries to apply for scholarships. An attempt to respond to this question informs the underlying interest for this paper, namely, to explore the extent to which these institutions, especially . Waterville Pub. The European Christian missions preached the Gospel, built churches, and seminaries translated the Bible to Ghanaian Languages such as Ewe, Ga, and Twi. History books tended to exaggerate in achievements of Europeans, making no reference to Africans own great past. They also prescribed many taboos which, in the light of modern medical science, had no relation whatever with the illness being treated. 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.

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