She succeeded in stopping the killing of twins in the areas where she served. And yet the Asafo provided most of the services which a community needed: protection against military attacks, communal services, etc. 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. Born in Cambridge, Mass., in 1933, Vincent Burke was the third of Walter and Eleanor (nee McGoff) Burkes four sons. They were replaced in Sierra Leone by the Holy Ghost Fathers in 1864, who made converts in large numbers not only among the pagans but also among the members of the then competing Christian churches. With the support of the Propagation of the Faith within the Vatican, whose Cardinal Secretary became Pope Gregory XVI, various Roman Catholic missionary societies were founded. This post may contain affiliate links. All work is written to order. Some of the positive development outcomes of former British colonies are arguably the result of a permissive attitude towards mission schools. This chapter traces the origins and long-term development of African mass education in colonial sub-Saharan Africa. church were founded in south-eastern Nigeria, the chief centres being Bonny and Brass. "Big things have small beginnings"; so is The Presbyterian Church of Ghana. Free resources to assist you with your university studies! Porter, Andrew. 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). 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. First, alignment can help you communicate your . others adopted a system of education varied from one and the other hence, lacking consistency in the educational sector [3]. Longman Nigeria Plc., 1994, Boahen, A.A. et al Tropics in West Africa History. 2006 - 2023 Microform Academic Publishers | Microform Academic Publishers is a division of Microform Imaging Limited (Company registered in England no. government questions senior high school government 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. Ghana continued to call. 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. In this chapter, we shall examine how Christianity and Western-style education influenced West Africans values, attitudes and life-styles. If you need assistance with writing your essay, our professional essay writing service is here to help! 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. 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). The struggle over polygamy is well-known to historians and anthropologists. 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. Up to Guggisbergs time, the church schools did not receive grants from the government. These missions significantly influenced the systematic educational development in the Gold Coast. Two important private schools with strong Christian influence must also be mentioned: Accra High School, founded in 1923 and Accra Academy, established in Copyright 2003 - 2023 - UKEssays is a trading name of Business Bliss Consultants FZE, a company registered in United Arab Emirates. The foreign exchange earnings helped to develop Ghanas infrastructure. As long as the Africans could read the Bible, the missionaries were satisfied that they had had enough academic education. DISCLOSURE. Mission societies often expanded into territories before colonial powers did, and providing education only cost them a little more. Human Zoos: Untold History of Suppression, The Legend of King Ulu (Ancient Thai Folklore), The Kingdom of Saud of The Arabs (Saudi Arabia), The Wesley Brothers of Oxford University (1700s), Razia Sultan of Medieval India (786 Years Ago), The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade (The Revelation), Education in Africa: The Impact of Colonialism, Why The Legendary Geneva Bible was Banned. Babalola, E. O. Christianity in West Africa. 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. Missionary, educator contributed to building independent Ghana. As a predominantly Roman Catholic country, France encouraged Roman Catholic missionaries right from the start of her colonial activities in West Africa. We use cookies to improve your experience on our website. For the West Africans, the acceptance of Christianity meant the total rejection of most of the cherished institutions upon which their society rested. Cultural deprivation is what many of us suffer from []. hR]0+^$%K{_"/HevgV+bH6L %)`\ #\E*63Z_TsxlRZj:[/\IL-1b-i Father Vincent Burke SVD, 83, recipient of Ghanas Officer of the Order of Volta Award, passed away at Techny, Ill., on Sept. 21. 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. Apart from giving to the converts a new religious faith which they consider is superior to the traditional religions, the Christian missionaries did pioneering work in introducing new crafts, industries, Western education and modern health services. While living at the Divine Word Residence in Bordentown, N.J., he often visited parishes and schools to talk about missionary work. 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. In Sierra Leone, among the earliest higher institutions which the C.M.S. In 1925 the Governor introduced measures which helped the efforts of the missionaries. The practice of inflicting multiple wounds on the bodies of so-called spirit babies now belongs to history. These Christian converts considered themselves to be holier than their traditional rulers and elders. Finally, education affects many other aspects of peoples lives, including economic opportunities and political attitudes. 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. It is important for several reasons. Vol. While the protestant evangelical movements were gaining ground in West Africa, similar movements were being promoted by the Roman Catholic Church in Europe. 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. PROBLEMS FACED BY THE CHRISTIAN MISSIONARIES. In Fanteland, the Methodists and Roman Catholics pioneered similar works. Today, human sacrifice is generally frowned upon and considered an abomination. In 2011 at age 77, he retired from teaching and returned to the United States. 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. Find below a list of mission schools that still exist in Ghana today. 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. It is obvious that the main reason why the missionaries came to Ghana was to convert the indigenous people to the Christian faith. The next major Christian missionaries to go out to Sierra Leone were the Roman Catholics. The colonial Eritrean government ensured that native Eritreans received poor education by permitting them to only attend school up to the fourth grade (Miran 2002:127). Origins, organization and effects in the development of West Africa, 3: Islam in West Africa. Crampton, Edmund Patrick Thurman. To export a reference to this article please select a referencing stye below: If you are the original writer of this essay and no longer wish to have your work published on UKEssays.com then please: Our academic writing and marking services can help you! quiz This comes at no extra cost to you. Early missions conducted by Roman Catholics were short-lived. Christian missionaries were the first to introduce European-style education in sub-Saharan Africa. 0 The study traces the his tory of colonial education and the tremendous contributions of missionaries in the establishment of formal education in the region. This company promoted the import and export trade in Ghana. West Africa and Christianity. Thank you for supporting this project. Reiterating what teacher education must encapsulate, Adegoke (2003) and Benneh (2006) indi-cated that the mission of Ghana's teacher education is to pro- In fact, most of the norms opposed by missionaries concerned gender relationships. The training college later became part of Achimota College. Furthermore, mission schools discouraged traditional ways of life outside of the classroom. Discipleship and leadership development are needed in order to support local churches and their growth in Ghana. 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? It offered the most direct path towards prestigious jobs in colonial administrations and European enterprises. Barely ten years later, after the first missionaries arrived, the Methodists, for example, had started a station as far inland as MacCarthy Island. The school, which was established the year of independence in 1957, was a work in progress. One is led to ask, why this sudden development? Thank you! Longman Publishing Group, 1980. In such asituation, provisions and other things had to be sent into the country not in large quantities as would have been desired by the missionaries. Then share it on your favourite social media platform for the benefit of others you care about. 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. They were followed in turn by the Methodists and the Roman Catholics. 2018). In such situations, the message sometimes appealed to the local people depending on the efficiency of the interpreter. Economics Moreover, they introduced new crops into the Ghanaian economy. Many missionaries died because of the climate and tropical disease. It also plays an important role in organization of inheritances within matrilineal houses and thus exerts influence from a legal point of view. Box 2 of the papers relating to the Society's activities in West Africa. The impact of Christianity on West African society has persisted to this day. 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.. Following agitation by the people in 1934, the government opened the old Yaba Higher College and Medical School, which awarded diplomas acceptable only locally. Lewis, Donald M., ed. 26. Their records from World War One show their distance from the war and yet that it did affect . *You can also browse our support articles here >. Lastly, the missionaries were not used to eating our local foods. Soon after the start of elementary schools, the missionaries started opening higher institutions also. Clarke, Peter Bernard. 1. 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. Although Lokoja had a small C.M.S. In 1858 the Rev. The Rev. Through hard work and persuasion she succeeded in stopping the practice among the people of killing twins. 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. 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 Roman Catholic, Presbyterian, Methodist and Anglican missions all made a major contribution to education in Ghana and Africa as a whole. For instance, the Basel Mission established the first teacher training college in Ghana. 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. There were related organizations that sprang up in Scandinavia, Holland and the USA. Amma Darko skills for his or her future role in the society (Hetherington, 1979; Davidoff, 1980; Aboagye, 1997). 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. While missionaries could sometimes clash with colonial governments, for the most part missions were important tools for colonial governments.
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