LECTURE 3 (HISTORY OF

EDUCATION)
DEVELOPMENT OF EDUCATION IN
AFRICA UP TO 1920
 LECTURE 3 (HISTORY OF EDUCATION)
Introduction
In our last lecture we attempted to show how pre-colonial Africa had
its own system of education (African Indigenous Education). We went
further to describe how that education was imparted its content and
methods. In this lecture we are going to discuss aspects in the
development of education in Africa in the period preceding 1920.
Learning outcomes
• By the end of this lecture, the learners shall be able to:
• Show how formal western education was introduced in Africa;
• Describe who the main players were;
• Explain the role the main players played in the development of
education in Africa up to 1920.
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Factors behind the development of education
• The most obvious characteristic of education in
Africa in the 19th Century is that it was almost
entirely in the hands of Christian missionaries.
These missionaries had been active for decades
before the colonial governments (British, French,
German and Belgian) declared their territories
protectorates.
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• Prior to 1920, three groups took part in the
development of education in Africa, namely,
European, Missionaries and Government
officials and Africans. At certain times and
places one of these groups assumed a leading
role while others responded to its initiatives.
At other times the role overlapped: for
instance, when
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• Africans became themselves agents of
missionary activity and missionaries became
involved in the formulation of official
education policy. Thus, new schools and rising
enrolment were the product of interaction
between the two, and occasionally all the
three groups.
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• However, the dynamics of educational
expansion in Africa during this period may
best be understood by discussing the three
groups separately. This is because each group
had its own quite distinct reasons for
furthering education.
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Contribution to development of education up to

1920
There are three enterprises involved:
• The missionary enterprise;
• The colonial government officials enterprise;
• The African enterprise discussed below.
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 THE MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE:
 In most counties of Africa, Christian missionaries were a
powerful factor in the development of their education. Christian
missionaries entered most parts of Africa a head of the colonial
government.

 Formal western education in Africa had its beginnings with

Portuguese missionaries four centuries ago. The colonial
government did provide some aid or support to the
missionaries.
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Impetus behind missionary enterprise in

education:
New missionary movement:
Christian missionary activities in the period prior
to 1920 were motivated by a new missionary
movement in Europe which had started towards
the end of the 18th Century.
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This movement grew out of the conditions

surrounding slave trade. The stark inhumanity of
the slave trade began to stir the conscience of
many individuals. England had become the
leading slave trade nation in the world by half of
the 18th century.
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Little wonder, then, that the anti-slave trade

campaigns began in Britain.
The aim of the abolitionists was:
 First to end the commercial transactions in
human beings and transportation of slaves and
end of slavery in England;
 Second, to give a new attention to the
continent of Africa and the suffering of its
people.
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Evangelical revival:
The religious impetus behind the new
missionary movement was motivated by the
evangelical revival in Europe in the late 18th
Century.
The revival created a new and growing
Methodist Church and an increasing powerful
evangelical party within the established Anglican
Church.
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It affected the Protestants in Europe and North

America, with anew farvour and zeal in religious
matters.

This resulted in the foundation of various

societies in the last decade of the 18th Century.
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Several aspects of missionary activities helped to account for

effective participation in the development of education in
Africa:
• The missionaries’ head start over the colonial regimes;
• Their heavy stress on education, the uneven distribution of
mission schools;
• The priority given to educating the rural population;
• The rivalry between voluntary agencies ( as the various
denominational groups were termed by the colonial
government of Africa). All these affected the missionary
activities in Africa in their contribution to the
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Aims of Missionary Enterprise in the

Development of Education
• The objective of nearly all missionaries was to
bring Africans into the membership of the
churches to which they themselves belonged.
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• This would be done through networks of
village schools in which children of all ages
could be given simple education based on
elementary reading, writing and arithmetic
(3RS).
• Thus school education prior to 1920 grew out
of desire to win converts.
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The missionaries wanted to train African
catechists and workers. The catechist would
spread the gospel particularly since he was a
man who spoke the language and was one of
the people.
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The spread of Christianity had to rely on a

person’s ability to read and understand the
Bible.
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Establishment and Development of

School Education by Missionaries
The mission impact was not confined to coastal
areas of Africa.
In English Speaking West Africa, Sierra Leone
became the centre of educational activities. It
produced traders, missionaries and civil servants for
other parts of the region.
In 1804, the Church Missionaries Society (CMS) began
to set up their schools
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In 1827, they established a teachers college at
Fourah Bay. In 1945 the CMS opened the first
grammar secondary school.
The Catholic activities in education in Sierra Leone
were carried out by sisters of St. Joseph of Cluny.
They started a school in Freetown which developed
into primary and secondary departments.
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In The Gambia, the Weslyan Methodist Mission

opened their first school in Barhust in 1826.
Soon afterwards the Catholic and Anglican
mission began work in the Gambia. By 1860
both groups of missionaries had opened and
developed their own schools.
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Ghana (Gold Coast) had a stronger tradition of

government support. The Bassel Mission started
school at Akropong in 1843 and opened a
teachers college at Abetifi in 1898. Other
schools were opened at Christianborg and
Begoro. The Weslyans opened their school at
Cape coast.
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In Nigeria the Methodists opened their first
school at Badagary in 1842 and Abeokuta in
1843. The CMS opened a teachers college at
Abeokuta in 1843 and later another at Ibadan.
In 1859 they opened a grammar school in
Lagos. In 1860 the Catholics started their work
in Lagos which became a main area of their
educational activities.
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• In French Speaking West Africa, the
appearance of the first schools in Senegal
dates back to 1817 at which time possession
of colonies in Africa was being taken. Plans
were made for initiating elementary school
education and determining the most effective
means of its expansion.
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This expansion was to take place once the native

had been partially cultured through the medium
of Christianity. Several schools were established
between 1847 and 1895.
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For instance, schools were opened at Otages in

1847, at Podor, Sedhiou, Dagana, Bakel, and
Dakar.
Vocational education schools were established
in Dakar in 1903. Several schools were
established in French Speaking West Africa:
Niger and Guinea, starting in 1896, Ivory Coast
and Dahomey.
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Features that hampered missionary activity in the
development of education
Missionary activities in the development of education
were hampered by:
• Stringent budgets;
• Limited personnel;
• Unhealthy working conditions of expatriate
missionaries.
• In areas where Islam was the dominant religion
missionaries were not welcome.
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 GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS ENTERPRISE
During the period prior to 1920 in Africa,
education was largely controlled and organised
by Christian Missionary societies. The colonial
governments played some part in the provision
of education after the start of the 19th century.
But it was insignificant compared to the efforts
of the missionaries.
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Impetus behind Enterprise by Government Officials in
Development of Education
Factors that seem to have determined early European
activities in the development of education included:
• The commercial expectations: The traditional
conflict of Christians and Muslims that culminated
in the conquest of the Iberian Peninsular (Spain
and Portugal) tended to show the unsuitability of
trade in Muslim areas in eastern direction.
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• Information about the wealth of the interior of Africa had
accumulated from the Moors of North Africa who knew
about the caravan routes across the Saharan desert.

• Discovery of America provided a demand for slaves.

Hence the establishment of a triangular trade which
European nations were anxious to participate.

• Desire to establish empires in Africa. European

settlements were set up particularly along the African
Coast.
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• Aims of Government Officials in Development
of Education

In the period up to 1920 the colonial

education aimed at inculcating the values of
western civilization in the minds of those who
were to serve in the colonial administration.
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There was need for the colonial school. The

colonial administration did not cope with
everything. Thus the aim here was to educate
Africans who would become local
administrators and clerks in the colonial
administrative set-up.
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Establishment and Development of school

education by Government Officials
• The colonial powers established some schools,
but the foundation and development of
formal school education was done by the 19th
century Christian missionaries. In British,
Belgian and French Africa the colonial
government gave aid to the mission schools.
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In each of the countries of Africa there was no official
government policy on education during this period.
Government grants to mission schools were modest.
Missionary bodies themselves came to realise that the
magnitude of the educational task was beyond their
resources.
And so, mission groups urged governments to take a
more active and responsible part in the development
of education in Africa.
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In English- Speaking West Africa, in Sierra Leone,

up to 1909 government contribution to education
was limited to the financing of Bonny school
which had been founded in 1905. The
government decided to assist mission schools and
also opened new ones. A number of government
primary schools were opened between 1912 and
1916. Nevertheless, education in Sierra Leone
continued to be in the missionary hands.
 LECTURE 13 (HISTORY OF EDUCATION)

In the Gambia, the government showed an

inclination towards support for development of
education. A sum of money was voted to
support a number of mission schools.
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• In each of the countries of Africa there was no
official government policy on education during
this period. Government grants to mission
schools were modest. Missionary bodies
themselves came to realise that the magnitude of
the educational task was beyond their resources.
And so, mission groups urged governments to
take a more active and responsible part in the
development of education in Africa.
• In English- Speaking West Africa, in Sierra Leone, up to
1909 government contribution to education was limited
to the financing of Bonny school which had been founded
in 1905. The government decided to assist mission schools
and also opened new ones. A number of government
primary schools were opened between 1912 and 1916.
Nevertheless, education in Sierra Leone continued to be in
the missionary hands.
• In the Gambia, the government showed an inclination
towards support for development of education. A sum of
money was voted to support a number of mission schools.
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• In Nigeria, the beginning of the 20th Century
saw a considerable government interest in
education. In 1901 it took over the high school
at Bonny and opened an elementary school in
Benin. In 1907, a first government secondary
school opened in Lagos. By 1910 government
run school were forty (40). The government
also increased its assistance to mission
schools.
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• In French Speaking West Africa, most schools
were run by the mission. An attempt to
general re-organisation of education took
place in 1903 following the federation of the
colonies into a political group in 1895. The
charter of 1903 constituted the first colonial
education policy. It regulated the
development of school education system.
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• The decrees of 1912 re-organised the
department of education in each of the
colonies which included Ivory Coast, Guinea,
Senegal, Niger and Dahomey. A number of
educational institutions were opened , e.g.
Ecole Faidherbe in 1903 and Ecole Normale
de St. Louis.
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• In Eastern Africa education was mainly under
Christian missionary control. But in 1914, in
Tanzania, the German administration had
established a fairly extensive… All educational
activities were brought to a halt with the
outbreak of World War in 1914.
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 AFRICAN ENTERPRISE
The initial impetus of Africans in education
was one of curiosity. Christian missionary
station initially attracted the social outcasts
and victims of famine and other maladies.
Later groups of curious people gathered
around the mission stations. As soon as their
curiosity was satisfied, they returned to their
villages.
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There were small schools in the interior of

Africa because people failed to appreciate the
advantages of education. Many of them
refused to allow their children to attend school.
Some of them used force to keep their children
at home. There were reasons for this:
• Children were needed to contribute labour to
the family;
• To preserve customs and traditions of the clan.
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Indifference to education during this period was
not widespread. In some parts of Africa the
importance of European education was
recognised , e.g. in Kenya (in Nyanza) under the
strong Anglican influence, the idea of literary
training for church leaders and chiefs was given
emphasis. Demands for education, especially of the
literary natures were high. There was pressure for
more reading and writing.
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New opportunities in the colonial world through
missions acted as an impetus for demand for
education. Consequently, young men ran away from
home to European farms for higher wages and also
to missions, thus escaping their tribal obligations.
Indeed, mission schools served to reduce
dependence of the young men upon their traditional
societies. Enthusiasm of the African youth to
Western schools arose from the socio-economic
structures imposed by the colonial administration.
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Conclusion
In this lecture we covered the following aspects:
 Factors that contributed to the development of formal
education in Africa before 1920;
 The contribution of the following partners (known as
enterprises)in the development of education before 1920:
 Christian missionary enterprises;
 Government officials enterprise;
 African enterprise.
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Activities

• Discuss the factors that influenced the development

of formal education in Africa prior to 1920;
• Discuss the contribution of the following to the
development of education in Africa prior to 1920:
• Christian missionary enterprise
• Government Officials enterprise
• Africans enterprise
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Further Reading
• Hilliard, F. H. (1975). A short History of Education in West
Africa. London: Thomas Nelson and Sons Ltd.
• Moumonni, A. (1968). Education in Africa. London: Andre
Deutsch.
• Sifuna, D.N. and Otiende, J.E. (1994). An Introductory
History of Education. Nairobi: Nairobi University Press
(Revised edition).
• Watson, T and Furley, O.W. (1978). A History of education in
East Africa. New York: Nok Publishers.