contribution of missionaries to education in 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. The Christian Connector Scholarship. wassce literature questions. Some observers have argued that the Europeans used the Christian bible to justify the practice of slavery and the slave trade. It also talks about all the mission societies from all denominations engaged in educational works. For instance, in Ghana, it was in 1858 that Rev. For example, the missionaries preached against certain aspects of African culture they considered barbaric or satanic or both. It is important for several reasons. Agricultural school graduates did not compete with European industries or European farmers, as they mainly grew crops that could not be grown in European climates. This research was funded by the European Research Council. 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. Catholic Higher Education and Mission in Nigeria: The Contributions of We shall now turn our attention to the activities of the Christian missionaries in Ghana. 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. The first school in Nigeria was started by the Methodist missionaries at Badagry in 1842. Debrunner, Hans Werner. In such situations, the message sometimes appealed to the local people depending on the efficiency of the interpreter. This item is part of a JSTOR Collection. Missionaries continued to be the main providers of education even after colonial powers established control during the so-called Scramble for Africa which occurred between 1884-1914. Full article: Inequality of education in colonial Ghana: European 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. As negative as all these impacts of the missionaries undoubtedly were for the African pupils, the long-term consequences are arguably as serious. It happens that some people convert at the end of their life in order to be buried in the prestigious Presbyterian cemetery. The Rev. Contribution of Christian Missionaries in Ghana - Cegast Academy 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. Soon after, in 1835 they moved up to Akropon on the hills in Akuapem, where the pioneer missionary the Rev. The blessings which Christianity has brought to West Africa are many. 2236624), The beginning of Africanisation : the dawn of the missionary motive in Gold Coast education, Early colonial and missionary records from West Africa, West Indies material in the archives of the USPG, 1710-1950. Among the Christian missionaries that came to the Gold Coast (Ghana) were the following. These missionary societies laid the foundations of the Roman Catholic Church in West Africa, which lasted through to the independence period when African clergy replaced the white pastors. 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. Although it can be said that Christian missionaries benefitted Africans by bringing in the more advanced Western education to the European colonies in Africa, it is believed that the mission schools in fact had a negative impact on the native peoples. Many missionaries died because of the climate and tropical disease. 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. Another important missionary doctor was J. R. Stephen who for many years headed a missionary hospital at Ilesha. They worked tirelessly to lay a foundation for formal education The European missionaries established elementary and second-cycle institutions in the country. In 1827 it grew into Fourah Bay College. They were followed in turn by the Methodists and the Roman Catholics. Asuikante Gabriella Atengdem - Senior Research Assistant - University The first missionaries to come to Ghana were the Roman Catholic missionaries in the 15th century and the Anglican missionaries. The country has diverse geography, people groups, and languageswith English as the common language, and more than 11 others with state recognition. The school, which was established the year of independence in 1957, was a work in progress. Some of the missionaries came with them (549 years ago) but many died from the cruel tropical weather of forested West Africa. (As at December 2020). Also, Christian missionaries in Ghana were as zealous as their counterparts in Nigeria in pioneering medical services. 4; img 109. All rights reserved. The third, St Nicholas Grammar School (now Adisadel College), was founded by the Anglican Church in 1910. The common response among traditionally polygamous people is well illustrated by a passage in Jomo Kenyattas famous book on the Gikuyu in colonial Kenya: This [the insistence on monogamy] caused a great confusion, for the African could not understand how he could drive away his wives and children, especially in a community where motherhood is looked upon as a religious duty; the children are regarded as part and parcel, not only of the father, but of the whole clan (mbari), and without them the mbari is lost. 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. They did a lot to impact the social and economic lives of Africans. Brief History - PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF GHANA Christian converts were indoctrinated to frown upon the use of indigenous first names in favour of Christian ones. It is simply one of the gross evils of heathen society which, like habitual murder or slavery, must at all costs be ended. They had to speak through few interpreters who did not have sufficient education to interpret correctly. 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. A permanent station was established in Lagos in 1868, soon followed by others at Lokoja, Abeokuta and Ibadan. Looking for a flexible role? The Basel missionaries, in particular, established experimental farms and plantations in places like Akropong. Missionary, educator contributed to building independent Ghana Moreover, the Islamic religion was also being introduced to the southern section of the country by Muslim immigrants from the north of the colony. In short, the impact of teaching in the vernacular was more negative than positive, as it reinforced colonial rule and no doubt did very little to preserve native cultural identities, seeing as missionaries promoted European languages as superior and only used the vernacular because conversion and religious instruction were such high priorities. One reason why the Christian missionaries came to Ghana and the rest of Africa was to convert the people to the Christian faith. Literature House, 1967. 2006 - 2023 Microform Academic Publishers | Microform Academic Publishers is a division of Microform Imaging Limited (Company registered in England no. Samuel Adu-Gyamfi And Benjamin Kye Ampadu, Ajayi, J..F.A and Michael Crowder History of West Africa. Christianity in northern Nigeria. 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. Indeed, most of our early nationalists were all products of mission schools. 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 2011 at age 77, he retired from teaching and returned to the United States. 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. The pastors of the Church Missionary Society, from Badagry and later from Sierra Leone, visited these Christian communities in Abeokuta and other towns. For that matter, they rebelled against their chiefs and elders. Unlike the Portuguese, the French colonial officials encouraged the Christian missionaries in the promotion of formal education and social services, notably health. ), Father Auguste Moreau and Father Eugene Murat, arrived at Elmina and revived the Roman Catholic Church in Ghana. Free resources to assist you with your university studies! The Akim area had about 3400 converts over 32 villages and there were about 900 children distributed in 27 Schools. began work in many parts of Africa. The Society of the Divine Word is the world's largest Roman Catholic order of priests and brothers who focus on missionary work. Initially, a majority of the missionary journeys was done with English-Speaking Protestants and later, in the 1820s and 1830s, they were joined by continental Protestantism from Germany, Switzerland and France. The missionary and colonial education aimed at character training and civilization resulted in cultural annihilation and religious, and linguistic hegemony. 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 1880, two Roman Catholic priests of the Society of African Missions (S.M.A. In Ghana, for instance, they persuaded their converts to reject polygamy and human sacrifice. With the exception of the first two volumes, marked "West Africa", these items are drawn from the volumes Series CWW. They often attributed natural ailments to supernatural causes and resorted to mystic cults to appease the unknown spirit, before applying medicine to the sick person. His request to the Danish Crown for missionaries was forwarded to . His work, however, did not extend much beyond Cape Coast and the neighbouring area. 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. 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! Unsurprisingly, the level of education increased as one moved closer to the missionaries. For instance, in southern Nigeria, the CMS policy was to teach in the vernacular at the primary level, while the Roman Catholic Missions policy was to teach in English (Bassey 1991:42). Some of these effects are still with us today. The CMS began to work in the freed slave villages in Sierra Leone in 1804 and the Methodist in 1811. Cultural deprivation is what many of us suffer from []. 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 . This was around the same time that the first Portuguese sailors arrived on the coast of Ghana. homework help It is obvious that the main reason why the missionaries came to Ghana was to convert the indigenous people to the Christian faith. Andrew Foster (educator) - Wikipedia For more than a year, Ghanaian Saints continued to practice their faith in their homes. senior high school economics The Scottish Missionary Society had been working in Calabar, Nigeria, also a British colony adjacent to the Gold Coast and it was from the Calabar Presbyterian Church in Nigeria that a missionary was sent to take charge of the Presbyterian work in the Gold Coast after the deportations. Included on the website is information about the charitys programs, such as their Leadership Development Program in which participants earn a degree in their chosen field of study, and participate in Christian leadership training, enabling them to become a fully developed agent of change in their nation (Compassion Canada 2011). Teacher training colleges in Ghana did not expand as fast as the secondary schools. The original letters from abroad cover West Africa from 1899 to 1933. For instance, on 2nd October 1792, the Baptist Missionary Society was formed followed by the interdenominational London Missionary Society which was established in 1795. 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). Any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of UKEssays.com. Joseph Dunwell. 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. Listen as we explore missions, theology, and practice to help senders and goers alike. %PDF-1.7 % Besides, the missionaries had to travel longer distances to inland towns from their southern stations. Prominent among the early Christian missionaries to come to the Gold Coast (Ghana) were the Roman Catholic, Methodist, Basel, Bremen and Anglican missions. Establishment of Christian Churches In The Gambia. They worked to write the bible, dictionaries and textbooks in such Ghanaian Languages as Ewe, Fanti, Ga and Twi. Being able to speak and write in the colonisers language was considered a privilege. Foremost in the contribution of the early Christian missionaries to the development of Ghana is their efforts to bring Western education to Ghanaians. Similar developments were carried out by the missionaries in other Nigerian languages, Efik, Kanuri, Igbo, etc. Yet, the relationship between European missionaries and African populations had some contradictions. 2023 Society of the Divine Word. ), Father Auguste Moreau and Father Eugene Murat, arrived at Elmina and revived the Roman Catholic Church in Ghana. Joseph Dunwell. Here you can choose which regional hub you wish to view, providing you with the most relevant information we have for your specific region. First, I looked at how educational outcomes depended on the distance to historical missions. Andreas Riis, assisted by a team of West Indian evangelists, laid the foundations of the Basel Missionary Church in the country. After more than 20 years at Pope John XXIII School, he returned to the United States and served as parochial vicar at Blessed Sacrament-Our Lady of the Divine Shepherd in Trenton, N.J., where he lived with Father Tetteh. Clarke, Peter Bernard. While the protestant evangelical movements were gaining ground in West Africa, similar movements were being promoted by the Roman Catholic Church in Europe. Under the Basel Missions Salem system, converts were separated from the traditional society. hR]0+^$%K{_"/HevgV+bH6L %)`\ #\E*63Z_TsxlRZj:[/\IL-1b-i 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? West African Senior School Certificate Examination. Hilliard, F.H., 1957. The missionaries believed that in order to stabilize the faith of converts and to assist in character development, it was necessary that they should be able to read the scriptures or other books of religious instruction, translated by the missions. The Journal of Negro Education, 8 8 The Effect of Western Formal The greatest problem faced by the early European Christian missionaries was, the tropical climate and health Hazards. I will earn a commission if you follow a link to purchase a product. Many Ghanaian communities got divided along religious lines. 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. 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. The study examines the historical foundations of Western education in Meru and factors that influenced its development. Babalola, E. O. Christianity in West Africa. Johannes Zimmermann, for example, produced a Ga dictionary, Ga bible and grammar book. 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. 6: Christian Missionary Activities in West Africa 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. Daystar Press, 1978. How to Get Involved in Church Missions: The Ultimate Guide, 16 Causes of Crime Essay (with Solutions), Justify the Title of the Novel Second Class Citizen, The Role of Ghana in the Formation of the OAU, Economic Developments in Ghana Before Independence, 11 Causes of the Rise of Nationalism in Africa, Importance of the Odwira Festival in Ghana. New team members can be part of establishing a biblical foundation for the next generation of believers, the growth of nationally-led churches, and church planting in Ghana. 2: Trans-Saharan Trade. It would be wrong, however, to blame all these ills on the Christian missionaries alone. In the later 19th century, the immense African interior remained the principal object of the Catholic Priests, and from 1867 until his death in November 1892 Cardinal Lavigerie planned the planting of churches in Africa South of the Sahara. Prior to advent of the Christian missionaries and indeed well into the pre-independence period, most sick people depended for cure upon concoction herbs and roots and barks of trees. 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. The Church had its strongest hold in the Senegambia area. In due course leprosariums and orphanages were built to supplement their medical services. The original letters from abroad cover West Africa from 1899 to 1933. 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. The achievement of the purpose of these Christian Missions came with some costs. Indeed, once the souls had been saved and since the students must have been considered clever enough, European languages were almost universally the languages of instruction in the later primary years and in secondary schools (Beck 1966: 120; Foster 1965: 159; Miran 2002:127). Schools were deemed important. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Your email address will not be published. The consequences of norm conflicts are likely to manifest beyond educational pursuit. History books tended to exaggerate in achievements of Europeans, making no reference to Africans own great past. Of the ten largest congregations for men, the Society of the Divine Word is the fastest growing over the past 50 years. endstream endobj startxref Contribution of the Methodist Church to education in Ghana With the arrival of more missions into the country came an explosion in mission schools across southern Ghana. The early Christian missions concentrated their activities not only on religious matters. 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. All work is written to order. Father Burke, whose students included Father Tetteh and Archbishop Charles Palmer-Buckle of Accra, arrived in Ghana, West Africa, in 1963, only four years after the country gained independence from Great Britain. "Big things have small beginnings"; so is The Presbyterian Church of Ghana. A new era began with the settlements of Black Christians from Nova Scotia in Sierra Leone in 1787 and the missionary advance inland from Cape Town beginning with the arrival there of J. T. van der Kemp in 1799. For the West Africans, the acceptance of Christianity meant the total rejection of most of the cherished institutions upon which their society rested. Yes! Mission schools were popular because of the new skills and opportunities they offered. 2018). 1931. Copyright 2003 - 2023 - UKEssays is a trading name of Business Bliss Consultants FZE, a company registered in United Arab Emirates. Shaw, Mark. The Contribution of christian missionaries to education in Meru 1908-1963. African poetry Ghana Missionaries | Learn about Christian missions efforts in Ghana - ABWE Etherington, Norman. 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. In December 1868 he went with his wife and child to Anum in the present-day Volta Region of Ghana. The first Europeans arrived at the West-African Coasts at the end of the fifteenth century. A tiny act of kindness is remembered by a young man in need. 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. For instance, in the Salisbury region of Rhodesia, it was reported in 1924 that no male teachers had educational qualifications (Bone 1969:28). Although modern scientific research has confirmed the medicinal properties of these concoctions, traditional medical practice had several shortcomings. For this reason, missionaries believed they were doing their students a favour by discouraging traditional practices and promoting Western ones. Role of Missionaries in Colonial African Education - UKEssays.com The others include the French trading posts at Grand Bassam (Ivory Coast), Assinie and Libreville in Gabon. The Wesleyan and Basel missionaries established schools in Cape Coast, Accra . Henry Townsend who went from Sierra Leone to Badagry in 1842 in his company was the Rev Ajayi Crowther. Request Permissions. A second reason for the poor education of the mission schools was that in many cases the teachers in mission schools were unqualified as teachers, but were instead preachers by training. Hope Waddell started pioneering work, in 1846, in Calabar. This made it difficult for the early missionaries to stay in the country for long. All rights reserved. Nevertheless, the first higher institution in Ghana, now the Presbyterian Training College at Akuapem Akropon, was established in 1848, first as a centre for training catechists, and later to train teachers as well as ministers of the Presbyterian Church. cited in Miran 2002:128). 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. After World War I was declared in 1914, the German missionaries were restricted in their movements by the British in the British colonies. 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. 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. In Ghana the Presbyterians were pioneers in reducing Ga and Twi into . Email: henrydonsco@gmail.com In 1910, a prominent report of the World Missionary Conference concluded: [T]here can be no question of polygamy. African Drama 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. Government & Politics Registered office: Creative Tower, Fujairah, PO Box 4422, UAE. Their greatest legacy in the field of education was the foundation which the Methodist laid for what is today the Gambia High school. Mission Statement Please read our privacy policy to find out more. Hildebrandt, Jonathan. Soon after, in 1835 they moved up to Akropong on the hills in Akuapem, where the pioneer missionary the Rev. Thomas Thompson, arrived in Cape Coast in 1752. Development of Education in Sierra Leone. In addition to teaching, he served as national spiritual director of the Ghana Sacred Heart Enthronement Centre and spiritual director of the Accra Diocesan Sacred Heart Centre. university courses The traditions and values of the community, as well as the meaning of life, were taught to the child. He moved to Techny in 2016. 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. Perhaps the greatest service of the missionaries was the promotion of western education and the development of vernacular literature. 1. Four volumes of incoming correspondence marked "West Africa" on the spine. Baker Pub Group, 1996. The contribution of the missionaries to the development of Setswana as On the opposite side, the coming of the Christian missionaries brought in its wake certain negative developments like disregard for African culture and rebellion against traditional authority. While it has brought undoubted benefits, it has also harmed the traditional way of life. 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. Today, human sacrifice is generally frowned upon and considered an abomination. Therefore, whether through their rigid educational polices or lack thereof, colonial governments contributed to the poor education, though there is no denying that missionaries also contributed to the quality of education to a great extent. Lewis, Donald M., ed. Buchi Emecheta But that increase was greater in monogamous societies. As happened in other territories, the Christian missionaries did not confine their work to the spread of the gospel alone.

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