Native Authorities and Education

Abstract

Opening ParagraphThe student of English education who tries to envisage the development of African education is apt to be misled by the picture he has in his mind of its development in England. It is difficult for one brought up in the British tradition to divest himself of his national prepossessions, and it is hoped that any reader of this article will discount the limitations imposed by what seems to him to be British insularity. None the less, it may not be altogether without interest to readers of an international journal to see how this British tradition affects the approach to African problems. The English student is tempted to think of a vigorous and progressive Local Education Authority as part of the general local government of an area, managing and controlling schools, employing its own staff of administrative officials, building its own schools, and employing its own teachers. That picture is (of course) far from complete, for in England other parties are involved. There is the central government, which supplies from national (as distinct from local) revenue the bulk of the necessary funds. There are, too, the Churches, particularly the Anglican and the Roman Catholic, with their long educational history and their vast contributions to the educational system. Moreover, we have in England the further characteristic complication of a great and powerful body of teachers, who seem to the outsider to be partly state officials protected by the central authority and partly employees of the local authority. It is natural that in considering the supply of educational facilities in Africa we English should be in danger of being misled by our insular prepossessions. We must, therefore, be clear in our own minds as to what we mean when we speak of ‘Native Authorities’ and ‘Central Government’, and Churches, and the place and status of the teaching staffs in Africa.