Basel Mission Education in Cameroon

Description

This volume examines the relationships between the German colonial administration, the Basel Mission, the British Baptist Missionary Society and other missionary societies that characterized the setting up of Basel Mission education in Cameroon against the backdrop of intense rivalry. Spanning a period of 82 years, the book meticulously documents the kick off, expansion and elaboration of the Basel Mission’s efforts to institutionalise education as well as its objectives and operational modalities. Basel Mission Education in Cameroon deepens our understanding of European imperialism and its legacy in postcolonial societies. Policy makers and educationists in Cameroon and Africa at large will find this volume very instructive as they forge educational systems that serve the needs of current and future generations of Africans.

Praise for “Basel Mission Education in Cameroon”

“Here, carefully recorded are the intricate processes of Cameroon educational history with focus on the Basel Mission and how it related with other stakeholders. No novelistic speculation, this study scientifically documents the evolution of the stakes from scratch to maturity and devolution of educational control to the Cameroonian local church and people. This received educational baton holds the key to the recent sociocultural stranglehold of imbroglios in Cameroon. It is the core educational history of a people pregnant with questions whose answers would salvage our tottering politico-social strata from perdition. Thorough, profound and scripted with graceful communicative ease, this read-or-perish information-loaded volume will satisfactorily serve educationists and students (especially African students) of all levels.”

­— Verkijika Fanso, Professor Emeritus of History, University of Yaoundé 1

Content

INTRODUCTION    1
Post-WW1 Missionary Resumption         2

CHAPTER ONE       9
Basel Mission Education Under German Colonial Administration         9
BM Background and Choice    10
BM and Colonial Collaboration           11
BM and the British Baptist Missionary Society           14

CHAPTER TWO      17
Setting up Basel Mission Education in Cameroon           17
Problems of Expansion             18
BM Educational Objectives      19
Organization of BM Schools    20
Four School Types       21
BM Education Problems and Reform Attempts            26
Rival Missionary Societies       28
Internal Hurdles of BM Education Reforms    32
Bohner and the BM Education Goal    32
Training Centres          37

CHAPTER THREE   43
Basel Mission Education and The German Regime         43
Exploitation      44
BM Education and Other Missionary Societies           48
BM Educational Achievements under the German
Administration            49

CHAPTER FOUR    53
Cameroonian Responses to Basel Mission Education
under the German Regime            53

CHAPTER FIVE      63
Basel Mission Education under British and
Postcolonial Regimes: 1916-1966      63
WWI and the Non-Missionary Period – 1914-1925     64
The Mandate     68
After World War I        69
Trusteeship to Postcolonial Period      79
Teacher Training          81
Female Education        84
Secondary Education   87
Vocational/Technical Education          91
The Handing-Over       92

CHAPTER SIX         97
Cameroonian Reactions to Basel Mission
Education During the British Regimes     97

CHAPTER SEVEN  107
Basel Mission Education to PCC 107
Stage One         107
Stage Two         107
Stage Three      108
Preparation of Cameroonian Church Leaders            108
Handing-over of Schools          112

CONCLUSION         115
Afterword              117
Appendix               119
References             123
Index                  131