COLONIAL

EDUCATION IN
TANZANIA
The Tanzanian education system
would not have existed without a
mention of both colonial Germanic
and British education systems.
cont

It is documented that formal Western

schooling began in around 1868 by
missionaries of different denominations.
Before the missionaries, an informal
tribal education existed in each of the
more than 120 tribes in the country.
cont
The first formal schools came during the
German East Africa colony. The German East
Africa colony consisted of Mainland
Tanganyika, Rwanda, and Burundi. German
colonized Tanganyika from the time of the
Berlin conference otherwise known as the
scramble for Africa, 1885-1886, to the end of
World War I.
Cont.
During this time, German run its own
education system aimed at propagating
its colonial rule. After World War II, the
British took over Tanganyika as it’s
protectorate. Like the Germans, the
British too run an education system with
similar aims.
 THE GERMAN COLONIAL
EDUCATION SYSTEM IN
TANZANIA
Historical and documentary accounts show
that the Western form of education was
introduced in Tanzania by missionary
organizations of different dominations in the
1860s. The major aim of that education was
to introduce Christianity and a Western
economic system.
Cont.
The missionaries also introduced cash
crops, such as coffee and tea. Their work
was more successful in three regions:
Kilimanjaro, Mbeya and Bukoba region.
These regions were also having favorable
conditions for the cultivation of coffee
and tea plants.
Cont.
By the end of 1914, the Germans had
established 63 village primary schools, 92
central schools and one high school in Tanga
that provided clerical, industrial, and teacher
training for up to 500 pupils. Unfortunately,
all these schools stopped serving children in
1914 because of the initial fighting in the
World War One (WWI).
Cont.
When the Germans established their colony,
some of the Tanzanian chiefs and local
people who were already converted to
Christianity accepted the German colonial
rules and policies. The German government
also established a few primary schools and
demanded cheap labor for agricultural farms.
Cont.
It is not clearly stated in the literature if
the German language was taught in
schools, but it is clearly stated that when
the British took over the Tanzanian
colony, the English language was made a
language of instruction in schools and the
educational system was made
Eurocentric.
Cont.
• Education system was much concerned with
• To enable the native to be used in the local
government.
• To cultivate a liking of order, cleanliness and
diligence.
• Dutifulness and sound knowledge of
German customs and patriotism.
Cont.

•Support their demand for raw materials

and cheap labor. Education, (again,
lacking gender, class and tribal equity)
was used to legitimize colonial rule of
first the Germans, then the British.
•Loss of political power
Cont.

•To block the further evolution of

national solidarity
•To distort craftsmanship and destroy the
growth of technology in Africa
•To destroy internal trade
•To destroy African culture
Cont.
• Introduced new value system
• The introduction and intensification for cash-
crop production
• Brought poverty into Africa via taxation, paid
employment, alienation from the land and
environment and discouragement of food-crop
production
• Created social stratification in Africa
THE BRITISH EDUCATION
SYSTEM OF TANGANYIKA
At the end of the WWI, the Germans found
themselves on the losing end of the war.
Thus, winners, the British and colleague
divided German East Africa among
themselves. Great Britain took over
Tanganyika as a trust territory under the
League of Nations.
Cont.

The British came with their own views of

an education system of Tanganyika.
Remember, the name Tanganyika did not
exist until the British took over mainland
German East Africa and called it
Tanganyika.
Cont.
During the British rule from 1919-1961,
formal education was mainly provided by
missionaries and by the government. The
focus of education was to produce
manpower for work as teachers, secretaries,
and laborers in basic processing agricultural
industries. The school system was mostly
segregated.
Cont.
There were different schools for White children,
Asian children, and African children. The science
curriculum for African children emphasized
gardening, agriculture, rural studies, and general
science. Students were punished for not speaking
English at school, students who did well in liberal
arts subjects were honored and were provided
full scholarships to attain higher education in
Europe.
Cont.
No scholarships were granted to students who
did well in math and science. Speaking English
was considered more civilized than speaking a
native language. The materials used in classrooms
perpetuated Eurocentric culture, and very little
related to African culture was taught. the main
purpose of the British education system was to
educate people so that in return they will help
them to rule the country.
Cont.

The British were more concerned with the

territory making a profit for them rather than
uplifted morals of the locals through an
education. To accomplish the indirect rule
task, the British opened a school in Tabora in
1924 to educate only the sons of the elite
and of the local chiefs,
Cont.
their aim was to produce future
administrators, clerks, and artisans, however,
the British government move was not well
received by the Anglican church. The
Anglican missionaries were against this plan
of educating only the sons of chiefs. Their
goal was to create a population of educated
and god fearing African Christians.
Cont.

Thus, through the University Mission of

Central Africa (UMCA) the Anglican
missionaries played a key role in opening up
schools across Tanganyika and to educating
all the locals regardless of their status.
British used chiefs to do their dirty work such
as
Cont.

•Collect taxes which they overcharged

since before 1914 they were not paid.
•They maintained law and order.
•Recruited people for communal labor
and as carrier corps during the World
Wars.
Cont.

•Chiefs provided livestock and grain for

the war during the war to feed the
troops.
•Were used to pass unpopular policies
e.g. compulsory labor. So Chiefs were
hated.
STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES
OF COLONIAL EDUCATION
STRENGTHS
The colonies came in Africa with their
agencies such as explorers, traders and
Christians. Christians brought Christian
education. Christian missionary groups did
a commendable job in the area of
education
Cont.

their work was significant in shaping the

social and economic development of many
states in Africa. In brief, they promoted
literacy and other related skills in the areas
where they operated. Only few schools were
established e.g. Tabora boys, Songea Boys
secondary school.
Cont

They also did a lot in teacher education,

funding of education, vocational
education, etc. They produced the
manpower in different areas of
specialization.
Cont
WAKNESSES
On the negative side though, Christianity
planted seeds of religious antagonism in
areas where religious groups competed for
influence. They discriminated among the
teachers and pupils which means the schools
promoted denominationalism, hatred and
disunity in different parts of Africa.
Cont
Christian doctrines denounced some of
the traditional beliefs and practices and
by so doing destroyed even the good that
prevailed in Africa. In terms of the
curriculum, they introduced an education
system that was largely theoretical rather
than practical.
Cont
Colonialism did not allow for industrialization
in Tanganyika. It assigned Tanganyika the
role of production of primary goods or raw
materials in the international division of
labor. Colonial education encouraged and
intensified class struggle, tribalism and
ethnicity within the African colonies.
Cont

These were strategies introduced by the

colonialists in order to perpetuate or
prolong their rule and domination of
African territories. An example is the
British colonial policy of divide and rule in
Nigeria.
Cont
Not only does colonial education eventually
create a desire to disassociate with native
heritage, but it affects the individual and the
sense of self-confidence. Thiong’o believes
that colonial education instills a sense of
inferiority and disempowerment with the
collective psyche of a colonized people