Liberia: Description, History, Problems

by Frederick Starr

Again he says: “While the State must in great measure depend upon the public spirit and missionary zeal of individual citizens in fomenting and creating the national spirit, it is, a priori, the duty of the people in their collective capacity to provide capital means to this end. If the country is to be utilized, if we are to develop into a strong nation, capable of demanding universal respect, and worthy of taking that leading place among African states and the African civilization, which is our destiny, the preoccupation of government for the next two or three generations must be in the direction of developing a specific type of citizens, animated by an identical spirit, filled with an unbounded faith in their destiny, and possessed and inspired by the same ideals. As this is to be effected through the schools, we can not escape the impressions: (a) That some central authority of the State must supervise all educational operations in the country; (b) that, if mission schools and private corporate and non-corporate institutions be allowed, they must operate subject to limitations imposed by law as regards the course of study, the general character of instruction, and the special object to be obtained, especially in the primary grades. In other words, they must assist in developing the civic instincts of the pupils; (c) that a uniform system of training must be rigidly, consciously, and universally enforced.”

The matter suggested by these quotations is really of considerable importance. The central thought of them is surely sound; all mission schools, while entirely free to teach religion according to their own tenets, should consult together and have a uniform system of secular instruction which should be kept quite separate from the religious teaching; this should be of the same character and have the same end as the teaching offered in the public schools; the mission schools should work in harmony with the public schools and should recognize the Superintendent of Education; they should heartily co-operate with him toward the production of good citizens and the development of a feeling of respect and loyalty to the national government. It is true that some of them have a standard which is not reached by the public schools; such should not, of course, reduce their standard, but should serve as a friendly example to the Government of what is reasonably expected of schools of their grade. The proper treatment of this matter calls for great tact and good spirit on both sides.

We have already called attention to the fact that in Vai and Mandingo towns instruction is given to boys in Arabic and in the reading of the Koran. These little village schools are interesting. The boys use smooth boards with handles as slates; these are smeared over with a light colored clay, and passages from the sacred writing are copied in black upon the light surface; the little fellows are constantly drilled in reading these passages aloud and in copying similar passages upon their wooden tablets. Such schools as these form a nucleus which could be utilized in the development of schools for broader instruction. We have already called attention to the fact that the Vai have a phonetic system of their own, developed among themselves. The ability to write and read this phonetic script is rather widely spread, and when schools come to be established in Vai towns this system might be widely utilized for purposes of education.

Theoretically, and to some degree actually, Liberia College stands at the summit of the Liberian system of education. It has had a checkered history with ups and downs; most observers have been inclined to see and emphasize the downs. In 1848 John Payne, of the Episcopal mission, suggested to Simon Greenleaf, of Boston, that a school of theology should be established in Liberia. Partly as the result of this suggestion, in 1850 there was established in Massachusetts a Board of Trustees of Donations for Education in Liberia. In 1851 the Liberian legislature incorporated Liberia College, the outgrowth of the steps already taken, although not in the exact direction suggested by John Payne. In 1857 Ex-President J. J. Roberts was elected first president of Liberia College, and superintended the erection of the building which had been provided for. During the next few years further funds were raised for the purpose of conducting the enterprise, and in 1861 the endowment was vested in a Board of eighteen Trustees. In 1862 Liberia College was opened for work. Since that time it has had a struggling existence, making periodical appeals for financial assistance, receiving donations of more or less magnitude, occasionally putting forth a spurt of momentary vigor, then languishing almost to the point of death; again and again this round of experiences has been run by the institution. It is difficult to secure definite and connected information regarding it; to prepare a fairly complete history would involve considerable labor. It is interesting to notice that, among the expressed purposes of the institution, was the providing of an opportunity for American colored youth to receive an education, as they were then debarred from educational institutions in our country. There were at first three chairs in the institution:—Jurisprudence and International Law, English Literature and Moral and Mental Philosophy, and the Fulton Chair of Languages; in 1905 the faculty consisted of eight members, including the president. In 1879 there was but a single teacher, who was giving instruction in mathematics (to which chair he was originally appointed) and also in languages. The largest donation at any time received by the College was from Joseph Fulton, of New York, who left $25,000, the income of which was to support the Fulton professor, who was to be nominated by the New York Colonization Society; the Board of Donations of Boston has had some $30,000 at interest for the benefit of the institution; Albert Fearing at one time gave $5000 for library purposes. In addition to these gifts and bequests from and in America the institution has received and does receive some governmental aid; 1000 acres of land in each county have been set apart for its advantage; certain sources of income are theoretically devoted to its maintenance. At one time four scholarships had been established and named; these scholarships were, the Gordon Memorial (in memory of Midshipman Gordon, who died in 1822), the John Payne Scholarship, the Simon Greenleaf Scholarship, and the George Briggs Scholarship. To what degree these scholarships are still productive we do not know. The institution had run down and was threatened with extinction when, in 1898, under the national administration of President W. E. Coleman, it received a new impulse, and in the year 1900 was re-organized. It is unfortunate that the exact status of Liberia College is not more definite; it is neither fish, flesh nor fowl; it is at once a private institution with a directorate and management located across the seas, and a part of a system of public education, receiving aid from national funds.

Such is the condition of education in the Republic. It leaves much to be desired. Those who lead public thought are by no means ignorant of its weak features; the national poverty, however, makes it difficult to develop better things. If the nation is to advance, its education must be greatly improved. This improvement must begin at the very foundation with the primary public schools. These need reform in the matter of buildings, equipment, and teachers’ salaries; if good teachers are to be secured, and kept steadily at work to earn their salaries, they must be promptly paid—prompt payment of any employees is a difficult matter in Liberia. There should be a large increase in the number of public schools; there are perhaps as many as are necessary within the civilized settlements, but the native towns are almost without school opportunities, except as these are offered by the missions. There is crying need of the establishment of public schools in native towns. Such should, however, be established only in towns where genuine promises of self-support are given. There are, no doubt, many towns where, if the matter were properly presented, the chiefs would readily build a school-building, order the children to attend school, and support a teacher. Such a teacher should be well acquainted with the native tongue, and the bulk of the instruction should be given in it; to teach elementary branches in a foreign language is poor policy; true, it has been attempted—as on a wide scale in the Philippines, but mental and moral imbecility are likely to be developed by such procedure; English should be taught, but it should be taught as a subject in itself, and the English language should not be used as the medium for conveying elementary instruction in fundamental branches; after English has once been learned, it is of course desirable to encourage the reading of English books and the acquisition of general knowledge through such reading. It will probably be suggested that it will be impossible to find teachers acquainted with the native tongues and competent to teach the various branches of primary education; such a difficulty ought not to exist after nearly eighty years of mission schools which have by preference sought to teach and raise the native population. It will be claimed that such teachers in native towns will be in danger of relapse; there is such danger, but it is far less than might be thought, provided the Department of Public Instruction keeps in constant touch with such teachers in native towns and properly emphasizes to the native chiefs the value of schools and education. When we were in the Bassa country, we found, at a native town quite in the interior, an intelligent black man who spoke English well and who told us that he had been sent out by the Lutheran mission at Muhlenburg to pick up and bring in native boys for instruction at that famous school; he told us at that time, that the chief of the village where we were, together with the leading men, were very anxious that a local school should be established in their midst, and promised land, a building, and attendance. It would be easy if the matter were handled wisely, to establish at once, in twenty native towns, carefully selected among the different tribes, twenty local schools which would be supported with considerable enthusiasm by the communities in which they were situated. If the Government could at once equip these twenty schools with good teachers who had graduated from the mission schools, there would spring up a popular demand throughout the whole interior for the establishment of village schools; it would be difficult to satisfy the demand, but from the number of villages asking for the establishment of schools, a reasonable number of the best might be selected, and the work would grow. There would actually be little expense in such development; if it is to be successful, and if it is worth while, it should originate largely with the towns themselves, and every school should be practically self-supporting. For a time of course there would be on the part of chiefs a demand for some sort of bribe or “dash”; this ought to be refused in every case.

To illustrate exactly what is meant, we quote a sample of the kind of document which mission schools at one time regularly drew up with the idea of getting children into school. It is presented in Hoyt’s Land of Hope:—“Articles of agreement between Tweh, King of Dena, his head men and people, and the Methodist Episcopal Mission:

Art. 1. The mission school is to have at all times at least ten boys; and more if they should be wanted. Girls at all times are desirable.

Art. 2. The children of the school are at all times to be under the entire control of Mr. Philip Gross and his successors in the teaching and government of this station, without interruption on the part of their parents or guardians until the time for which they are put in the mission school shall have expired.

Art. 3. As good substantial buildings may soon be required for teachers to reside in, and more land will be constantly wanted for manual labor purposes, the King, his head men and people, also agree to protect the missionaries in occupying and using it, in the manner they may think proper, without responsibility to any one beyond themselves. The King, etc., agree to protect them in their persons and property from either abuse or violence, and if anything is stolen from them, the King, his head men and people, promise to see it returned or paid for.

Art. 4. As long as the authorities of Dena continue to fulfill this agreement, by giving the children for school instruction, and protecting the mission and mission-premises from intrusion and disturbance, the mission will give them annually, (about Christmas) one piece of blue baft, two small kegs of powder, ten bars of tobacco, ten bars of pipes, and fifty gun-flints; with the understanding, that this being done, they are not to be teased for dash to any one.