British colonial education in Calabar: the hedge school policy as standard for education in contemporary Nigeria

Abstract

Calabar, Nigeria, looms large in any recounting of the history of western education in Nigeria. Western education here predates the coming of the missionaries. The quality of the pre-missionary schools was, however, considered incapable of producing the kind of manpower that the Efik needed in braving the challenges of the British abolition of the slave trade. In their search for a better quality in education, the Efik invited missionaries in 1842. Thenceforth, the brunt of providing education in Calabar rested on the Christian missions. Despite the impressive progress achieved by missionary educators, the colonialists considered their education inadequate in meeting the needs of a modern state. The colonial government labeled as "hedge schools" those schools which fell below laid-down conditions, denied them grants and subventions, and considered them unqualified to train manpower. The proprietors of 'hedge schools' and their beneficiaries criticized government's action on the...