The_Open_Door_deel1

-371-
history, secrets and traditional medecine of their respective
tribes. The southward migration of tribes from the Western Soudan,
notably the Vais and the Mandingoes, added another type of
education: the Coranic or Moslem school. It is worth mentioning
again that the Vais independently developed a script of their
own. This made this tribe one of the few tribes of Black Africa
to do so. It was in 1830 that a Vai named Dwalu Bukele invented
and developed this system of writing (28). Thus the traditional
African "bush school" and the Arabic Moslem school can be
classified as the traditional "Liberian" educational system whose
main features were the conservation of historical, cultural and
religious values.
The Western type of education can be said to have been introduced
in Liberia with the arrival of the colonists of the U.S.A. in
the second decade of the nineteenth century. The American
Colonization Society as well as the other colonization societies
supported the educational efforts of the settlers by financing
school supplies, paying teachers and providing money. The
intervention of these organizations in the field of education is
explained by the motivations behind the sending and financing of
freed slaves and coloured persons to Africa. The "dark continent"
was believed to be inhabited by savage people who had neither
civilization nor religion and who needed to be "enlightened".
To introduce and spread Western civilization and to christianize
the black continent was a strong driving force behind the
"repatriation" of black people and mulattoes. It was combined
with the desire to get rid of a group of people who formed a
potential threat to white supremacy in the New World.
The foregoing explains why the arrival of black colonists at
this part of the West African coast practically coincided with
the arrival of missionaries. The latter started preaching the
Gospel while simultaneously introducing, (gradually) developing
and expanding an educational system which finally makes it hard
to separate education and religion in Liberia. The arrival of
foreign missionaries thus made the introduction of a Western
type of education inevitable, whilst the (increasingly)
frequent contacts with foreign traders, investors and (later)
Governments made the development of this type of education very
desirable, not to say indispensible.
Unfortunately, the educational system created by the Americo-
Liberians failed to respond to the economic needs of the
country. The emphasis was laid on educating people to govern the
country and to spread Christianity. Thus for nearly a century
the educational system produced virtually only politicians and
preachers. Technical and vocational training, on the other hand,
was not provided for. This explains in the first place why at a
certain stage of the country's history foreign traders and
investors were invited to make use of the country's potential.
In the second place, it explains why the majority of the
Liberians failed adequately to share with the foreigners in the
benefits of this exploitation. Thirdly, it explains why Liberia
continued to rely on these foreigners for the exploitation