Chapter III.

THE KIND OF EDUCATION WE WANT : ITS PLACE IN POLICY AND ITS COST.
The main policy of the Gold Coast Government is the general progress of the people towards a higher state of civilization. Without this definite policy no Govern- ment could fulfil the sacred trust imposed on it — " the well-being and development of peoples not yet able to stand by themselves."
The part in this policy played by education is that of the keysone in the arch. Looming large as it does to-day in the policy of all Governments, education in the Gold Coast is the first factor in the main policy; other factors there are, but they are all contributory to education. Sometimes I fear that this fact may be obscured in the mind of the European, Government official or otherwise, by the arduous daily life of the tropics. Once, however, that a nation has emerged from the primitive phases of its existence, education and all that it comprises becomes not only the first but the only step towards progress.
To stand the pressure brought to bear on the Arch of Progress by the hurricane of material development, the storm of criticism, and the windy tornadoes of poli- tical agitation, the keystone must be well and truly laid and composed of strong materials. It therefore behoves us to enquire carefully what we mean by education.
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What is the kind of education that a Government composed of men of European civilisation should adopt for a primitive people of tropical Africa?
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As far as the Gold Coast is concerned the answer ia simple. Apart from the fact that character-training must take first place, there is no particular mystery about the kind of education suitable for its peoples. All that is wanted is the usual general education in literature that is required to develop the intellect and make a good citizen, the usual special education and train- ing to enable him to enter any trade or profession. In applying general education, however, it is necessary to bear in mind two most important facts : the country has no general written literature of its own ; its languages are diverse and numerous. For both reasons a common language must be adopted, and that language must obviously be English. A sound and thorough knowledge of the English language — its speaking, understanding, writing and composition — must be the first factor in education. And as knowledge of the language gradu- ally increases until the African can think in English, so can the highest form of education be given to him. But, let me repeat, predominant in all our education must be the training that will develop his character in the right direction. Our education, in fact, must be that of the mind as well as the brain and the hand.
Accepting the importance of education, there remains to be considered the cost. To secure an adequate and efficient system we must increase the number of our schools whatever they may be, elementary, secondary and technical; this means a large capital outlay. To secure efficiency we must have a far greater and a far better educated and trained staff of teachers than we have at present ; this means the addition of an annually increas- ing amount to our recurrent expenditure. Between 1910 and 1920 our annual expenditure on education increased
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from £17,000 to £56,000; in 1921 it reached £98,000; to-day it is over £120,000; next year it will be close on £140,000, and so the snowball will continue to grow as it rolls through the years ahead of us. In due course our annual expenditure must rise to a quarter of a million, perhaps to half a million.
Where are these funds to come from? If this ques- tion had been asked five years ago I doubt if anyone could have answered it. True, we receive certain small fees for elementary education, and we propose to charge full fees for secondary education, but all these fees will amount to a trifle compared with the total cost. The greater part of the bill must be paid out of Government's revenue. Five years ago this revenue averaged 1^ million pounds per annmn; the outlook for education was gloomy. To-day our revenue is 3^ million pounds ; the outlook it better, but still it is not good enough. We must increase our revenue and the only way we can do this is to increase our trade, for it is from our trade and the customs duties derived therefrom that our revenue comes. That is why trade and those things on which our trade depends — agriculture, forestry, roads, railways and harbours — assume for the moment such great import- ance from the point of view of education.
This is a truism, but, truism though it may be, it is not understood by Africans generally. Among the men-in-the-street — a growing class in the Gold Coast — there appears to be a general impression that we are spending too much on roads, railways and harbours, and too little on education. Now the man-in-the-street is usually a creature of the moment — he seldom looks far enough ahead to grasp the fact that if we are to bear the burden of an increased system of education we must,
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first of all, increase our revenue by improying our trans- port and our agriculture so as to increase our trade.
Do tlie people and the needs of the Gold Coast demand more education? The answer is " yes " from every dis- trict. Well, then, the people must face the fact that we must all pay attention first to the subjects I have mentioned.
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There is another point in Government's policy that the people will also have to face, and that is a restric- tion of the extension of primary schools for the next few years. The reasons for this are three.
To begin with, we have not the trained teachers with which to staff them, as I show in the next chapter.
In the second place, the work on roads, railways, and harbours has not yet arrived at the moment when a full return in revenue from the increase of trade for which they are being built will be received. This moment is not far off — it is getting nearer every year.
Thirdly, we are spending what are for us very large sums on Achimota, on sanitation, water supplies and electric lighting. From the two last-named a revenue will in a short time cover all annual expenditure on them. We have cut a big slice out of our surplus funds in. building the Gold Coast Hospital and we have to spend more. So that at present we are compelled to go slow in building primary schools.
All this delay is, however, only for the moment. Teachers are being trained, revenue will come in, surplus funds will be released from bigger enterprises, and we shall be able to build, staff and maintain more primary schools.
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It is not only tlie people that must recognise the above facts ; the mission societies, as active now in spread- ing education as religion, must help in the general policy by stopping temporarily any extension of their primary schools. There is no one who recognises the invaluable work they have done and are doing more than I do, but the missions are just as aware as I am that their supply of fully trained teachers is even less than that of the Government.
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