Abstract:
The major aim of writing the thesis was to look at the contribution of the Mariannhill Catholic Missionaries to the education of Africans in Natal. One of the most important findings is that the Mariannhill Missionaries, like other missionaries in the province, saw education as an important tool in accomplishing their set religious goals. In short, in the beginning, Mariannhill missionaries established schools as "nurseries for the infant church". The second major finding is that Africans showed a determined resistance to missionary efforts to Christianise and educate them. The reasons for such a strong resistance were not difficult to find. Accepting christianity meant denouncing lobola polygamy (the practice of marrying many wives), beer drinking, beliefs in witchcraft, etc. Things which were firmly entrenched in the African societal structure. It is important to note that due to the strong opposition that faced the missionaries at Mariannhill, they were forced to modify some of their policies in order to lure more Africans to the church. For example, polygamists came to be accommodated and lobola payment was no longer unacceptable. As far as the field of education was concerned, Africans generally showed apathy to mission schools, due to problems outlined above. As a result, the missionaries at Mariannhill embarked on a vigorous campaign of getting African children to Mariannhill schools. Some of the methods used were unacceptable. For example, once at Marriannhill, the children could not go home to see their parents. This was to result in a serious confrontation with the parents who adopted a number of strategies to fight against the missionaries. These included encouraging their children to descent, confronting the Mariannhill authorities face to face and taking them to courts. The parents achieved a mild degree of success in this regard. Another important research finding is that despite the belief that Africans should be given some sent of education, the kind of education given should not be in line with that given to whites; this was amply demonstrated by Pfanner's policies of education which specifically hit African girls very hard, and was opposed not only by educated African women alone, but also by some white women as well. The conclusion drawn was that despite the deficiencies and problems associated with Mariannhill institution, the missionaries given the state antipathy to African education, did the best they could. This was endenced by the establishment of Saint Francis College in 1915.
