Comparison of German, British, and French colonial education policies in Cameroon and impacts

This paper focuses on Colonial education policies that were launched by the colonial powers in the colonial era in Cameroon. Using a historical methodology and a critical analysis of various empirical material and empirical literature, this paper investigates the different orientations that were given to Western education in Cameroon by the German, the British, and the French administrations in their respective colonial administration periods. It also compared them to expose their differences and common points. The investigation showed that the colonial education that was imposed on Cameroonians by these three countries was a poor content educational system for basic skills development, oriented toward a Christianization for domination or assimilation, and exploitation purposes. The colonial education has not only deeply affected the local culture and epistemology but succeeded in attaching local people to the Eurocentric paradigm to the detriment of their values and culture. As a consequence, there has been an abandonment of local paradigms and educational principles, and also divisions regarding the different colonial master’s heritage difference which has participated in the ongoing Cameroon secessionist crisis. In terms of governance, the French system was more direct, compared to the British and the German colonial administrations which charged the Christian Missionaries to conduct the education mission; but overall, the objective and the curriculum content were the same: introducing a western-style education that can help the exploitation of the colony.