DECISION-MAKING IN EDUCATIONAL ADMINISTRATION: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE GAMBIA AND MALAWI DURING THE PERIOD 1925 - 1945 Jack Charles Edward Greig N'\VRSIDI OF LONDON s.‘1 114,c n U CPO k ` LVIO\IED FROM' 1.1bRAR`? NO 1U Thesis presented in fulfilment of the regulations of the University of London for the Degree of Ph.D. in Education. Institute of Education 1978 2 ABSTRACT Jack Charles Edward Greig DECISION-MAKING IN EDUCATIONAL ADMINISTRATION: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OP THE GAMBIA AND MALAWI DURING THE PERIOD 1925-1945 This study is predominantly concerned with two African states, The Gambia on the West Coast and Malawi in the East Central Region. Both had been dependencies within the British Empire and while they shared a common colonial heritage, the overall experience was not identical and their respective educational administrative structures mirrored the dissimilarities. Commencing with the Colonial Office in London, aspects that are relevant to the British Colonial Administrative System are examined: in particular, the basic philosophy and personnel of the Home Civil Service; the fundamental economic thought underlying administration of the Empire; and the unique, if somewhat eccentric recruitment apparatus for coloniel service administrators and technical staff, as developed by Major _Purse. In the field, decision-making in educational matters was influenced,often indirectly but nonetheless profoundly, by individual Africans and people of African descent, and examples from both parts of the continent and- elsewhere receive consideration; sometimes within the context of the contemporary social environment. In the account of the establishment of the Education Departments in The Gambia and Malawi reasons, motives and difficulties are described and certain basic differences between the two systems receive comment. The conceptual framework within which, and the theoretical foundations upon which, educational administration in general and decision- making in particular operate receive close attention with special reference to modern theories germane to the hypothesis. From non-governmental and governmental archives the decision-making process, with the inter-play of individual factors and mild intrigue, is developed and analysed. The gulf between theory and practice, as revealed in the material, reinforces the contention of the hypothesis. The structured investigation of the theme terminates about 1945 but in the conclusions certain later events and developments are outlined by way of indicating the dynamic nature of the topic and its interrelationship with non-predictable outcomes. 3 CONTENTS Page No. Abstract 2 Contents 3 Acknowledgements 4 Introduction and Statement of Intent 5 Part One The Framework Chapter One The British Colonial Administrative System: Colonial Education System 9 Chapter Two Educational Development: Local Political and Social Influences: African 49 Chapter Three The Development of Educational Administration in (a) The Gambia and (b) Malawi: Official Accounts 71 Part Two Theory Chapter Four Educational Administration A: Theoretical Aspects of Administration 101 Chapter Five Educational Administration B: Theoretical Aspects of Decision-Making 131 Part Three The Processes of Decision-Making Chapter Six Non-Governmental Personalities and Their Influences on Decision-Making in Malawi and The Gambia 142 Chapter Seven Governmental Decision-Making in The Gambia 175 Chapter Eight Governmental Decision-Making in Malawi 199 Conclusions 227 Bibliography 239 Appendices: Map of The Gambia 269 Map of Malawi 270 Diagrams/Organigrams and Tables 271 4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to take this opportunity of recording my thanks to Mr John Cameron of the University of London Institute of Education for his kind help and most useful advice. Mr H. Hawes, also of the Institute, commented on part of my work and I am grateful to him. I also wish to thank the staff of the following institutions and libraries who have assisted me at various times: the Foreign and Commonwealth Library, Westminster; the International Missionary Council, Edinburgh House, London; the Public Record Office, Chancery Lane, London and Kew, Surrey; the Royal Commonwealth Society, London; and the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, Institute of Education, Senate House Library, and the School of Oriental and African Studies all of the University of London. I am very grateful to Essex County Council for their financial assistance in my studies and to the Directorate and my colleagues of the Chelmer Institute of Higher Education for much support. Finally, I must thank my wife, Hermine, for her support and help throughout this study. 5 INTRODUCTION AND STATEMENT OF INTENT Hypothesis It is argued that in decision-making in educational admin- istration in The Gambia and Malawi the most important and deci- sive factors were individual and pragmatic rather than institu- tional and systematic in strict accordance with preconceived theories or models. Accordingly there was not a goal-oriented Colonial Office, located at the centre of a vast organisation and governed by a uniform set of theories and values, controlling the orderly ex- pansion ofiGolonial education but rather too often erratic and conflicting development determined by the sometimes idiosyncratic attitudes and values of particular individuals, expatriate or in- digenous, with access to power. Critics of the former British Empire have, at some stage, attacked the educational policy of the Secretary of State for the Colonies, as carried out by the Colonial Service administra- tive and professional officers on the spot, as being not only cultural imperialism but also economic imperialism designed, at its worst, to produce a permanently subservient people in the territories concerned. It is hoped to indicate that there was, in effect, no central policy but only general guidelines, that were manifest in many ways over a long period of time, for ex- ample Advisory Committee and Conference recommendations, and that these guidelines were worked on, very much like raw material, by local factors, forces and pressure groups to produce systems of education that while bearing a superficial similarity to each other were, in reality, often quite different. Basic Differences 1 2 In land area The Gambia comprises about 11,295 square kilometres and Malawi about 118,500 square kilometres. The latter figure includes approximately 24,500 square kilometres of lakes of which Lake Malawi is the largest lake. The people of The Gambia comprise the real indigenous stock, West Sudanic Muslim tribes, Mandinka, Wollof and Fulani, to mention the main groups only, intermixed with West Indian and Sierra Leonean settlers. The non-Africans comprise a few Europeans and some Syrians and Lebanese living in and around 6 the capital, Banjul. 3Although some of these people have been living in the country for a very long time, they do not comprise a settler group, who have acquired African land, for political pressure or any other purpose, such as could be found in Malawi. The Gambian "strangers", as they were called, were engaged in trading, government service or missionary work. Accurate population statistics do not exist but in 1965 it was estimated that the total population of The Gambia was 350,000 of which the non-African component was less than 1000. Malawi, on the other hand comprised about 3,500,000 of which the non-Africans numbered about 6,000. These were mainly about 4,000 P-oians and about 2,000 Europeans, a racial descrip- tion not necessarily indicating continent of origin. A small number of people of mixed race should be included. The Africans are of Bantu stock and the largest groups are Chewa, Ngoni and Tumbuka. A very rough occupational guide is that the Africans were peasant farmers or agricultural labourers; Asians were traders; Europeans were settler planters or expatriate government officers and missionaries. It is of interest to note that in the 1945 Nyasaland Census no attempt was made to record African occupa- tions. By 1965 these occupational categories were no longer fixed, some may say that they never were; Africans particularly were entering jobs previously reserved for Asians and Europeans. It could be said, as compared with The Gambia, the breaking down of the racial job barriers was not always undertaken easily and considerable ill-feeling existed in certain quarters. President Banda faced a serious revolt in his country over this very issue in 1964; some of his government thought that localisation was proceeding too slowly. Economic Activities For most of the time span covered by this study, 1925 to 1945, it can be said that The Gambia was a monoculture, the single crop being groundnuts and the country's wealth depended upon the fluctuations in groundnut production and world market prices. The annual production of unshelled nuts in 1965 was estimated at 83,000 tons. Groundnut production occupied most male Gambian farmers while their womenfolk were concerned with 7 rice growing, rice being the staple diet for a growing proportion of the population, despite the fact that large quantities of rice were being imported from the Far East. In the earlier part of this study millet and similar grains had provided the staple diet and not rice. Malawian agriculture Was better balanced and, as a result, the country appeared marginally wealthier than The Gambia. Malawi, unlike The Gambia, from very early days had European settlers who owned large estates but, over the years, the settlers have been bought out chiefly by the Government or individual Malawians. However, more than 90% of cultivated land was in the hands of Africans. The main crops were maize, providing the staple diet of the population; tea, grown longer in Malawi than anywhere else in Africa, replaced coffee on many plantatiLns; tobacco, now plantation-based but grown since old slave days; tung oil, from deciduous trees introduced by the Arabs; groundnuts, of a superior quality to those grown in The Gambia; coffee; swamp rice; "Irish", as opposed to "sweet", potatoes. As far as livestock was concerned The Gambia was considered overstocked and attempts to establish a livestock industry, meat packing and hide exports, were not very successful.