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The Quranic school farm and child labour in Upper Volta

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 December 2011

Mahir Şaul
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Extract

On his way back from his first travels to the interior of the Gambia, Mungo Park describes a ‘schoolmaster’ who entertained him in the Mandingo country while his principal host was on a slave purchasing expedition. The school of this master consisted of seventeen boys who ‘always had their lessons by the light of a large fire before daybreak and again late in the evening’ and who ‘were employed in planting corn, bringing firewood, and in other servile offices, through the day’ (Park, 1799: 313–14). Such rural institutions combining elementary Islamic education and farm production must then have existed in the coastal areas of West Africa for at least two centuries, and spread to other parts of Africa as a result of Islamic expansion. They were agents of proselytization and further Islamization. Consequently Quranic schools are often discussed primarily in their relation to Islamic history. In the present day, however, they continue in some areas as viable alternatives to western-style schools and as units of agricultural production. This paper, which stems from research I conducted in the southern part of central Upper Volta on household farms and wealth stratification, underscores the dual function of these farm schools.

Résumé

La ferme-école coranique et la main-d'oeuvre mineure en Haute Volta

Cet article considère les écoles rurales coraniques en Haute Volta centrale comme des unités de production agricoles et comme des institutions educationnelles qui offrent une alternative par rapport aux écoles de style européen. Dans la région de Manga, les garçons sont intégrés dans la famille du maître selon le modèle traditionnel d'adoption temporaire. Le maître utilise ainsi la main-doeuvre qu'il commande pour accrroître l'étendu de son opération agricole. Le majorité des families coraniques sont comme des fermes familiales normales, cependant plus importantes en grandeur et en capacité de production. Quelques unes, cependant, ont jusq'à 34 élèves et font partie des producteurs qui alimentent le marché avec d'importantes quantités de grain. Les bénéfices des maîtres coraniques dans leur ferme sont rehaussés par le fait que les élèves sont moins onéreux que les autres membres de la famille. Qui plus est, les maîtres coraniques gagnent de larges sommes d'argent en écrivant des sortilèges. L'éducation que les élèves reçoivent est rudimentaire, mais les perspectives d'avenir sont suffisamment attratives, pour que certains parents la préfèrent à celle offerte par les écoles ordinaires. Un autre facteur contribuant au succès des écoles coraniques est le fait que les écoles primaires ordinaires sont chères et hors de portée pour la plupart des families rurales. L'accroissement en nombre d'importantes fermes-écoles commerciales coraniques peut être également regardé comme une réponse à une demande croissante urbaine de grain.

Type
Research Article
Information
Africa , Volume 54 , Issue 2 , April 1984 , pp. 71 - 87
Copyright
Copyright © International African Institute 1984

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