Colonial social services

Colonial social services

The German colonial administration established a number of social services. The social services included the following:

1. colonial education
2. colonial health services

Colonial education

The colonial government opened schools in German East Africa for two reasons. First, they provided education to African children who would serve as civil servants in the colonial government after completing their studies. Second, they used colonial education to spread colonial ideologies and European culture. The first government school was built in Tanga, where Africans were taught from Standard One to Standard Four. Most of the children who received education in those schools came from chiefs' families and from the families of other local leaders. Those who learnt to read, write and count were employed in the lower positions in the colonial civil service. By 1914, the German colonial government had established 89 schools in the colony with about 1894 pupils. Christian missionaries also provided education. Until 1914, missionaries had about 1852 in the colony.

The schools had 108,550 pupils. This means that the missionaries provided more schooling opportunities than the colonial government. Colonial education was based on racial segregation. European children were given education that prepared them for higher positions in government. Indians and Arabs were given education that prepared them to run businesses. The education given to Africans was of the lowest quality and prepared them to support colonialism at the lower levels. Many schools had four years of learning, from Standard One to Standard Four. But Tanga school had Standards One to Six.

Colonial health services

The colonial government established some health services in some parts of German East Africa. They were mostly established in the district headquarters. In essence, health services were established to meet the health needs of Europeans. The colonial government established health services for three reasons. The first was to care for the health needs of Europeans. The second was to take care of African labourers who worked in the colonial economic investments. The third was to control infectious diseases which could also kill Europeans. As with colonial education, many health services were also provided by Christian missionaries.