1 Enlightenment and Colonial Effects on Education in Africa Jason E. Thomas The Enlightenment and the colonization had far-reaching impacts on the education systems of the entire world (Hackett, 1992). The African continent is no exception to this dramatic influence, although Africa received the benefits of the Enlightenment secondhand through the colonization. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, prior to colonization by Europeans, African education systems were verbal tribal education systems designed to impart vocational and religious knowledge ultimately preparing individuals for initiation into the various African societies (Abdi, 2003; Education, 2009). The Encyclopedia Britannica states that pre-colonial education practices in Africa varied widely from oral traditions passed down from fathers to their children by the San of the Kalahari to more organized and complex education systems of the Poro society in western Africa and everywhere in between. Many of the societies in Africa had rites of passage that children would go through after completing puberty that imparted knowledge and status by means of customs and examples. Participation in these rituals was a statement that children had learned the philosophical and vocational lessons from their elders and that the children were ready to participate in society (2009). One notable exception to these educational traditions were the areas of Africa the embraced Islam in eastern and western Africa. These areas learned the use of Arabic script to study the Qur’an in support of their religious practice and created Qur’anic schools. Qur’anic schools focused on teaching the lessons of the Qur’an. Many were simple outdoor gatherings where teachers taught students in the open air. Qur’anic schools facilitated contact for students