- Assimilation: Colonial education often aimed to assimilate the colonized people into the culture and values of the colonizing power. This involved teaching the colonizers' language, history, and customs, and suppressing or marginalizing the indigenous languages and cultures.
- Curriculum: The curriculum in colonial schools often reflected the economic and political needs of the colonizing power. It emphasized subjects like mathematics, science, and technology that were useful for the colonial administration and economic exploitation of the colony.
- Language: The language of instruction in colonial schools was typically the language of the colonizing power, which created a barrier for many indigenous students who spoke different languages.
- Access: Access to colonial education was often limited to a small elite group of the colonized population, such as the sons of chiefs or wealthy families. The majority of the indigenous population had little or no access to formal education.
- Mission Schools: Many colonial powers also established mission schools, run by religious organizations, which aimed to convert indigenous people to Christianity and teach them basic literacy and numeracy skills.
- Resistance and Cultural Preservation: Despite the assimilationist policies, indigenous communities often resisted colonial education and worked to preserve their own languages, cultures, and traditions. They established their own schools and institutions to teach their children about their heritage.
- Long-Term Impact: Colonial education had a profound and lasting impact on colonized societies, shaping their educational systems, languages, and cultural identities even after independence.
- Decolonization of Education: In recent years, there has been a growing movement for the decolonization of education, which seeks to transform education systems to be more inclusive, equitable, and respectful of indigenous cultures and knowledge systems.