ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the superimposed colonial system. Whatever the local traditions, Belgium colonialism introduced the Western-type school and the modern economic sector and gave preeminence to conservative Western concepts about gender roles—even in agriculture, where Congolese women had clearly defined managerial responsibilities. Belgian colonialism was dominated by the "Big Three": the Roman Catholic Church, the colonial administration, and the large corporations. Through political tradeoffs, schools became the special preserve of the Church; at independence, nearly all of the 1.6 million Congolese pupils in school attended Catholic or Protestant institutions. The colonial educational system took form during the Leopoldian period. Neither the initial legislation, the 1890 and 1892 Education Acts and their implementing ordinances, nor the 1906 Concordat with the Vatican mentioned girls. The colonial Charter of 1908, which formally transferred sovereignty from Leopold II to the Belgian Parliament, incorporated the existing legislation on schools.
