Educational policies and colonization: schooling in Eritrea under Italian rule (1890-1941)

Abstract

In the context of Italian colonization in Eritrea, education was strategically used as a central mechanism of the colonial regime’s political agenda. This paper aims to present the major historiographical perspectives on the development of Italian schools from 1890 until the onset of British occupation in 1941. The establishment and growth of these schools reveal a complex interweaving of economic, social, and political dynamics, which not only reinforced the colonial presence but also intensified tensions between the Italian settlers and the Eritrean population. Analysis of archival documents indicates that educational policies acted as both an instrument of control and a space of ambivalent possibilities, providing a contested ground between enforced assimilation and local identity claims.