This article highlights the stipulation of the provision of formal schooling in a regional constitution drafted in West Africa in 1871, almost 150 years ago. The constitution under discussion originated in Fanteland, a coastal region of the Gold Coast (modern-day southern Ghana), and was the main achievement of a historical movement which sought to unite several smaller kingdoms and communities into a Fante Confederation (1868–1873). While the whole idea of a written constitution which includes the aspect of formal schooling may seem rather “European” or “Western” at a first glance, it is remarkable in that one would not expect it to have occurred in West Africa at that time. The author of this article argues that the Fante Constitution in fact represents a unique early African attempt to construct a modern nation-state based on a written constitution, and that the sections which stipulate and regulate formal schooling are central to its vision. The author embeds the sections concerning education in an analysis of the specific historical situation of the Fante people in West Africa before the establishment of formal British colonial rule on the Gold Coast. She develops two main theses: the constitution (a) is an “African” contribution to educational policymaking, which (b) accords “modern” schooling a crucial role in state-building. She presents these theses in the light of the historical record and competing interpretations in historical discourse.

本文重点介绍了大约 150 年前的 1871 年在西非起草的地区宪法中提供正规学校教育的规定。正在讨论的宪法起源于黄金海岸（今加纳南部）的沿海地区芬特兰，是历史运动的主要成就，该运动试图将几个较小的王国和社区联合成芬特邦联（1868-1873 年） . 虽然包括正规教育方面的成文宪法的整个想法乍一看似乎有点“欧洲”或“西方”，但值得注意的是，当时人们不会想到它会发生在西非。这篇文章的作者认为，凡特宪法事实上，它代表了一种独特的早期非洲尝试，以建立基于成文宪法的现代民族国家，并且规定和规范正规学校教育的部分是其愿景的核心。作者在分析英国在黄金海岸正式殖民统治之前，西非范特人的具体历史情况中嵌入了有关教育的部分。她提出了两个主要论点：宪法 (a) 是对教育决策的“非洲”贡献，(b) 赋予“现代”学校教育在国家建设中的关键作用。她根据历史记录和历史话语中的竞争解释来提出这些论点。