By 1903 French West Africa educated only a tiny fraction of school-age children

Evidence

Military officers in charge of the Western Sudan had created schools whenever possible since the early I88o’s, to disseminate the principles of French civilization and train African personnel for the administration. Their efforts were, however, hampered by budgetary constraints and the difficulty of recruiting competent teachers. 8 It has been estimated that in I903 the federation provided rudimentary education to s,oiO students, out of a total school-age population of approximately I,2oo,ooo. — Alice L. Conklin, A Mission to Civilize_ The Republican…, 260

Categorization

• QUESTION: 5000 of 1.2 million — worth verifying the reach and follow-through of Roume’s new policy.