In 1903, John Rockefeller, credited to be America’s first billionaire, and one of the richest people in modern history, founded the General Education Board (GEB).
He is also credited to have founded three universities— the University of Chicago, the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research which has now become Rockefeller University and the Central Philippine University.
The General Education Board (GEB) was established to promote education at all levels everywhere in the country, through funding, supporting, and developing curriculum for schools in America, and by extension globally.
They significantly shaped what is known today as ‘Modern Education System’. The Board designed the school system to look exactly like factories- students report to school at 7.00am and close at 3.00pm (just as factory workers do), there must be a teacher authority who instructs the learners (just as master instructs workers at factories), students must come in uniform (just as workers put on ‘working jears’), students don’t question teachers (just as workers can’t question their master), repetitive tasks and rigid schedules like reporting time, break time, closing time, etc ( just as pertains in factories), and graduation (just as retirement).
The ultimate agenda was to produce graduates who are only good enough to work in factories, because, at the time, he and his cohorts of industrialists had some of the most powerful factories in the world and needed to feed those factories with workers.
School, in its current shape and form, was never meant to nurture and cultivate critical and independent minds. One is conditioned to spend the most important formative years of their life (ages 1 – 25 years) in school, by which time one’s ideologies, beliefs, attitudes and mindsets are engineered to only look for, and fit into, factories that are structured like school (that is, formal/office jobs with reporting time, break time, and closing time, with a master who dictates to you) because that’s the only culture you grew in and used to.
Rockefeller was not merely a businessman; he was a master strategist who understood that true power does not only come from the accumulation of wealth, but from the control of thought. Industrialists of his calibre recognised that to sustain their economic dominance, they needed a population that was not overly educated in critical thinking, philosophy, or self-determination, but one that was conditioned to accept hierarchy, routine, and compliance.
Thus, the General Education Board (GEB) was not simply a philanthropic venture aimed at improving education; it was a calculated move to shape the very foundation of societal development in a way that ensured the perpetuation of a system that benefitted the ruling elite.
The idea that John D. Rockefeller played a pivotal role in shaping the modern education system not for the enlightenment of society, but rather for the control and conditioning of the masses, is one that has persisted in various circles of intellectual discourse.
The narrative suggests that what we commonly understand as formal schooling is not, as is often proclaimed, an altruistic effort to uplift and educate, but a deliberate design to create a submissive, ‘obedient’ workforce tailored to serve the interests of industrial elites.
If one scrutinises the structural evolution of education in America and, by extension, much of the Western world, it becomes quite difficult to ignore the fingerprints of Rockefeller’s influence, leading many to assert that the modern school system was never meant to educate in the true sense of the word, but rather to indoctrinate.
The Rockefeller model of education sought to engineer a docile workforce rather than to cultivate independent minds. The GEB funded and influenced the restructuring of schools across the United States, with an emphasis on producing industrious, disciplined, and obedient individuals who would fit seamlessly into an expanding industrial economy.
The very design of schooling—rigid schedules, repetitive tasks, authority figures dictating what should be thought and how it should be expressed—mirrored the factory environment. It is no coincidence that sirens or bells that signal class/lesson changes resemble those used in factories to regulate shifts. The system was never about intellectual empowerment but about conditioning young minds to accept a life of routine and submission without question.
If you consider the curriculum that emerged during and after Rockefeller’s influence, subjects that encouraged free thinking and intellectual exploration, such as logic, philosophy, classics, and literature, were diminished in importance (till date), while rote memorisation and obedience to authority were subtly but systematically reinforced.
The school structure became less about fostering curiosity and more about instilling a passive acceptance of information as presented. This was not an accident; it was by design. If one controls the education of a child, one controls the future of that child’s perception of reality.
By funding and influencing teacher training, curriculum development, and school policies, Rockefeller’s General Education Board ensured that generations of students would grow up seeing the world in a way that suited the interests of industrial magnates rather than fostering true intellectual liberation.
Moreover, the Rockefeller influence was not limited to the United States. The model of education that was shaped by industrialist funding spread to Europe and beyond, subtly permeating global education systems. Countries that modelled their schooling structures after the American system inadvertently adopted an education philosophy that prioritised compliance over creativity, ensuring that their populations, too, would be fit to serve industrial and corporate needs rather than to challenge or reconstruct the system itself.
The ripple effect of this cannot be understated. By shaping the way education functioned, the elite class effectively cemented their control over entire generations, crafting a populace that would accept social hierarchies as natural and immutable.
Individuals who emerge from such an education system are less likely to question their economic roles, less likely to challenge exploitative labour practices, and more likely to seek validation through external rewards rather than through internal fulfilment.
This conditioning serves the interests of corporations and industrialists, and ensure a steady supply of workers who see their worth in terms of productivity rather than personal or intellectual growth. The notion that education is the great equaliser is a carefully constructed myth; in reality, it has been used as one of the most powerful tools of class stratification, and ensured that those at the top remain there while those at the bottom are conditioned to accept their place.
Another aspect of the Rockefeller education conspiracy is the role of standardised testing and the mechanisation of learning. The rise of standardised assessments, a system largely funded and promoted by industrial interests, further reinforced the factory model of education.
Rather than measuring genuine intellectual curiosity or critical thinking skills, standardised tests reward memorisation and conformity, punishing those who think outside the prescribed framework. This creates an illusion of meritocracy while, in reality, perpetuating a cycle of intellectual suppression.
It is therefore not surprising that most of the world’s most richest and successful people either dropped out of school or rejected the traditional education system altogether. Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, and countless other visionaries either abandoned formal schooling or actively critiqued its rigid, creativity-stifling structure.
This is not coincidence. They understood that the very system designed to ‘educate’ was, in reality, engineered to suppress the kind of independent thinking and risk-taking required for true success. The historical trend is undeniable that while schools produce diligent employees who excel in structured environments, they often fail to nurture original thoughts.
Even the almighty Albert Einstein, one of the greatest scientists and philosophers in history, discontinued schooling after obtaining his teaching Diploma in Maths and Physics at the Swiss Federal Polytechnic (now ETH Zurich). He knew that to excel as a great scientist, he needed to leave school, ironically.
Ever thought of this? That if the modern school system was genuinely built to cultivate success, why do so many of its most accomplished ‘graduates’ achieve greatness by abandoning it? The answer is clear, that schools were never meant to create leaders or innovators; they were designed to produce ‘obedient’ workers who sustain the system rather than challenge it.
The most effective form of control is the one that goes unrecognised, and the modern education system stands as one of the most sophisticated mechanisms of control ever conceived. The suppression of critical thought, the emphasis on obedience, the reinforcement of social hierarchies; these are not accidental by-products of a flawed system, but the very purpose of the system itself.
School gives you the illusion of choice. This illusion of choice is one of the most powerful tools of control; by making people believe that they are being given the opportunity to succeed through education, they are less likely to question the fundamental flaws of the system.
Rockefeller’s genius was in understanding that it was not enough to simply create a controlled education system, he needed to make people believe that it was in their best interest. The industrial elite did not enforce their power through open coercion but through a system that made its subjects willingly participate in their own suppression.
True intellectual liberation requires not only the recognition of the problem but the willingness to dismantle and rebuild the system from the ground up. However, as long as the structures put in place by Rockefeller and his contemporaries remain intact, the struggle for real education—for knowledge that empowers rather than subjugates—will continue to be an uphill battle.
The fight is not just for education reform, but for the very consciousness of society itself. This is the more reason you, my dear reader, must participate in the government’s National Education Forum, to share your thoughts on how Ghana’s education can be reformed and reset to produce creative, critical and innovative minds for the collective prosperity of our country, Ghana.
Thank you for reading today’s episode. Continue to follow the insightful articles I share on this page.
See you.
Writer: Daniel Fenyi
The writer is a licensed counselor, educationist, professional writer and career coach who guides young people through his writings. You can reach him via email [email protected]
