Mission school enrollment falls from 542 to nine after German rule makes attendance voluntary.

What happened

Under Spain, Yap’s governor had forced parents to send children to the mission schools, on pain of penal labor. The new German government left attendance up to families, and Yapese priests and magicians, who had resented Christianity from the start, also banned church attendance and visits to the mission. The churches emptied along with the schools.

Why it matters

By the end of German rule Yap’s mission schools had recovered to 473 pupils without compulsion, almost the old level.