Kinship fosterage, a practice commonly found in West Africa, has been well documented since the early 20th century. However, in recent years enormous widespread social, economic and political transformations have swept across West Africa. These developments have had implications for caring arrangements for the vulnerable within families - be they children or the elderly. In particular, recent evidence suggests that attitudes, behaviours and caring practices relating to children are in the process of being transformed, leading to a shift in both ideas and actual practices about who is best placed to care for children – biological parents or members of the lineage. This shift can be attributed to a number of factors. However, the evidence suggests that the introduction of formal schooling, initiated by missionaries operating in the region and further consolidated by colonial authorities, was critical to this development as part of a broader agenda to ensure a ‘proper’ childhood and ‘proper’ notions of parenting within this context. Therefore, this paper will explore the impact of the introduction of formal education on child rearing arrangements in the Gold Coast (present-day Ghana) during the period it was under British colonial rule as well as examine its enduring legacy for the contemporary period. Data presented in this paper will be based on both archival research and interviews conducted with those who completed their primary school education before Ghana achieved independence.