My
FREE SA
Jayram Daya
My Front for Radical Educational Empowerment of South Africans
Finding a solution to our (South African) schooling and training system we need a practical, cultural and economic approach. I am independently researching the education systems that could be practical for South Africa. If you are reading this please help me to make our country an educated nation.
Let us look at the government ideology and approach to this
neglected section of our society. Let us add and suggest some value to the following; ‘Grade 9 exit certificate would
give learners ‘an imminent sense of possibility’ YES or NO
My comment; having employed many school dropouts in my companies over the last 30 years I personally welcome the decision to start grading the learners from Grade 9. My acceptance comes with a suggestion that after the formal studies in school, a learner, must be exposed to skill training either by an apprenticeship or hands-on training institution affiliated to schools. This course should be divided into two sections as domestic skills and professional skills, starting from a minimum of 3 years to a maximum of 5 years. Ancient Africans were taught with oral literature and practical “hands-on approach” to learn skills See Note e; in the research paper “The African Educational Evolution: From Traditional Training to Formal Education” highlights the ancient learning methods and knowledge gatherers formula of the African culture. Can we introduce this system in with a modern approach using multimedia as a guide? Note e; it is interesting to note that knowledge was transferred by a hands-on approach in the early African societies. It is similar to the apprenticeship practice of our time. Note b; literature taught to African youth was oral with traditional schools but the family unit served as an important structure for knowledge provision and acquisition.
My comment; having employed many school dropouts in my companies over the last 30 years I personally welcome the decision to start grading the learners from Grade 9. My acceptance comes with a suggestion that after the formal studies in school, a learner, must be exposed to skill training either by an apprenticeship or hands-on training institution affiliated to schools. This course should be divided into two sections as domestic skills and professional skills, starting from a minimum of 3 years to a maximum of 5 years. Ancient Africans were taught with oral literature and practical “hands-on approach” to learn skills See Note e; in the research paper “The African Educational Evolution: From Traditional Training to Formal Education” highlights the ancient learning methods and knowledge gatherers formula of the African culture. Can we introduce this system in with a modern approach using multimedia as a guide? Note e; it is interesting to note that knowledge was transferred by a hands-on approach in the early African societies. It is similar to the apprenticeship practice of our time. Note b; literature taught to African youth was oral with traditional schools but the family unit served as an important structure for knowledge provision and acquisition.
In the upcoming Blogs (My FREE SA), I would briefly discuss the educational system of other countries and
identify our shortcomings. I am inviting all those interested to join the front
with positive inputs and discussions with comments and postings in this blog.
Grade 9 exit certificate would give learners ‘an imminent sense
of possibility’
By Noah
Tobias• 16 October 2019
Amid a jobs crisis and a bid to revamp South
Africa’s struggling education system, the Portfolio Committee on Basic
Education in Parliament was briefed about an exit exam qualification that would
be implemented after completing the compulsory Grade 9 academic year.
About a third of young people in South
Africa aged 15-24 (3.4-million) are not employed, in education, or in training
– with two million of them having not finished Grade 12. Without the necessary
qualifications – since low-skill jobs often require prospective employees to
have completed matric – many have nowhere to go.
The General Education Certificate
(GEC) could remedy this by providing a standardised benchmark to measure
students’ educational achievement, according to a briefing by Basic Education
Department official Moses Simelane. It
aims at demonstrating learners’ skills and abilities to potential employers,
and at providing them with what Simelane called an “imminent sense of
possibility”.
The proposed GEC is a national exit
exam that measures students’ educational achievement and practical skills. It
has not yet been implemented but will be field-tested next year.
During the meeting, IFP MP Siphosethu
Ngcobo expressed his enthusiasm over the credibility of a more standardised
system. The MP worried that teachers in the current system give their students
undeservedly high marks to give the appearance of success, and was hopeful that
certifications from outside the school system would better judge its
effectiveness.
DA MP Nomsa Marchesi worried that the
proposed GEC would not satisfy the issue.
“How
do you make sure these learners with new skills are absorbed into the
workforce?” she asked. “We already have learners sitting at home with their
TVET qualifications. How do we get them back into the system?”
Several MPs voiced their concerns over
whether the certificate would encourage learners to leave school early by
providing them with a new way out of the education system.
Minister of Basic Education Angie
Motshekga was present at the meeting but left early to address prior
commitments. In her absence, Deputy Minister Makgabo Mhaule dealt with MPs’
concerns and feedback in a speech to the committee.
“The
machinery has been calibrated,” she explained. “We looked at what industry and
business need and are channeling our learners towards it.”
The deputy minister harkened back to
her days as a teacher, telling a story about a learner who dropped out of
school after Grade 10. Within a year, she said, his successful mechanic
business had former teachers lining up in the queue outside, highlighting the
world of opportunities available to learners outside the traditional academic
route.
“This,”
she stressed, “is the only way to improve our foundation.”
In its presentation, the Department of
Basic Education backed up the plan with several international comparisons. It
highlighted the economic successes of the four so-called “Asian tigers,” each
of which administers similar exams at the end of primary and secondary school.
Ghana, with its standardised Grade 9 exams, provided a sterling example in the
African context.
The proposed GEC, coupled with the
government’s Three Streams initiative targeting academic, technical, and
technical-vocational education, has prompted a number of debates. Nonetheless, both sides agree that the current
system needs changing.
“It
is critical for us to do something to address the 50% youth unemployment,”
argued ACDP MP Marie Sukers.
“Otherwise, in 10
years’ time, we’ll be looking at something even worse.” DM
It is interesting to note the ancient African education systems as described in one of the many research papers. Herein there is one taken randomly
Note a; the ancient African societies learned through their
interaction with their physical and spiritual backgrounds by training of its individual
members either in groups or on individual basis which was intended to enable an
individual to play a useful role in society.
Note b; literature taught to African the youth was oral with traditional
schools but the family unit served as an important structure for knowledge
provision and acquisition.
Note c; Colonisation of Africa changed
the system of education to suit their needs by not integrating the traditional
system of the Africans
Note e;
it is interesting to note that knowledge was transferred by a hands-on approach
in the early African societies. It is similar to the apprenticeship practice of
our time.
Note f; we cannot undo the colonial
atrocities but can build on the good values they may have left behind such as modern science and technology.
Note g; the
colonial approach was to destroy the old African religious value from the
education system and introduce the western by replacing with Christen values
and beliefs. This produced a confusing African nation and a slave.
Note h; inheriting the langue by having colonized could
have been bad but let us take the positive side for the present and the future
to grow our nation, by keeping these languages and taking advantage. English
has become a language that communicates with all nations of the world so let
us, not stress languages but concentrate on learning and gathering knowledge.
My very strong emphases are on the destruction of the colonial education system
and the institutions by requesting not to destroy it but to build on it like
many other countries.
Note i; Globalization has become the mantra of this
millennium so let us become a partner and take advantage to grow South Africa.
According to Gboku and Lekoko (2007) a formal
education system can play an important role in Africa. Such a system if it is
to meet the cultural, social, moral and intellectual, as well as political and
economic needs of Africa it has to be adapted and integrated into indigenous
form of education.
My fellow South Africans let us unite and find an education system that which
is conducive to our country
Note j; brilliant conclusion please read
to improve our concept of educating South Africa.
Higher
Education Studies; Vol. 3, No. 4; 2013
ISSN
1925-4741 E-ISSN 1925-475X
Published by
Canadian Center of Science and Education 50
The African Educational Evolution: From
Traditional Training to Formal Education
Dama
Mosweunyane1
Department of Adult Education, University of
Botswana, Botswana
Correspondence:
Dama Mosweunyane, Department of Adult Education, University of Botswana,
Botswana.
Received:
February 28, 2013 Accepted: April 2, 2013 Online Published: July 18, 2013
Abstract
This paper attempts to critically examine the
approaches that were employed by Africans in their knowledge, skills and
attitudes acquisition before, after and during colonialisation of the
continent. The paper looks at three distinctive epochs from which the perfect
understanding of how learning in Africa transformed could be concluded. It is
notable that there was a period before Africa got colonised, which was followed
by the period during colonisation, before the independence of the continent. Note a; The position that
is strongly advanced through this paper is that even before colonialism the
African societies offered training to their members, which was characterized by
the provision of survival skills to individuals who were supposed to selflessly
serve their societies. Members of African societies learnt through their
interaction with their physical and spiritual milieus, as evidenced by their
design of tools which they used mostly in their agro activities and in fighting
for resources. The other area in which learning took place was that of
spirituality or mysticism, as some superstitious members of African communities
were believed to have powers of communicating with their ancestors. As
noted by Westerlund (1991), the belief in the ancestors is widespread in many
African agricultural areas and like divinities and nature spirits, the spirits
of ancestors are thought to be intermediaries between God and humankind. The main problem that this paper is intended to advance
is that Africa is regarded by some people as having not had any form of
education before the arrival of the colonialists and their educational
establishments or organisations. This paper therefore raises an argument
against this position. Keywords: Africa, formal education, colonialism,
traditional, independence, Westernisation 1. Introduction This paper is meant to argue that most learning that
occurred in Africa was necessitated to meet the exigencies of the whole society
through training of its individual members either in groups or on individual
basis. This approach fostered cooperation and collaboration amongst the
community members and promoted the perfection of knowledge and skills before
being transmitted to posterity. According to Vanqa
(1995) essentially training was intended to enable an individual to play a
useful role in society. The learning of the use of words and gestures to
convey messages in the most eloquent way was emphasized and rewarded by both
the traditional leadership and village elders. As noted by Emeagwali (2006)
Africans at various parts of the continent used a wide range of symbols and
motifs for communicating ideas. It is important to
mention that the learning did not follow any comprehensive and formal
curricula, which in most cases resulted in important knowledge and skills
getting lost when the custodians of such knowledge and skills died or lost
their cognitive abilities, such as going insane. The traditional
schools, such as Bogwera and bojale in Botswana, played an important role in
packaging and passing indigenous knowledge and skills orally from generation to
generation. The paper argues that they were
impediments to the preservation of approaches that were employed in the
training and learning by members of African societies because of the secrecy that
surrounded how the processes were conducted. Most importantly, the paper will
demonstrate that less emphasis in the documentation of what was supposed to be
learnt compromised standardization and formalization of knowledge and skills. The
paper further argues that the infiltration of Western forces during colonialism
facilitated the obtrusion of western knowledge systems into African societies,
which undermined the essentiality of African indigenous www.ccsenet.org/hes
Higher Education Studies Vol. 3, No. 4; 2013 51 knowledge systems and destroyed
the zeal in Africans to modernize and ameliorate their systems. As noted by
Boateng (1985) In Africa, the introduction of western formal education has The infiltration of Western knowledge systems served to
re-direct development of the African continent by emphasizing its making in the
image of Europe and North America. The Eurocentric approaches, such as class
lectures and teleconferencing make Africans undermine their own ways of
transmission of knowledge often served as obstacles to the process of
cultural transmission and intergenerational communication, which are viewed
culturally as some of the functions of the school.
Note b;
One area which served as an important
educational vehicle for the youth in traditional Africa was the oral
literature. Oral literature encompasses fables, folktales, legends myths and
proverbs. The African continent experienced its own form of training and
learning before it was colonized and even before the arrival of the missionaries.
The training systems of Africans such as the
traditional schools did exist, but most importantly, the family unit served as
an important structure for knowledge provision and acquisition. It is
important to mention that these training facilities got undermined as a result
of importation and imposition of knowledge systems from colonial powers. In his
lectures on the philosophy of history, Hegel as cited by Wilks (1971) is said
to have stated that Africa is no historical part of the world; it has no movement
or development to exhibit and that is why the colonial era should essentially
be an age of enlightment. Education was seen as a
vehicle through which western cultures can be fostered or promoted in the
African continent by its colonizers. This arrangement viewed Africans as having
little or no knowledge of their own, which meant they had to learn advanced,
organised, systematic or sophisticated skills. Therefore, education in
Africa cannot be perfectly understood without first understanding the strengths
and intentions of the very forces that gnarled it, which according to Mcgregor
as cited by Adedeji (1990) was originally motivated by the desire to provide
“moral” upright and honest Christian clerks, traders, interpreters and chiefs.
It was also meant to produce Africans who could communicate fluently in the
language of the colonial powers. An excellent
example is that given by Iliffe (1979) who stated that, all instructions in a
school in Tanzania was in French, Latin was studied in preparation for priesthood,
and Swahili, which is an African language, was forbidden. Most importantly, as
noted by Akinpelu (1981) the imposition of the Western education was meant to
reinforce the colonial conditions by inculcating the values of the colonial
society and training individuals for the service of the colonial state.
It promoted the capitalist system, which feed on the individualistic instinct
of mankind and induced in the attitude of human inequality and domination of
the weak by the strong. Note c;
The African continent is underdeveloped, which leaves
it with no choice but to accept what is imposed on it by the developed world as
education. The world today is divided into ‘advanced’ or industrialised
countries and ‘underdeveloped’ ones most of which are in Africa (Loomba, 1998).
It is these divisions that will make Africa rely on what is determined by the
developed countries as worthy of been learnt. This is possible chiefly because
of the technology that serves to influence the African continent and the rest
of the developing world. This paper attempts to essentially advance an argument
that education existed in what is today known as Africa but lacked the
theoretical base. This was even before the continent got into contact with
representatives of the civilized North. The limitations in the knowledge about
what existed in Africa before colonial invasion can be attributed to lack of
documentation to verify that knowledge and skills did exist in Africa long
before what is known today. The evidence that is available is often not
accepted by the developed world or deliberately distorted, which disadvantages
Africa and denies it an opportunity to be recognized in the global arena as
ingenious or inventive. As noted by Boateng (1985). Note
c; Western formal education did not consider cultural
transmission as part of the educative process. It is important to note that it
would be difficult for Africa to retrieve its knowledge and skills that existed
before the continent was besieged by Western powers. This is because of
continued façade to keep the continent under western influence and control. As
long as Europe dominates over Africa there is no how the latter’s education
systems can gain recognition. As noted by Asante (1987) any interpretation of
Africa must begin at once to dispense with the notion that, in all things,
Europe is teacher and Africa is pupil. 2. Note
a; African Traditional Education Education
existed in Africa long before the continent was colonized or even before the
slave trade. Knowledge, skills and attitudes were passed from generation to
generation mostly through word of mouth in the African societies. This
is because African societies, just like any other society, share the common
ancestry which has led to the most unique characteristics, which is the ability
to adapt the environment to suit the inhabitants. For instance, Leakey (1982)
does indicate that the use of tools, the construction of huts, all suggest that
human www.ccsenet.org/hes Higher Education Studies Vol. 3, No. 4; 2013 52
society, including African societies, became much complicated during the past
million years. This complication, it has to be explained, was necessitated by
the ever changing societal exigencies and the need to adapt to emerging
changes. It is this understanding that provides enough evidence that African
societies through interacting with their environments learnt skills that were
required for them to survive. The making of hunting tools for instance,
characterized most African societies, mostly during the time they were peripatetic
or nomadic. As noted by Vanqa (1995), wandering in the bush enabled members of
African societies to know their immediate surroundings such as river systems,
the hills and forests, the type of flora and fauna and other characteristics.
This means knowledge and skills pertaining to resource management was
unquestionably obligatory. It has to be noted also that the knowledge that
Africans had was scientific and as intricate as any other from other parts of
the world. As noted by Emeagwali (2006) Note a; Africans while interacting
with their environment and transforming various raw materials overtime, arrived
at various hypotheses about nature, the natural world and society. The
fabrication of metallic tools and implements, textile production, traditional
medicine or food processing, involved the application of various techniques,
principles, and propositions arrived at through observation of the environment
and experimentation at various levels. The knowledge and skills were
shared with newly found members, such as those who were captured during battles
or those who became members through birth and marriage. The learning about the
environment also conveyed information about the measures that were employed by
African societies in conservation of resources. For instance, in Southern
Africa and other parts of the continent, taboos were used as a conservation
strategy. For instance, an animal was not killed or eaten because it was
respected as a totem. The traditional schools were used to provide the necessary
skills and knowledge that African societies needed for their survival. This
qualifies as education if we are to borrow a definition by Moumouni as cited by
Koma (1976) who said, education is everything that prepares the young people
for either integration in a given specific society with the aim of perpetuating
the established values and norms of such society or transforming and changing
such values and norms. The production of tools required skills for immediate
use and their modification, which was determined by two distinct challenges.
Firstly, the need for African societies to protect themselves against predators
meant that tools had to be modified as new techniques and strategies of killing
were devised. Secondly, the annexation of members of a tribe and other
resources such as land necessitated tribal conflicts. The tribal conflicts
meant that strategies in battle were important if the tribe was to maintain its
identity and protect its resources. It was noted by Wilson (1975) that the
African continent always had small communities which moved quite frequently,
sometimes conflicting with each other. This situation often necessitated the
mastery of the necessary strategies for society to survive, which promoted the
learning of such strategies through demonstrations by the elderly to the young.
The African societies that got defeated were often conquered, subjugated and
integrated into those that emerged victorious. This meant that new members were
taught or learnt new values, cultures, strategies and skills. Note a; According to
Pandey as cited by Abose and Kandjii-Murangi (1995) the children were required
to have knowledge, skills and attitudes of societies in which they were born as
in the traditional societies of the past all over the world; there was no clear
separation between educational activities and socialisation. The knowledge, skills and attitudes as well as social norms,
mores and values peculiar to a given group were learnt by the children, which
meant that transfer of information which translates into learning took place.
The tribal battles also meant that devine intervention was always important as
defeat was interpreted as a curse that is cast upon a society by its ancestors.
This means that the African societies worshipped even before the arrival of
members of Western societies who brought foreign religions such as Christianity
to the continent. It is therefore palpable that African societies learned
important facets to execute their functions of worship. It is disquieting that
Iliffe (1979) notes that pre-literate, and the religions of pre-literate people
not only leave little historical evidence but are characteristically eclectic,
mutable, and unsystematic. With this it is important to acknowledge that some
evidence can be extracted from what is surmised to have taken place within
traditional schools; suggesting that the schools offered well-arranged training
on religious practices. 3. The Setting for African Traditional Education The
elders were teachers in the African settings such as in the training of
regiments for mastery of survival skills. According to Schepera (1938) the
traditional schools systematically taught young adults a number of secret
formulae and songs in Botswana, admonishing them to honour, obey, and support
the chief; to be ready to endure www.ccsenet.org/hes Higher Education Studies
Vol. 3, No. 4; 2013 53 hardships and even death for the sake of the tribe; to
be united as a regiment and help one another; to value cattle as a principal
source of livelihood, and herd them carefully; to attend public decision making
meetings regularly, to honour and ungrudgingly obey old people and to keep
religious practices (p. 106). For instance, according to Vanqa as cited by
Abosi and Kandjii-Murangi (1995), Knowledge, customs and laws through tribal
institutions were passed on to the young by the elders using proverbs and
myths, which were told with care and repetition. The young were informed of
their past and their cultural heritage with the aim of stimulating pride in
cultural institutions which formed the basis of community’s survival. It
becomes clear gathering from what the preceding authors promulgated, that
learning did take place within African societies even before the continent was
besieged by colonialists and missionaries. 4. The Curriculum It has to be noted
that curricula did exist in the African societies though not in the manner that
it is today. This explains why despite the existence of such curricula, writers
such as Meredith (2006) stated that most African societies at the time they
were colonised were predominantly illiterate and innumerate. The training
offered was not done haphazardly, but through some strategies that did not
always conform to Western standards. This is despite existence of
well-supported argument by writers such as Dugard (2003), to the effect that
just like Egypt and the rest of Northern Africa, civilisations thrived in
Southern and Central Africa for millennia. The Africans understood metallurgy,
and made spears from iron and copper. Artisans wove fine cloths, baskets and
beer was brewed from bananas and grain. Communication between villages and
kingdoms was accomplished through a relay of swift runners (p. 5). It is
indisputable that the exercise of processing information and passing it on
through the word of mouth, which cannot be realised without learning, was
achieved by ‘primitive’ African societies. The Western powers changed the way
how Africans transmitted knowledge. As noted by Boateng (1985) the increasing
deterioration of intergenerational communication in Africa has been attributed
to systems of education introduced by Western colonial system (p. 109). Note e; The scientific experiments though not conducted in
laboratories as it is done today also took place. For instance, the fermentation
of grains in the brewing of beer accorded African societies an opportunity to
learn through observation and experimentation. These processes were repeated
until they were mastered and were then packaged and passed on verbally for
utilisation by future generations. It is imperative to state that knowledge was
shared amongst communities and between generations, which was heavily
influenced by the Africa notion that knowledge and information acquired was to
enable its recipients to understand the reality of the world. This
enabled society members to live in and become competent at solving their
personal and social problems, as observed by Sunal (1998). It is therefore
eccentric for anyone to suggest that no curricula existed before Africans came
into contact with their colonisers. However, it has to be admitted that African
curricula did not exist as documents that we see on modern age educational
institutions such as the modern schools. As noted by Ocitti (1994)
Pedagogically, African education encompassed both instructional and
non-instructional models of learning, which may be termed formal, informal and
unconscious. 5. Note e; The Teacher in
African Traditional Education Education in Africa served to uphold some African
cultures, as it can be exemplified by what obtained in South Africa, where
lifelong learning was imbued with the values, interests and behaviour patterns
learned at the knee of a Bantu mother (Horrel, 1964). Interestingly, every member of an African society was a
teacher by virtue of him and her having vast experience that was worthy.
According to Moumouni (1968) when it is time for initiation, it will be under
the direction of members of the community chosen for their knowledge, wisdom
and experience, that the African adolescent learns the first elements of what
is to be known physically and intellectually. Note
e; Young
men completed their training by listening to and observing the ‘elders’ at
community ‘palavers’. African education
combined both intellectual and manual labour which made the teachers to impart
skills that were put to immediate use. The teacher in pre-colonial
Africa never stopped learning, which means the teacher was also a learner. As
noted by Koma (1976) knowledge was continually modified and innovations
renewed, which strengthened the conviction amongst the African societies that
life is a process of learning. As stated by Nyerere (1961) though pre-colonial
Africa did not have schools in the modern sense, this did not mean that young
people and children were not educated: Note e;
they learnt by
living and doing, which made their education essentially practical training.
It is important to note that the teacher was viewed
as a custodian of knowledge by the recipients of his/her training and what was
taught was never questioned. This arrangement was meant to reinforce the
concomitant absence of a tradition of questioning- combined with an essential
top-down traditional culture of acquiescence before one’s superiors. According
to Datta (1984) the role of the teacher in Africa was to www.ccsenet.org/hes
Higher Education Studies Vol. 3, No. 4; 2013 54 inculcate the dominant values,
which the learners were to master and pass on to those younger than them. This
means those who were trained had to play the role of teaching those younger
than them and they had to display behaviour that the learners were to emulate.
As noted by Bray, Clarke and Stephens (1986) Note e; indigenous education in Africa tend to reflect
the values, wisdom and expectations of the community or wider society as a
whole. This is contrary to Western forms of education, which tend to stress the
intellectual development of the individual and pay less attention to the needs,
goals and expectations of the wider society. 6. Education in Africa during
Colonialism Education did not start only after the famous Berlin conference of
1884-1885, which was Africa’s undoing in more ways than one. As noted by
Blij and Muller (2003) the colonial powers superimposed their domains in the
African continent and by the time Africa regained its independence after the
late 1950s, it could no longer fully regain its indigenous education. As noted
by Margalit (2004) European ideas about politics were inevitably transmitted to
the colonial subjects, along with science, religion, economics and literature
(p. 38). Note f; The superimposition of colonial values on the African
continent changed the lifestyle of Africans in many ways, which meant changes
also in those things that Africans had to learn. The Africans received Western
education which was meant to ‘civilise them’. As stated by Mkandawire (2005)
one task of education in both enslavement and colonialisation of Africa was to
dehumanise the enslaved and the colonised by denying their history and
denigrating their achievements and capacities. Adedeji (1990) points out
that, the education introduced in what is Tanzania today was modelled on the
British system, but with even heavier emphasis on subservient attitudes and on
white collar skill. It emphasised and encouraged the individualistic instincts
of mankind. It led to the possession of individual material wealth being the
major criterion of social merit and worth. Note
f; This
meant that colonial education induced attitudes of human inequality, and in
practice underpinned the domination of the weak by the strong. Education
in Africa during colonialism was used to convert Africans into foreign
religions. For instance, in Botswana some schools were built by Catholics for
purposes of providing Western education and religious teachings. . Note f; According to Farouk (1998) the missionaries
realised that African religion, art, music and other social activities were
very closely connected with each other. The colonialists were not accommodative
and aggressively wanted to replace any forms of learning that the African
continent already had when they arrived. This was despite their
understanding that changes can be effected on what society already has. For
instance, between 1050 and 1200 BC changes took placed in England and Western
Europe generally, which opened a new era in intellectual life and education. It
is important to note that the fundamental objective of Western powers was the
steady enlargement of knowledge by the spread from Moslem Spain, ancient Greek
and Arab learning, which the powers needed to enter into other parts of the
world (Lawson and Silver, 1973, p. 18). 7. Encounter with Western Education It
is important to state that according to Buzan and Little (2000) Europeans
occupied whole continents and stamped upon them a system of territorial
boundaries, trading economics, and colonial administration. The few places that
they did not reduce to colonial status (Japan, Siam, Persia, Turkey and China)
were forced to adapt to . Note g; European models
to preserve themselves. It is clear that European conquests wanted to stamp
their control without compromising. In Africa Africans were forced to change
their ways of life by been converted so that they can adopt the Western
culture. According to Awolalu (1991) converts in some parts of Africa were
encouraged to flout authority by burning their ritual objects and breaking the
taboos. The encouragement of the destruction of traditional objects of worship
was enforced. In these operations, the educated Christians, who were mostly teachers
and pastors, were used. They condemned the traditional title systems, marriage,
rituals, songs, arts, and labelled them ‘things of Satan’. The African dancing
and music were banned from the curricula. Indigenous literatures in Africa’s
multitudinous tongues that had existed from time immemorial on the African
continent were deemphasised. It is crucial to allude to the fact that when
colonialism became a fact on the continent, the ‘use of indigenous literatures,
especially in formal schools, was relegated to the background or completely
abolished. Before this destruction of African knowledge and its institutions,
the colonial officials got knowledge about African languages, cultures and
laws, which in many regions began to be compiled with the assistance of local
intermediaries within the few years of occupation (Parker and Rathbone, 2007).
The colonialists or colonial agents had to learn African languages in order to
operate effectively and churches were mostly used for that purpose. This
means education was not only confined to the schools, but religious
organisations were also used in the transmission of non-religious knowledge,
which was meant to foster change amongst African societies. For example, the
common root language, which Livingstone quickly learned was www.ccsenet.org/hes
Higher Education Studies Vol. 3, No. 4; 2013 55 Bantu. As pointed out by Dugard
(2003) the learning of languages of Africa involved amazing six hundred
dialects which had spun from one tongue as tribes spread out across the
continent in over a thousand of years. It is clear
that learning amongst African societies was a continuous process, which was
necessitated by societal interfaces. What should be emphasised is that
the colonialists were autocrats; they made everything possible to destroy
African traditions and institutions, wanting in their place to put those in the
image of their own institutions (Osa, 1998, Kunene, 1992 and UNESCO, 1987).
According to Adedeji (1990) Europeans wanted dominance in scientific, technical
and managerial and educational fields, and opposed every effort by Africans to
develop in those fields. Note g; The other
important area in which Africans were secretly trained was on witchcraft.
According to Brain (1982), in African societies witchcraft did exist and was
passed on from generation to generation by those who practiced it. It is
important to indicate that witchcraft lacked scientific explanation in the
Western sense, which made it less favourable. For instance, Brain (1982)
indicates that, there was the widespread notion of a mystical power or force
which can be tapped by elders through the medium of ancestral spirits and which
traditionally was one of the most effective means of disciplining the young to
obedience of the old (p. 373). It is lack of scientific evidence on witchcraft
that provoked attempts to reject and abolish it by Western powers. According to
(Iliffe, 1979) the common practice of the use of medicine to harm or protect,
to ensure health and fertility in peace, safety and victory in war was common
amongst African societies. Some medicines were herbal remedies, others purely
magical. Some were common knowledge, others the property of guilds or
individual specialists. The specialists were trained, which means that formed
part of African education. It is evident that learning that was brought into
the African societies got structured to produce individuals who did not fully
identify with the values of the continent. According to Koma (1976) The
characteristics of colonial education are that it promoted and encouraged
individualism, it regarded accumulation of wealth as a measure of success in
life, and it conditioned those who received it to despise those who did not
receive it, made its recipients despise manual work and made its victims accept
anything European as the paragon of excellence. Boateng (1985) also states
that, the traditional role of education- bridging the gap between the adult
generation and youth- is gradually giving way to the development of the
so-called creative individual who is completely removed from his/her tradition
(p. 109). It is important to indicate that Western education antagonised
efforts by Africans to influence it and to appreciate the contributions made by
Africans. As noted by Emeagwali (2006) for example, they are connections that
exist between Egyptian mathematics and the so-called discoveries that made
celebrities out of Greek scholars, such as Archimedes and Pythagoras. The
written sources of African history such as works by Africans themselves namely:
Hamadhari, Al Masudi, Al Bakri, Al Idrisi, Al Umari, Al Muhallabi were not
taught in African institutions. Equally affected were significant African
historical writtings of the twelfth and thirteen centuries such as, The Tarikh
al of Sudan, The Tarikh al Fattash, The Kano Chronicle and The Chronicles of
Abuja that are originally based on Orature (p. 231). The Africans that excelled
in schools received scholarships to go and study in European and American
universities, which further distanced them from their African cultures. Note g; The learning and teaching strategies and techniques that
African societies had employed for lengthy durations were discarded. African
education system was undermined at the expense of a more clearly defined form
of structured learning which was introduced to the continent from the North. The
obtrusion of systematised training meant that choices were taken about its
content, method and organisation, which reflected the relative power of the
different classes and their ability to advance their own interests (Youngman,
1981). It is not surprising that in the 1950s the majority of parents and
pupils saw that the way out of village economy was through the primary and the
middle school system (Dodd, 1969). Note h;
Western
education emphasised the use of foreign language such as English in the former
British colonies like Botswana. It does not come as a surprise that Lawson and
Silver (1973) indicated that, from the late fourteenth century, English gained
social respectability with the gradual recognition of its suitability for
business and literature, and its use in writing rapidly became general. What
this arrangement meant was that African languages lost their importance in
education and the language of the colonisers became useful in the imparting of
knowledge and skills. 8. African Indigenous Knowledge in a Globalised Education
The modern African societies are submerged in Westernisation or are Eurocentric
and Americocentric and they will never reconstruct their pre-historical identities.
It is important to note that through globalisation the Western forces
have achieved a milestone that cannot be easily re-arranged. According to
Baylis and Smith (2006) globalisation as a secular historical process has
occurred in three distinctive waves. The first wave was the age of
www.ccsenet.org/hes Higher Education Studies Vol. 3, No. 4; 2013 56 discovery
(1450-1850), when globalisation was shaped by European expansion and conquest.
Second wave (1850-1945), evidenced a major expansion and spread and
entrenchment of European empires and (1960 and on), which is a new epoch in
human affairs characterised by microchip and satellite icons. As noted by
Kortenaar (1995) one may not be able to return to the world of one’s ancestors.
It has to be noted that present rhetoric that is based on the misconception
that Africa of the past can be revisited is practically impossible. Note h; It has to be admitted that the African continent is
immensely benefitting from contemporary technological changes that take place
in the world. It is important to indicate that due to contact with European
civilisation, and the gradual spread of education, though in varying degrees,
many of the thoughts and ways of life of Africans are completely different from
what they used to be before and during colonialism as noted by Schapera (1938).
It is self-evident that all knowledge is comprised of concepts and
propositions, including concepts and propositions that deal with learning
strategies and methods of conducting inquiries (Novak, 1998). It has to be
noted that not only education but social reality has become schooled or
institutionalised. The schools guide lives and the worldview, and define what
is legitimate and what is not, as averred by Illich (1971). Africa cannot take the
risk of reverting to its pre-colonial educational systems because according to
Bown & Tomori (1979) with constant development in science and technology,
with new means of communication such as radio and television, with major
alterations in political institutions, any person ‘who does not keep up-to-date
with these changes is condemned to be overtaken. This reality does translate to
mean that, it becomes difficult or almost impossible for Africa to revive its
indigenous knowledge systems, some of which have been lost overtime. It is
indisputable that Africa benefits immensely from the training that is offered
by the West and North America. However, it is worth noting that this is
realised or achieved at the expense of what Africans cherished as knowledge and
skills before the arrival of Western colonisers. It has to be noted that
according to Mkandawire (2005) African independence was associated with the
right to industrialisation, which led to a remarkable expansion in all levels
of education. It is important to note that education had been instrumental in
the promotion of Western form of development. Due to advanced technology,
training can be done through institutions in Africa, Europe and United States
of America and so on, which has universalised education. It has to be admitted
that Western and North American training remains dominant in the modern era.
However, it is also important to acknowledge the influence that the Chinese
education system is having on education in Africa. The Chinese training,
mostly in Mandarin, which is a language used in China, is gaining ground in
Africa because it now constitutes part of curricula of some institutions in the
continent. This translates to mean education in Africa is bound to be
transformed so that it can be responsive to these emerging trends. According to
Marginson (2011) education is meant to promote global connectedness, which sums
all global systems in education and research (p. 14). This is despite the
challenge of resistance that is been experienced in some parts of the
continent. As pointed out by Fullick as cited by Leathwood and Francis (2006)
there is already a healthy resistance to participation from many who regard the
education on offer as middle-class and alien. Added to this blame is the one advanced
by Owusu (1995) who stated that the increasing deterioration of
intergenerational communication in Africa has been attributed to systems of
education introduced by Western colonial system. It is very difficult to
indigenous education against the bedrock of a strongly held conviction in the
era of globalisation. As pointed out by Scholte (2005) neo-liberalists have
championed globalisation on a market led path in which public authorities only
facilitate and in no way interfere with the dynamics of demand and supply.
Reformists argue that globalisation should be deliberately steered with public
policies, including substantially increased global governance and transformists
advocate for globalisation that transcend currently prevailing social
structures like capitalism or rationalism. There is also a challenge faced by
education in most African countries, which is of structuring education to be
responsive to the demands and disciplines of the capitalist global economy. Note i; It is important to note that even the coalition of the
‘Third World’ cannot overcome the counterhegemonic forces some of which are
responsible for the provision of education. It is important to conclude this
section by admitting that education will continue to be defined by the powerful
forces that control Global events and not so much by the African continent.
This means Africa will continue to have less or no influence in the design of
the curricula if it has to be recognised in the global village. It is chiefly
important to note that, the emergence of globalisation has strengthened the
justification for the use of Western concepts in the African education sector.
9. Implications for Development in Africa According to Ake (1978), Africa does
not have any choice but to maintain existing relations of production in the
global economy. The extent of the financial, commercial and
technological dependence of the African economies www.ccsenet.org/hes Higher
Education Studies Vol. 3, No. 4; 2013 57 on the West does not allow them to
isolate themselves. It has to be stated that the continent is also under siege
by non-state actors such as multinational corporations. As noted by Seidman
& Makgetla (1980) the largest firms, the transnational corporations, took
the lead in expanding their global operations into more profitable areas. They
competed to discover new sources of raw materials, to pry for open markets for
their growing surplus manufactured goods in the Third World. It is important to
indicate that almost all African countries form what is referred to as the
Third World. The presence of transnational corporations in the African
countries has influenced the education systems in the continent. For example,
in Botswana the mining giant company known as DeBeers is mining diamonds and
has trained citizens in various areas, such as geology and mining engineering.
The continent’s education cannot be alienated from the Western educational
systems because as noted by Fiala (1994) education systems reflect and are
shaped by ideological and organisational processes at the societal and world
level. At the world level, ideological processes appear to have been associated
with the extraordinary expansion of education systems following the Second
World War. It is important to note that even those scholars who are in favour
of indigenous education are not dismissive of Western form of education. Note i; According to Gboku and
Lekoko (2007) a formal education system can play an important role in Africa.
Such a system if it is to meet the cultural, social, moral and intellectual, as
well as political and economic needs of Africa it has to be adapted and
integrated into indigenous form of education. It is proposed by Emeagwali
(2006) that Africa should embrace both exogenous and endogenous technological
activities for its advancement, which should be for realisation of both
scientific and technological growth in areas of medicine, mathematics,
metallurgy, ceramics, textile, food processing and building technology. It is
important to note that even proposals on how Africa should develop advocate for
the utilisation of already existing approaches and institutions. For
instance, according to Mengisteab (1996) the transforming of peasantry,
development of domestic markets, mobilisation of the general population through
broad popular coalitions, as well as establishment of democratic systems should
be presented as prerequisites for the development of Africa. It has to be
appreciated that globalisation is old and it will be difficult if not
impossible to dismantle it. 10.
Note j; Conclusion It is very
important to conclude by indicating that Africa had its own form of education
that made African societies to survive. The arrival of the colonial forces
embarked on an agenda to make African knowledge and skills to be inconsequential
and engaged in an undertaking to replace them. Even where African institutions
were researched on and found to be credible, such as Egyptian civilisation,
they were not accommodated in the education of the Africans in the manner that
would have made them to have a sense that they were equally capable and had a
history worth studying. To a large extent it has to be admitted that the
colonial powers did achieve their objective of an intrusion of a foreign
education in the continent. It has to be noted that indigenous knowledge,
skills and attitudes were important for the continent of Africa because they
were relevant and the continent would have advanced if it was left to develop
its education systems. It can be concluded that it is necessary for more
research to be done to unearth important knowledge systems that belong to
Africa, which can be utilised in the economic, political and social advancement
of the continent. It is important to admit that it will be impossible to
retrieve the knowledge, skills and attitudes that existed in Africa before the
continent experienced colonialism because in majority of cases no documentation
that is reliable can be found. The infiltration of foreign educational systems
that took place and continue to take place have benefitted and continue to
benefit the Africans so much that they will resist any effort geared towards
taking them to the form of education that Africa had before colonialism. It has
to be noted that the African continent is part of the ‘global village’ and
cannot in its current economic, social and political situation afford to
function in isolation. This means the technological advancement that is so far
realised will remain attractive to Africans, which will further compound the
problem of indigenisation. It has to be admitted that the African continent has
experienced changes that are important for its education system to alien, if it
has to remain on course in adding value to the development of the continent. It
will also benefit the continent to encourage African scholars who are in the
continent to conduct research in order to salvage what can be of use in giving
the world a new understanding about the continent’s knowledge systems.
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