Are education systems in Africa improving or worsening?

Worsening

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by Daniel Onyango

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Are Education Systems in Africa Improving or Worsening?

To the extent that the African education systems do not seem to address the disintegrating social, cultural and economic dynamics of their countries, they may be said to be worsening. The essence of education is to create a positive change in a society and this is largely lacking in most countries in Africa. Africa is a diverse continent, and any system of education that hopes to work should not only address its cultural diversity, but must change the whole man.

In order to discuss the above topic there is need to look at the whole question of the philosophy of education. In every society, a formal or an informal education has always aimed to foster pride in their culture and in so doing, helped to forge national unity and advancement. In traditional African societies, this was achieved by teaching the history of a community through song, poetry or narratives, in what is now known as orature.

Trades such as pottery, weaving, animal husbandry, and metal-forgery-rudime ntary forms of industrialization-we re learnt through apprenticeship. Specialization, and some form of monopoly existed mainly because trades ran through families for generations.

On the surface, one can be forgiven for thinking that such a primitive' mode of education had no hope for evolving into a modern system relevant to a technologically changing world. But if we define education as the acquisition of knowledge through learning, we can surmise that knowledge in African societies was not meant to be static. In any case, industrialization and modern technology can trace their origin from the stone-age man.

Increasing populations, natural hazards and dangers posed by external threats, dictated that man's skills stayed abreast with demands of his times. And this was how communities were led to develop their philosophy, and their systems of education. Historically, we have seen how stable societies like the ancient kingdoms of Egypt and Greece, the great Zimbabwe, kingdom of Buganda, China and Japan had developed relevant education systems that served them well for a duration of time. But when the need arose, they adapted themselves to the changes accordingly.

As a matter of fact, post-Mao China recognized that to meet the goals of modernization and to provide for its huge population, it was necessary to develop its scientific, technological and intellectual resources. In contrast with the Mao era, political activism was no longer the criteria for measuring individual performance, but achievement and hard work. Today China is not only an emerging industrial country, but a military and an economic power capable of lending to the US government to fulfil its energy needs.

Thanks to the selfish whims of African leaders, their education systems are either irrelevant or unworkable because philosophically, they are stuck at the traditional level. As an example, Uganda's education system at independence ensured that Luganda was taught as a national language even though the country was multi-ethnic. Resistance to, and the eventual dethronement of the Kabaka, on the orders of Dr. Milton Obote (the Prime Minister) led to instability that has dogged Uganda to the present day. Ethnic agenda and selfish demands have ensured that no useful education system in Africa can work. Other African monarchists that have stood in the way of change include the Zulu of South Africa, the Swazi of Swaziland and some Muslim sultanates of West Africa.

That has largely been the blight of most African systems of education; they have remained only theories, being worked and reworked to suit the interests and self-esteem of various adversaries.

Even in countries where education systems are in statute books, rulers would rather pay lip service than ensure their actual implementation. Much time and resources are wasted in entrenching the rulers and their henchmen in power, than invest in an education system that would ensure social and economic prosperity for all. Where the borrowed systems seem to work, only man-power suitable for a bloated civil service have been produced en-masse. Industrial take-off and economic self-sufficiency is a pipe-dream only referred to in the successive ten year economic plans.

As an example, Kenya's education system has for more than four decades run through several ambitious plans. As a colony of Great Britain, education for the African was first designed to uplift their living standards and inculcate habits of industry' (J.R. Orr commission on Education for Africans 1911). The aim was to change their mode of lifestyle from subsistence to a monetary one whereby they would not only acquire British goods, but be capable of paying taxes (Tignor 1977).

At independence, when the British system of education seemed not to be working the Report of the Kenya Education Commission(Ominde Commision 1964) sought to reform the system to make more it responsive to the needs of the country. Its main tenet was to foster national unity and create sufficient human capital for national development. Ten years later, national unity and human capital still wanting, Gachathi Commission was set-up in 1976 to redefine Kenya's educational policies and objectives.

Apart from supporting community schools and establishment of the National Centre for Early Childhood Education (NCECC) not much else had been achieved. Successive commissions and blue-prints have only documented grandiose plans, but which have lacked the will and the sincerity to implement.

The Kenyan examples mirror the plight of African systems of education, which look great on paper but due to myriad social and political problems, will continue to gather dust on the shelves.

Bibliography :

Ministry of Education, Science & Technology Statistics- Kenya (2003).

Ngigi, A. & Macharia, D. (2006), Kenya Education Sector Policy Overview: European Community

U.S Library of Congress.

Tignor, L.R. (1976), The Colonial Transformation of Kenya; New Jersey: Princeton University Press.

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