Develop education system unique to Africa

Nothing demonstrates the depth and breadth of colonialism in modern Africa than formal academic education and the privileges that accrue to the few who pursue it to the highest level successfully.

Western style education is largely accepted and emulated based on the assumption of its superiority, capacity to place individuals in high positions and to catalyse socio-economic and political growth and development.

It continues to grow as its ideologies are disseminated through books, journal articles and the media. Western scholars and development partners play a central role in producing and reproducing western scripts through space and time.

In policy practice research facilities offer an understanding of the situations, particularly the extent to which education is meeting pre-determined natural goals which are more or less static.

The emerging knowledge helps to determine a variety of actions based on what they consider important and realistic and this may include research questions such as what is higher education for? What is working or not working in the educational system?

Arguably, the Western model of education has been viewed as something powerful and prestigious to be emulated.

But when superimposed upon the peculiar African context, these models of education have continuously manifested some weaknesses.

Adequate attention is not paid to acquiring skills for survival, harnessing and nurturing talent and the technical skills required.

The result has been the mismatch between what is taught at school and the needs of the labour market and acute youth unemployment that is unequivocally a ticking time bomb.

The elitist education system has not captured the needs of all groups in society. As such, some groups have been rewarded while others such as women and the vulnerable remain on the periphery. This is further reflected in the gap between the rich and the poor.

Although a few uneducated Africans are among the wealthiest and most powerful people in business, sports, politics, this is a small proportion that cannot tilt the status quo. Education has entrenched asymmetric relations in society with the educated looking down upon those less educated.

This is a reflection of how Western education has trivialised culture and broken down traditional value system of equality, fraternity, sisterhood, liberty, mutual dependency and neighbourliness, solidarity and celebration of diversity.

It is therefore not surprising that there is so much strife in society and corruption is a pressing problem.

This points out that the advancement of knowledge is skewed; often delinked from African realities and some of the theories fall short of explaining the experiences of Africans. The link to reality is essential for extending the social meaning of theories in African context.

Therefore, the key trajectory for a meaningful Africanisation of knowledge production is for African scholars to develop and nurture truly African forms and systems of knowing, including theorization, conceptualisation, interrogation of western epistemologies and application of the locally created knowledge towards understanding and tackling local challenges facing the communities on the Continent.

Africa needs the articulation of an educational model; that is flexible and capable of responding to its realities within the context of the clarion call for African solutions to African problems.

I argue that education reform should be driven by flexibility and responsiveness, re-imagination of research, meaningful merging of disciplines to expand an understanding of the problems that confront Africans and the pursuit for solutions.

-Ms Muganda is an educationist.