Education in Africa

 Education in Africa is an ongoing uphill battle. The young men and women have a future that is very uncertain and approximately 33 million children are unable to attend school in Africa. The children affected the most are those with disabilities, orphans, HIV/AIDS positive, and those affected by natural disasters. Sexual abuse is also a concern for the children traveling to and from school. The long distance of the schools from rural areas makes it nearly impossible for those rural children to attend. On top of all the hurdles already mentioned, the cost of education is too high for a lot of families in Africa. 

Traditional education during pre-colonial Africa involved dancing, farming, wine making, cooking, herbal medicine, and carving. Telling children their history through story telling was top priority when teaching the values of their tribe/community. The papyrus contains accurate information about their system for learning. 

The colonial period was the end of traditional African education. Military and missionaries took over and focused only on cash crop production and extraction of raw materials. There was no need for education when only focused on intense labor duties. They refused to put an education system in for fear of an uprising or fear of lower cash crop production. They eventually established a very controlled education and they decided what was learned. 

When that time period passed and African countries regained independence, the education system was very behind. They tried to combine traditional and colonial education. This was the only good thing that came out of the colonial times. Only 57% of children were enrolled in school though and most were boys. This started the Millennium Development Goals in the year 2000. They were able to get rid of school fees and provide free lunches. The numbers still weren't acceptable by 2013. Then they started Sustainable Development Goals, which is in progress until 2030. 

Sources:

https://borgenproject.org/about-schools-in-africa/

Wikipedia contributors. (2021, September 14). Education in Africa. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 04:46, October 12, 2021, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Education_in_Africa&oldid=1044192692

• PENNY ENSLIN, KAI HORSTHEMKE, Philosophy of Education: Becoming Less Western, More African?, Journal of Philosophy of Education, 10.1111/1467-9752.12199, 50, 2, (177-190), (2016).
  Wiley Online Library
• • N'DRI T. ASSIE‐LUMUMBA, Cultural Foundations of the Idea and Practice of the Teaching Profession in Africa: Indigenous roots, colonial intrusion, and post‐colonial reality, Educational Philosophy and Theory, 10.1111/j.1469-5812.2011.00793.x, 44, s2, (21-36), (2012).
    Wiley Online Library

  • Wikipedia contributors. (2021, September 27). Papyrus. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 05:59, October 12, 2021, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Papyrus&oldid=1046689385

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