DEVELOPMENT OF EDUCATION IN KENYA

Education is the whole process by which one generationtransmits its culture to the succeeding generation or still

better as a process by which people are prepared to life

effectively in their environment. Therefore before the

coming of the Arabs and Europeans there was an effective

system of Education in the entire African Kingdom.

Therefore that kind of traditional Education in Africa was

Effective ever since the Election of the African trade it

was forgeable, definite and intelligible. However there was

and still is no single indigenous form of Education in

Africa Societies differing form each other (as they do)

developed different system of Education to transport their

own pattern knowledge and skills.

Education can also mean otherwise, that ,to Educate means to

help someone understand the Educates of reality in their

faithful multiplying up to a totally which is always the

true horizon of our actions.

There are three scopes of Education:

a) The formal aspect of Education which is institution and

found in Educational institution of varying levels and

organization Established by the society.

b) The informal aspect which refers to the total cultural

and Educative context through which individual are born

grow up in and reach maturity. Informal Education

agencies include the family, churches, masques, the

state peer group mass media etc.

c) Non formal aspects are the planned Educational highly

formalized institutional school structure. It is not

structured in levels Indigenous system of Education in

Africa varied from one society to another. However, the

goals of this system were often similar. Indigenous

Education was identically an Education for living.

EDUCATION IN PRE-COLONIAL AFRICAIts main purpose was to train the youth for adulthood

within the society Emphasis was given to Normative and

Expression goals. NORMATIVE GOALS were concerned with

instilling the accepted standard and beliefs, governing

the correct behavior, EXPRESSIVE GOALS were concerned

with creating unity and consensus. Indigenous education

enabled its learners to be adaptable. The children

learned the skills of farming, housing, house building

and cookery and also the principles required for the well

being of the home, clan and ethic group. There was strong

communal cohesion and individualistic tenderness was

allowed to grow only within the ambit of society. An

individual was the accepted norms and customs and a

vigorous code of morality. Decency of speech and behavior

respect for Elders and superior, obedience to the

authority and co-operation with other member of the

Community were inculcated for the survival of society.

In most communities, the general altitude people had

toward the newborn was one of interest, Encouragement and

well wishing. The parents and close relatives in

particular, usually took keen interest in the welfare of

a new born child and its development. A child was given a

lot encouragement on physical development. It was

situated to fit, crawl, stand and walk. This too applied

for language development morally the child was made to

confirm to the mode, customs and standard of behavior

inherit in the clan into which it was born or in which

it is living. Bad habits and undesirable or disruptive

behavior was not tolerated in any child. In childhood

education games occupied an important place in conformity

with the awakening of intense mental and physical

activities as children grew they were engaged in

productive education. A boy could be informally

introduced to trade ace as mental work or hide training,

start taking part in agriculture, heading, hunting and

collecting. Through play he could make miniature tools

such as bows and arrows. Girls learnt feminine

responsibilities. They helped out in the kitchen, fetched

water and firewood and tools, care for their younger

siblings. In some clans they were introduced to trades

such as basket weaving and pottery. Through these

apprenticeships and participation. In the world of work,

children developed physical endurance, skills, a sense of

observation and a good memory. The progressive

acquisition of a trade provided the child with a social

and economic function. This led to his or her full

integration into the clan.

Vocational training advocacies with age. Girls were

taught their domestic as well as agricultural

responsibilities. Through interaction, children learnt

from the other members of the community, thus overdoing

their spheres of learning.

They learnt through such channels as folk songs, tales,

riddles, proverbs, dance, ceremonies and festivals,

prohibition and many others which contributed to their

intellectual, spiritual and moral formation. In general,

education, sex education and awareness of responsibility.

The pre-colonial African Education was very relevant to

Africa, in sharp contrast with when was later introduced.

The following features of indigenous African Education

can be considered outstanding. Its close links with

social life, buts in a material and spiritual sense. Its

collective nature its many sidedness and its progressive

development in conformation with the successive stages of

physical emotional and mental development of the child

There was no separation of Education and productive

activity or any director between manual and intellection

Education matched the realities well rounded

personalities to fit into that society .

Some aspects of African Education were form in the sense

that there was a specific program and a conscious

division between teacher and pupils. Formal Education in

the pre-colonial Africa was also directly connected

with the purpose of society just like informal

Education .The programmes of theories were reacted to

carts period in the life of every included instable the

period of intuition or coming of age many African

societies had circumcision for males or for both sexes

and for sometime before the ceremonies a reacting

Programme was arranged specialized function such as

hunting organizing religious involve formal Education

within the family or clan. Such educational practices all

dated back to communal times in Africa, but they

permitted in the more developed African federal and pre-

federal societies, and they were to be found on the eve

of colonial.

Division of Labour: This made it necessary to create

guilds for pasting down the techniques of iron working,

leather making, cloth manufacture, pottery molding,

professional trading and do on.

The military force also led to formal education for

instance in Rwanda and Zulu.

A state structure with a well defined ruling clans always

encouraged the used of history as a means of glorifying

the class in power. For instance, in the Yoruba state of

Keta, in the 19th century there existed a school of

history where a master drilled into the memories of his

pupils a long list of the kings of Keta and their

achievements of course, relevance of that type alone

placed severe limits in education of that type, and that

is why education was much - more advanced in those Africa

Societies (countries) where the users of writing had come

into being.

Literacy and Religion: As other parts of the council

literacy in Africa was connected with religion, so that

in Islamic countries it was a Koranic education and in

Christian Ethiopia the education was designed to train

priests and monks. Muslim education was particularly

extensive at the primary level, and it was also available

at the secondary and university levels. In Egypt there

was the Al-Azher University, in morocco the University of

Fex, and in Mali the university of Timbuktu- all

testimony to the standard of education achieved in Africa

before the colonies instruction.

EDUCATION IN COLONIAL AFRICAThe European who Colonized Africa did not introduce a new

education system into Africa but instead a new set of

formal educational institutions were partly

Supplemented and partly replaced. Those which were there

before indeed, the colonial system stimulated values and

practices which amounted to new informal education.

The main purpose of the colonial school system was to

train African to help man the local administration at the

lowest ranks and to staff the private capitalist. Firms

owned by Europeans. In effect that means selecting a few

Africans to participate in the domination and

exploitation of the continent as a whole. It was not an

educational system that grew out of the African

Environment or one that was designed to promote the most

rational use of material and social resources. It was not

an educational system designed to give young people

confidence and pride as members of Africa societies , but

one which sought to instill a sense of deference towards

all that was European and capitalist. Since education in

Europe same class bias was automatically transferred to

Africa and to make matters word the racism and centurial.

Boastfulness harbored by capitalism were also included in

the package of colonial education.

Colonial education was for subordination, exploitation,

the creation of mental confusion and the development of

underdevelopment. Its European type school system hardly

operated during the first forty years or so of

colonialism in the 1920s.

That the colonizing power carried out a series of

investigations into educational possibilities in Africa.

Thereafter, colonial education became systematic and

Measurable, though it had approached its maximum

dimensions only in the post – Second World War era.

The colonial regimes were able to provide the western

Education in order to transform the “native” into a

“civilized” person. During the early phases of colonial

rule, catholic and protestant mission school were the

main source of western education for Africans. In

government and ministry schools, African children learned

that European culture and civilization were superior to

their former religion practices and cultural traditions.

The limited western education offered to African did not

make them equal to European but only prepared them to

occupy subordinate position within the colonial system.

Colonial Education was a series of limitation inside

other limitations. The first practical limitation was

politico-financial, which means that political policy, rather

than the actual availability of money, guided financial

expenditure. Actually the Metropolitan government and

their African administration claimed that there was not

enough money for education. For instance as one point the

British Colonial officer in Northern Rhodesia in

1958,claimed that there was no enough money for building

schools . This did not seem to be true due to mother

Rhodesia’s immense copper wealth did not have enough

money to Educate Africans

The other limitation was that very few Africans made it into

schools. This limitation was actually Quotation For

instance in the whole of French Equatorial Africa (Chad,

Central Africa Republic, Gabon, and Congo Brazzaville)

there were only 22,000 pupils Education in 1838 while in

that year the French promised Education for 77,000 pupil

in French west Africa with a population of 15 million. It

was only during the final stage to province Africans in

the former Islamic stages of West Africa with Educational

institution having an Enrollment greater than that of the

previous formal Education.

In west and North Africa the pre – colonial Africa school

system was ignored and it tended to decline in aligned

generally during the French was of conquest while other

were deliberately suppressed when the French gashed the

upper hand .Throughout French North Africa the old

Established Islamic Universities suggested because

colonial deprived them of the Economic base which

previously gave them support.

British colonies tended to do on average some what than

French ones with regard to Education activities large

because of missionary. Ghana, Nigeria and Uganda was is a

limitation in the sense of great variation in opportunity

because different regions in the same colonial for

instance in Madagascar the capital town of Tananorive had

the most substantial school facilities. In Gabra literacy

was high for Bathurst town but low outside and in Uganda

the urbanized religion of Buganda practically monopolized

Education Actually the unevers in Education levels

reflected the unevers of economic Exploitation and the

different rates as which different parts of a colonial

entered the money Economy This in Gold coast.the Northern

Tenitines were negghested Educationally because they did

offer the colonialist any products for export

Many Africans dropped out of primary schools because

there was hardly any other type of schools which was

actually a stumbling Educational structure with regard to

opportunities at all levels and especially opportunities

for higher Education in Senegal in 1946, the high school

had 723 pupils, of whom 174 were Africans later on a the

subjective of independence more than half of the

university students were French, Spain, Italy and

Portugal. However Belgium was a relatively developed and

industrialized country and it ruled Congo one of the

richest African areas by colonial standards the people of

Congo and Rwanda French had fair access to primary

Education but schooling beyond that was almost impossible

to obtain this was the consequences of a deliberate

policy pursued by the Belgians government and the

catholic church .The African native was to be gradually

civilized. To give him secondary Education was like

asking a young child to chew when he should be eating

protégés

There was contraction between the content of colonial

Education and the reality of Africa for institution on a

hot afternoon in some tropical Africa school a class of

block sharing facing would listen to their geography

lesson on the season of the your spring summer autumn and

winter they would learn about the MPS and the river Rhine

but nothing about the Atlas mountain of North Africa or

the river Zambezi. If those students were in a British

colony they would dutifully write that “we defeated the

Spanish Armed in 1588 at a time when Hawking was stealing

Africans” and being Knigased by Gheen Eazabota I for so

doing if they ewre in a French colony they would learn

that the Goals our ancestors had blue Eyes and they would

be convinced that Napoleon was far greatest general” –

the same Napoleon who reinstated slavery in the Caribbean

island of Guadalupe and was only prevented from doing the

same in in the Haiti because his forces were defeated by

even greater strategists and tactician , the African .

Toussaint l’ouventure .

The Europeans applied their own curricular without

reference to African conditions; they did so with thee

intention to confuse and mystify . For instance, in

1949, a principal education officer in Tanganyika

carefully outlined the Africans of that colony should be

bombarded in primary school with propaganda about the

British royal father. “The theme of (British) king as

father showed be stresses throughout the syllabus was

discussed about the African past in colonial schools was

about Europeans activities in Africa.

The France the Portuguese and the Belgium made it clear

that education at any level was designed to criticize the

African nature” and of course only civilized native hope

to gain a worthwhile employment and recognition from the

colonialist. For instance, according to France, an

African, after receiving France education, stood a chance

of becoming an assimilate – one who could be assimilated

into the superior French culture. the Portuguese rewarded

the educated Africans with certain prividgekles and also

assimilated with certain privileges and also assimilated

because they viewed them as “civilized” on the other hand

the Belgium’s called their educated Africans ‘ educated

Bantu” in Congo the evuues – meaning “ those who had

evolved” surgery to civilization

The Europeans encouraged their cultural imitation for

instance in Malawi , students who came out of Livingstone

or Blantyre mission were known as black Scotsmen mission

were known as missioner ( in sierra Leon , the whole

culture influence went back to the eighteenth century ,

and sierra Leoneless stood out even from the rest of mis-

educated black people.The colonial education failed to

produce more secondary pupils and more university

graduates. Those who had that education were to be found

the most alienated African on the continent. Those were

the ones who evolved and were assimilated. They succumbed

to the vales of the white capitalist system and after

being given salaries they could afford to sustain a style

of life from outside.

During the colonial period the cultural of Africans was

insulted based on cultural imperialism and white racism.

Many Africans were victims of fascism at the hands of

Portuguese and Spanish, at the hands of the Italians and

the rich French regime for a brief period in the late

1930 s and the early 1940s and at the hands of the

British and boars in the South Africa throughout the

twentieth century. the fascist colonial power were

retarded capitalists states where the government police

machinery united with the Catholics church and the

capitalist to suppress Africans ( portuges and Spanish

workers and peasants ) and to keep just but agencies of

spreading their languages most schools , were controlled

by the catholic churches and in some situation s such as

in guinea ( Rio mini ) , the small amount of education

given to African was based on elimination the use of

local languages by pupils and on instilling in their

herts ‘ holy fear of god “ schools in colonial Africa

were blessed with names of saints or bestowed with the

names of rulers , explorers and governors from the

colonizing power.

In serving colonialism, the church often took up role of

arbitrator of what was culturally correct. African

ancestors beliefs were equated with the devil (who was

black any way) and it took a very long time before some

European church men accepted the prevailing African

beliefs as constituting religion rather than mere

witchcraft and magic. Prevailing African customs such as

polygamy were attacked without reference to their socio-

economical function. On the question of monogamy the

Christian missionaries were introducing not a religious

principle but rather a facet of European capitalist

society for their propaganda to succeed, the colonialist

had to work a transformation in the African extended

family patterns with time many Africans accepted the

religious aspects while rejecting aspects while rejecting

the cultural appendages and the European missionaries

themselves

CRITIQUES

The lives of the Africans and of the states of which

citizens they are rooted in the manner and customs and

the political and religious ideas of the pre-colonial

past. measured on the time scale of history , the

colonialism period was but an interlude that radically

changed the direction and the momentum of the African

history . it would be unwise to neglect the positive

contribution and inevitable aspects of alien rule .

Ndabaningi sitaole , ( 1959) , a Rhodesia nationalist

says genuinely their “ colonialism has given to African a

new vigorous industrial parten , a new social

consciousness , new insight and visions” and it increased

a new environment . Annihilated many tribal and

linguistic barriers and divisions. The Europeans colonial

powers are to be praised for work they did in helping the

emergence of African nationalism. That it stimulated and

shaped African nationals. It is probably true that had

the colonial governments and the Christian mission not

provided the means of secondary schools during the

colonial period, their could have no successful

nationalist revolution until long after second world

war .

However , abdou moumini , an African educationist states

that “ colonial education corrupted the thinking and

sensibilities of the African and filled him with abnormal

complexes” that those who were eurepeanized were to the

extend de-Africanized , and consequence of the colonial

eeducation and the general atmosphrer of the colonial

life

It should be noted that , world war I ( 1914-1918) MARKS

AN IMPORTANCE TURNING POINT IN THE history of education

in Africa . Before the war, there had been virtually no

overall policy in education. Having been locked for four

years in war, the colonial powers were no longer self

confident as to the natural superiority of Europeans. The

general feeling in metro-politican countries was that

colonialist needed a good and justifying political

philosophy with implications for development of education

in their territories

DEVELOPMENT OF EDUCATION IN AFRICA

FACTORS BEHIND THE DEVELOPMENT OF EDUCATION IN THE

COLONIAL PERIOD

1. The missionary enterprise: in most countries of Africa,

Christian missionaries were a powerful factor in the

development of their education, Christian missionaries

entered most parts of Africa ahead of the colonial

government. Formal western education in Africa had its

beginnings with the porgugess missionaries four

centuries ago. But little record remains of their

accomplishment. The colonial powers and in some

instance, local traders also established schools but

the foundation of the school system in Africa was laid

by the 19th century missionaries. the colonial

governments did give some aid to the missionaries

EDUCATION AND SLAVE TRADE

Education activities in the eastern Africa were closely

linked with a availability the east African slave trade. it

followed a similar Patten to the development of schools for

the freed slaves in the west Africa . The curriculum was

strongly religious and the main intentionally in training

Christian converts in their faith. The second school was

industrial and it was to give firmer slaves an occupation

and means of livelihood in this schools Africans learned

various trades and handcrafts such as carpentry ,

blacksmithing and building.

2. ENTERPRISE BY GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS

in the period up to 1920 the colonial education aimed at

inculcating the values of western civilization in the minds

of those who were to serve in the colonial administration

could not cope with everything , thus the aim here was to

educate Africans who could become local administrators and

clerks in the colonial administration set – up

3. AFRICAN ENTERPRISE

The initial impetus of Africans in educational participation

was one of curiosity. Christian missionary situation

initially attracted the social outcasts and victims of

famine and other maladies. Later groups of curious people

gathered around mission schools or stations. As soon as

their curiosity was satisfied , they returned to their

villages . There were small schools in the interior of

Africa because people failed to appreciate the advantage of

education. Many of them refused to allow their children to

attend school because:

- children were needed to contribute laboring in the

family

- to preserve custom and traditions of the clan

However in some parts of Africa the importance of European

education was recognized e.g. in Kenya ( in nyanza ) under

the strong Anglican influence the idea of literary training

for chance leader and chiefs was given emphasis . Demands

for education, especially of the reading and writing. young

men who had education ran way from their homes to European

farms for higher wages .

4. AFRICAN AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS.

Depression following world war I as a result of this war,

farm in Europe had been devastated . Consequently African

agricultural product begun earning a higher price on the

international market. This made additional funds available

for development and expansions

5. NEW INTEREST IN EDUCATION

Education started being appreciated by Africans, for they

saw it as a measure to political and economic emancipation.

it was an important part of the road success and to

positions of status and prestige . not surprising ,

therefore , there was an increasing demand in the ear

between war from Africans themselves and from voice the

British that educational opportunities were particularly

after offer 1943 with the announcement of the A& quite and

Elliot commission

Their reports led to the establishment of University

colleges in Ibadan ,Accra Khotown and Salisbury in special

relationship with the university of London.

NATIONALISM .The spread of nationalism in Africa changed the

mental attitudes of African and European towards each

other .The allied soldiers supported demands for enhances

formal education in Africa.

DEMAND FOR SELF GOVERNMENT .After the war, Africans demand

the reconciliation of their own education systems as soon as

possible . with development funds being availed by the

colonial governments and the united nations , African

education expanded rapidly to address the shortage of

abducted people in Africa , priority give to higher

education .

8. Urban growth: with increase in local production many

people migrated from rural areas to towns to take up jobs.

Many urban areas doubled in size. The already overcrowded

slums areas grew bigger and more congested. . The creation

of the new jobs in urburn areas could not match the number

of these coming in this contributes to the problem of

unemployment. with larger urban population more people were

able to read newspaper . and the ideas relating to

educational provision and participation

9. Economic boom: local manufacturers begun to surplus goods

to the world market . Since these goods were no longer coing

from European due to description by ar . The increases money

in circulation was used for development in education. .

10. war veterans soldiers from all over Africa were

recruited by eoropean colonial powers .these soldiers

fought in many parts of the world. While in these areas they

were able to their own countries from a world perspective on

their return , they became resource persons for the new

ideas in the development of education of Africans .

DEVELOPMENT OF EDUCATION IN POST INDEPENDENT AFRICA.

Education was seen as one of the means of achieving

democracy .in 1961 confernce oafrican states on the

development of education in African states to discuss

policies of reform on education for the continent . this

conference estimated the qualitative and quatitative

educational changes neccesrry to meet the man power

requirements in Africa .

At independence in the early 1960s , in most African

countries , the new gorvenements were aware of shortcomings

as well as the advantages of colonial systems of education .

among their many and varied problems , one was that manpower

development consequently , there was pressure to expand

their education structures . The rate of expansion of most

schools uotstrped the possibilities for employment that

existed for school leavers . job creation approved a

difficult , slow and expensive business . the quest for

modern employment led to migration of young people from

rural to urban areas . The school system was often blamed

for school leavers , unemployment . this made many young

people to go back to their manual labor and farmingh beause

they seemed profitable .

After 1945 a significant number of Africans begun to demand

more frmal education and fuller role in the economy. at the

time , most Africa schools were still either traditional

koranic schools or Christian missions schools . Formal

education was usually only up to the primary level during

the colonial era . Africans were general assumed to need

only a basic facility in literacy, numbers and the spoken

language of the colonial master . too much education , it

was felt , could result in rising expectations , which in

turn might lead to incipient protests , and this was the

last thing colonial regimes wanted . only a few Africans had

been fortunate to journey to Europe and united states of

America to pursue advanced education before the war . not

surprisingly , it was from the small group of educated

Africans that the leadership of the nationalists movements

emerged ( Jomo Kenyatta in Kenya , Kwame Nkrumma in Ghana ,

Julius Nyerere in Tanzaniaa , Keneth Kaunda In Zambia etc )

it had not been a conscious policy of any of the colonial

powers to educate Africans to fill bureaucratic , technical

or political roles . It was the determination of individuals

Africans , that enabled them to seize opportunities to

master skills and thereby improve their status .

After some times the colonial powers had little choice but

to train more and more Africans for bureaucratic and

technical roles .

Educated Africans played an extremely important role in

leading their counties to independence. they also did so ,

however with the support they were able to elicit from the

working class ex soldiers and local chiefs and rulers and

other subjects / individuals such as Kwame Nkruma Of Ghana

and Jomo Kenyatta of Kenya who had gone to study in America

and Europe during the war , on occasion came together to

exchange ideas about how Africans should relate to the

colonial situation . such meetings had a formative impact on

the future leaders of the African independence movements .

perhaps the most famous gathering of African intellectual in

Europe in the wake of world war II Occurred in Manchester ,

England in 1945 . this was the fifth pan African congress ,

chaired by W.E.B Dubios , they noted black American pan

Africanist . The congress was very significant because of

its timing and the resolution condemning colonialism

wherever it existed and called for various social and

economic reforms in the colonies, they also demanded full

independence for the black Africa, pledging to pay whatever

price was necessary for these rights.

The role of political parties and mobilization: in the late

1940, these Africans intellectuals had returned home and had

begun mobilizing their own companies for national

independence. The tactics adapted upon local situation and

also on the type of leadership that emerged. in Franco phone

African the parten was usually for elites to form 21 parties

and secure political offices which allowed them to represent

their territories . Either at the national assembles in

Paris or at the federal level in one of three French

territorial assemblies. in Anglo phone Africa mass parties

led charismatic leader outside of the colonial regime were

most common.

It was soon reached by the colonial government in the post

war period that of one limitation on development was money ,

another and more serious one was the shortage of educated

people . this was due to the fact that there had been few

secondary school . in colonial Africa , a large number of

Europeans had to be employed to operate the new developed

plan these people were expansive . They had to be induced to

come to Africa by high salaries, subscribed housing and

frequent home leave with free travel. Also on the political

side these new “invaders” of Africa undid much of the good

which they contributed by their skills .their presence

widened the gap between European and Africans. It created

the impression that the colonial grip in Africa was

tightening and it intensified political unrest and made all

government activities suspect to the people education there

fore seen became the cornerstone of every development plan.

Lack of personnel and expansion: At the end of the war the

vast majority of schools were still mission school, except

in the France Terri tome and all of them were primary school

and most of them provided only four years of education in

one or other advance was to extend the four year period to

six, the two additional years being devoted very largely to

the study of a European language. The main problem here was

to train enough primary school teachers who had the

necessary qualifications to English or French. In 1940s

there was the establishment of primary teachers training

centers. In their early days these training centers were

essentially schools of English or French. Solved before it

was possible to press on ……. The provision of as more

adequate number of secondary schools. Now the schools had to

be multiplied which had been few during the colonial period.

The secondary school output determined the possibilities for

higher education. Nevertheless the British government, at

least, did not allow the secondary school bottleneck ness to

hold up to the formation of universities in colonial Africa.

A commission set up in 1943 reported two years later that

the development of universities was an escapable corollary

of any policy which aims at the achievement of colonial self

government. During the four years after 1945, four

universities colleges were set up, at Ibadan in Nigeria, at

Khartoum in Sudan, at Achimita in hold coast and at Makerere

in Uganda. Some of the money for these universities comes

from colonial development and welfare funds. The university

college at Salisbury in southern Rhodesia was added in 1953,

and that of fourth Bay (which had been giving some post –

secondary education in Sierra Leone since 1827 in 1960.

THEORIES

DEPENDENCE & NEOCOLONISM

1. DEPENDENCE & NEOCOLONISM

It is possible to suggest that education and economic are

linked by more than Metaphors. Educational practice in

the widest sense may be seen to help the formation of

markers in peripheral areas for the material and cultural

products of the centre. Some of these are required

directly such as textbooks, lecturers or teachers and so

on in his sense education is a commodity, such as

medicine or ornaments which countries sell at an

exploitation rate of profit. Markets can be opened up,

via educational institutions for various forms of

cultural and knowledge products such as inter –

governmental educational exchange programmes.

Education is also seen as the ideological component of

dependency. It is not only the forms of knowledge

propagated within peripheral school system, but also

their legitimacy educational system in Africa continue

to embody and propagate those values essentially to the

continuation of dependency.

Education is also a form of cultural imperialism. That

Education support economic dependency by encouraging an

administration of the products, culture and value from

the west. For instance, the knowledge taught in most

cases is the language of the former colonies and also

most of the authors are foreigners.

Education as a form or rather instrument of internal

colonialism. Due to the fact that education in Africa

actually functions to reproduce stratification through

mechanism since as certification segregation and

differential curricula rather than to erucle it. Those

girls admitted into institution of higher learning

segratively.

Most educational institutions rely on educational aid.

There is excessive reliance on foreign capital expertise

and technology which is unproductive because profit –

taking, irrelevance of the foreign know ……………, and also

the stiffing of local initiative.

Foreign and has promoted the rapid growth of a

bureaucratic bourgeoisies, one when is incapable alone of

ensuring the needed economic expansion of African

countries. Hayden (1983) states that Aid is particularly

harmful, in that it has encouraged African societies to

create welfare states without having the means to pay for

them.

The provision of free education or universal

Education is especially destruction economically because

it constitutes a huge draw in resources, take children

out of economic production on the land (where the

constitute an important labour input in the peasant

mode), and creates expectations of modern sector

employment opportunities which are not available, along

employment opportunities which are not available along

with an aversion to agriculture.

2. FUNCTIONALISM / STRUCTURAL PERIPECTIVE:

A sociologist William ogbum, (1992/1938), argued that

when part of a centre changes, other parts lag behind.

That the school system, the most common route to

success often fails the poor, confront a bewildering

world, one at odds white their background. Their poor

preparation in paper and pencil skills, are a mismatch

with their new environment. Facing such barriers, the

poor are more likely than their more privileged

counterparts to drop out of school. Educational

failure, in turn, closes the door on many legitimate

avenues to financial success.

PROBLEMS IN EDUCATION – AFRICA

1. Lack or personnel

2. Conditions of work

- Poor living conditions

- Poor and low pay

3. Social status and altitudes

4. Curriculum

5. Material and reading habits

6. Corruption

7. Ethnicity.

CHANGES IN SYSTEMS OF EDUCATION IN POST – INDEPENDENCE

AFRICA

In order to meet public demand and in line with the

recommendation of the 1961 Addis Ababa conference the new

government in Africa in the 1960s began to devote large

portion of their resources to education. Priority was put on

expansion of secondary and higher education. For instance,

in Ghana, under the second development plan (1959 – 1964),

11.4% of the total expenditure was on education.

Curriculum reform was another aspect of change in system of

education in a number of colonies. Curriculum revision land

emphasis on local needs at lower levels, the curriculum was

adapted to African needs. New teaching methods were

incorporated into the school education systems. In Ivory

Coast for instance there were attempts to Africanize courses

in History and Geography. The republic of Guinea undertook

major educational changes that acrostically departe from the

French school education system. The school education system

was revised so as to bring in objectives into close harmony

with the need of the nation.

At the university level, tempts were made to break away from

university structures of the metropolitan colonial countries

with some adaptation at newly established universities. For

instance, the University of Nigeria at Nsukka adapted a more

course system than that of the British University structure.

The University of Ghana required that, in their first year,

all students attend lectures on African studies, and

institution. This was also a case with universities of logos

and Dar es Salaam.

The organization of courses in university type institution

was also changed. Universities in Africa have had to offer

a comprehensive range of professional training adapted to

local conditions regardless of whether the courses were

then accepted within the European pattern of university

studies or not. Courses such as Bachelor in Education were

introduced in order to court for manpower needs.

The problem of unemployment has also led to the emphasis of

non-formed education. This involved a deliberate provision

of education that is non- formal in order to enhance

people’s educational attainment.

There was a change in his diversification of the school

curriculum. This allowed student to be exposed to vocational

skills of their choice in addition to acquiring the

cognitive skills learnt in preparation for university work.

For instance, in Tanzania, the school curriculum was geared

to rural employment and fostering altitudes favorable for

manual work.

NEGATIVIES OF EDUCATION.

1. Led to migration of people to urban places seeking

employment thus causing congestion. Urban population

are experiencing far more rapidly than are employment

opportunities, and unemployment and poverty are growing

urban …………

2. Crime increase. The many youths in the urban who are

unemployed decide to engage in criminal activities in

order to support themselves.

3. Culture decay. Some of the materials that students are

taught …….. Negative information concerning the Africa

culture.

FUNCTIONS OF THE EDUCATION

1. CULTURAL TRANSMISSION: Formal education is especially

relied on the societies that are ……….. Self conscious.

Awareness of a cultural heritage is usually associated

with concern that traditional values and cultural

“mysteries” will be lost if she has spend knowledge of

them. While cultural transmission tends to emphasize

respect for tradition values of criticism and inquiry

may be passed on as well as conservative values. The

function of cultural values transmission encourages

humanist scholarship and teaching in order to preserve

and perhaps critically examine a society’s history.

2. SOCIAL INTEGRATION: Formal education is a major agency

for transforming a heterogeneous and potentially

divorce community into one bound together by a common

language and a sense of common identity e.g. exchange

educational programmes which enhance relations.

3. IMMOVATION (TECHNOLGY): Even the most traditional found

school is a source of innovation, if only because the

teacher – scholar is called on to apply his wisdom or

expertise to new situation. In modern Africa;

innovation has become there adingly institutional and

censes of learning are expected to contribute new ideas

and new technology in the emphasis on the innovative

increases, a …….. Develops between teaching and

research, new forms of organization are emerging -………..

Research new forms of organization are emerging –

rotably research instates. Electronic networking offers

exciting responsibilities for research

Communication and collaboration.

4. SELECTION AND ALLOCATION: In traditional African

Society, when only a few were educated the school

played a smaller part than family membership in

determining the student’s ultimate role and status. But

under conditions of mass education, the school system

takes over the job of screening and allocating. How

individual performs in school, how far he pursues his

education, and the course of study the chooses often

determine his further occupation income and prestige.

The school becomes the central mechanism for

facilitating social mobility.

The allocating function tends to bring the educational

system

Into coordination with government and industry.

5. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT/SOCIALIZATION. Formal education

communication skills and perspectives that cannot

readily be gained. The school is often a place of

transition from a highly personal to a more impersonal

world: new habits are learned, such as the punctuality

necessary in a time conscious. However, schooling can

also have ……… costs as well ; if the school unduly

prolongs dependency, instills feelings of inferiority,

or exaggerates the worth of intellectuality, it may

have negative effect on personal growth and well being.

6. Elite and Mass: The conflict between education and

training has been as aspect of the struggle of high

status, groups to maintain their levels and prestige.

The ideal of a cultivated man, as distinguished from a

specialist, has been the boss of social esteem in a

number of historical settings. The question presented

by Mass education is whether high standards can be

maintained when large numbers participate.

7. SOCIAL CHANGE: Schools are potentially instruments of

social change. They have unique access to the youth and

resources for developing ideas. For instance Africa

Nationalism began with those people who had gotten

formal education abroad. In the universities there is

student activism which moulds individuals’ leadership

capabilities.

8. CULTURE TRANSMISSION: In culturally homogenous and

unified communities, formal education is a ….. servant

of social harmony. The schools give the young what they

expect and what their parents want them to have.

9. SOCIALIZATION: Formal education enables one to fit in

the society and be able to cope with the day to day

challenged emerges.

10.SOCIAL STRATIFICATION: Social background, especially

family status, affects educational opportunity. This

influence is strongest under conditions of ascribed

social status, but even in relating open, modern society

social origins are influential in determing what kind of

education the young get; and as such the issue of

mobility in the society comes or rather emerges, that

those from rich families are likely to get the best

education unlike those from poor families. The

educational leader clearly leads to higher paid

occupation, upper social status and prestigious styles of

life. Without education one has lower horizons –

occupationally socially and even culturally.

10. EDUCATION AND CHILDBIRTH. Education plays a major

role in determining how many children, women have. In

general, the higher a woman’s education, the fewer

children she has. Education therefore, impacts vital

information to the people making them enlightened.

FACTORS THAT HAVE INFLUENCED EDUCATION IN

POST – INDEPENDENCE AFRICA.1. TECHNOLOGICAL FACTOR:

School building/ classrooms are different from the simple

traditional structures. New types of instructional

materials are used. There are computer, exercise books

and textbook and calculations. Instead of the state of

past days. New clothing materials are used for making

uniforms.

2. CULTURAL INTERACTION FACTOR:

People from different culture are interacting. This idea

continues to stay that if one culture is more dominant

over the other the weaker one would be absorbed. For

instance the indigenous African practices were absorbed

by community.

3. GENDER FACTOR:

The two roles (male & female) are increasingly merging

and with time there will be no gap existing between the

two. Education therefore, is the best institution which

changes can start being instituted so as to create gender

equality, equalization and sensitization.

4. DEMOCRATIZATION:

Education is viewed as a promoter of democratic idea is.

Institutions more towards allowing student his select

their areas of study and therefore letting them to

exercise a free choice in making decision. This is a

feature of democracy in education.

5. PRIVATIZATION:

There is perception that if services are provided by the

private sector, they are more superior and better than

when the same services are-provided by he public sector.

This perception has led to creation of many private

schools and even universities. Those entire private

ventures are helping to promote not only privatization

but also helping the government to provide education to

their citizens.

6. ECONOMIC FACTOR;

According to Karl Marx, the methods and instruments of

economic production influence the society extensively

with the methods and instruments changing economically

technology and socially all other vital sectors of the

society are subject to change. Those economic changes are

crucial and have a positive bearing on many social

institutions.

Since education is an essential social institution, in

expansion and what it provides to every member of

society, are largely dependent on the well being,

performance, power and provisions of a given economy.

That the provision of universal education for instance,

largely depends on a country’s economy.

ROLE OF EDUCATION IN AFRICA’S SOCIO – ECONOMIC

DEVELOPMENT.1. Teaching the expected morals.

2. Teach and preserve culture.

3. Build a classless society

4. Equipping people with employable skills

5. Teach people to become more gender sensitive and lesson

all kinds of discriminatory practices.

6. Improve the general economy of the African nations.

7. Encourage someone to realize his/her abilities,

responsibility and the need to mind other people’s

lives.

8. Equipping people with useful mental skills and wiping

out illiteracy.

9. Supply the continent (Africa) with needed manpower.

10. Bring about new (technologies) knowledge that could

enhance new

inventions technologies.

11. Modifying the behavior, attitudes of the learners as

well as their

personalities.

12. Build one’s physical well being and mental.

13. Enhances social integration and national unity.

14. Empowers individuals to develop own ideas, opinions,

responsibility,

decision making abilities and independent thinking.

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