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ISSN : ISSN: 1998-4936 (Print) ISSN: 2075-6534 (Online)
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This edition of Affrika: Journal of Politics, Economics and Society is devoted to revisiting Africa’s past and present educational agenda through a careful rethinking of the intersection between the human factor, educational leadership, and development, in the African context. The special edition attempts an interrogation of the disconnect between education and development on the continent especially in view of the putative linkage between the current educational systems and the pervasive low productivity and dysfunctions in Africa. The examination of the missing link between education and development in Africa, as pursued in this edition, is significantly interrogative of the visions of such notable African leaders as Houphet Boigny (Cote d’Ivoire), Kaunda (Zambia), Lumumba/ Mobutu (Congo-Kinshasa), Machel (Mozambique), Nasser (Egypt), Nkrumah (Ghana), and Nyerere (Tanzania) and some notable others who were committed to the enthronement of an appreciably developed Africa owing to their conviction that few nations can even contemplate development without producing large numbers of highly educated people.
Despite the laborious efforts made by such African leaders, a critical look at the product of their efforts with regard to education and development in the context of today, clearly reveals the compelling need to examine no fewer than three salient questions, namely: 1) What is the nature of the dominant system of education in Africa? 2) What is the implication of such typology of education for African renaissance and development? 3) What are possible ameliorative educational proposals for possible accelerated development on the continent? In other words, this special edition is committed to addressing how the key problems can be rectified to ensure African renaissance, through the instrumentality of ameliorative educational principles, transformational blueprints, and policy frameworks, capable of ensuring the much desired development. The central theme for the special edition was constructed as, “Rethinking Education and Development in Africa: Critical Perspectives”. To address this theme, along the line of the three earlier enumerated questions, the journal announced its widely promoted “Call for Papers” which attracted several submissions from a wide spectrum of scholars and researchers from diverse academic disciplines. A rigorous peer review process culminated in the elimination of scores of submissions, leaving only the five contributions contained in this edition as the “surviving” papers whose interesting features prove somewhat interlinked and generally consonant with the objectives of the special edition.
For instance, Bevelyn Dube’s “Rethinking African Journalism Education: Perspectives of Southern African Journalism Scholars on the Africanisation of Journalism Curricula” exposes the heavy dependency of Journalism education and practice in Africa on Western epistemologies and theoretical paradigms. He argues that such dependency, which is traceable to the colonial era, was a product of deliberate imposition by the colonial masters, of their epistemologies and philosophies, with a view to ensuring the dominance of their cultures. The author gives a good account on the relevance of Indigenous histories, epistemologies and ontologies to Journalism education in Africa and situates his argument within the discourse of Africanisation which, according to him, “is located within the grand global narratives calling for the de-Westernisation of journalism curricula in non-Western countries.” The paper recommended an integration of African and Western thought in African journalism curricula. What we learn from the thesis of this paper is that only an Africanised education system can produce a truly Africanized elite for African institutions.
In a similar token, Adeyemi Adeyinka’s paper, “Effects of Bi-lingual and Peer Tutoring Instructional Strategies on Pre-service Teachers’ Attitude towards Yoruba Translation” examines the place of language in human life and underscores the centrality of indigenous language to development. In examining the potential of Yoruba, which is the language of the Yoruba people of southwestern Nigeria and Yoruba settlements across the West African sub-region, the author argues that the need for an effective method of teaching that could enhance learners’ disposition to better learning outcome in the Yoruba language among Nigerian students has long attracted the interest and attention of Yoruba educators. His explanation for this is that it is based on the conviction that the introduction of a new Yoruba curriculum into the school system has the potential to bring pave way for laudable reforms in the teaching and learning of Yoruba language. The most interesting of the author’s revelations was that the missionaries were teaching the scriptures in the local language, in the 19th century. He adds that “since the first introduction of Yoruba language in the school system, a lot of changes and development have taken place in the Yoruba language curriculum in the school”. It is obvious from the author’s argument that no meaningful development can be achieved where people are alienated from their language.
In his “Language as an Essential Interface between Education and Development”, Ibraheem Muheeb, takes a step beyond Adeyinka by addressing a similar subject but taking the reader on a scholarly excursion to various parts of Africa and its diasporas in order to demonstrate that language has a significant role to play in the attainment of development through education. The strength of this paper lies not merely on its elegant prose and powerful logic, but also in its ability to make a convincing case for indigenous language in education in Africa as well as to discuss meaningfully the trajectory of development in Africa. The highest point of this essay is its interlinked account on indigenous language, education and development in Africa, in addition to its provision of cross-sectional perspectives on developments and its diverse dimensions on the continent, which marks the paper’s meeting point with the central theme of this special edition of Affrika.
“Politics of Policies: The Quest for Qualitative Education in Nigeria” by Isaac Aladegbola and Femi Jaiyeola constitutes another angle to the theme of this special edition. The authors expose the unfavourable influence of politics on education in the Nigerian context. They provide informed explanation on the disparities between the Federal Government-owned and the State Government-owned schools, especially with regard to funding. They make interesting revelations concerning the scheming and shenanigans that culminated in the founding of such State colleges as King’s College, Lagos, Queen’s College, Lagos, and similar others for the purpose of competing with Federal Government-owned colleges. More interesting, perhaps, is the authors’ analysis on the politicization of university locations. In this regard, they argue that apart from Obafemi Awolowo who sited a university outside his home town, Adekunle Ajasin, Adebayo Adefarati, Ambrose Ali and a host of other past Nigerian state Governors were mindful of their home towns in locating higher institutions in their states. The authors illustrate this with specific experiences including the recent “dirty” scheming by both the then ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All-Progressives Congress (APC) stalwarts, over the location of specific universities or other tertiary institutions, in their hometowns. Consequently, the authors describe this and similar others as part of the features of higher education in Africa, especially Nigeria where such practices flourish at the expense of the ideal.
In their own contribution, entitled “Challenges Faced by Fourth Year Social Work Students during Field Work Practice at a Rural-Based University”, Allucia Shokane, Veronica Nemutandani, and Ngodiseni Budeli, provide an impressive historical account on social work in South Africa, especially in the context of the University of Venda. Four elements are unmistakable in this paper: One, the authors provide specific details on Social Work in South Africa; two, they give a clear picture of the status of the degree course at the University of Venda; three, they provide plenty of information on the status of the degree course in the South African context; four, they give a good description of the academic setting of the students’ studies; and provide ample information on the factors that constitute challenges to Fourth Year Students. The relevance of such an interesting study to this special edition lies in the peculiarities of the African educational setting as depicted through the South African context.
The common denominator in the various papers in this special edition of Affrika is their focus on salient education and development-related questions. Such issues revolve around the rationale for the action of most of the leaders who belonged to the first generation of African leaders who embarked on contextually far-reaching nationally focused and, in some instances, continentally oriented education programs. In that regard, the leaders of several African countries such as Congo/Zaire, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Libya, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal, and Uganda, articulated visions that formed the bases for embarking on extensive educational programs for their countries. With the end of colonial rule, most of these leaders had inherited education programs that were explicitly constructed to address colonial objectives rather than African aspirations. This included Mission Schools, which existed largely for the purposes of facilitating colonial interests. The curricula of these Mission Schools were, first and foremost, aimed at the conversion of the people and their children to the religious faiths that established and owned those schools. Accepting the significant roles these Mission Schools could play in the education of the youth, Africa’s first generation postcolonial leaders retained them. But, as with the state-owned schools, the Mission Schools were allowed to continue with their educational curricula despite the fact that the programs on offer were unvetted for national relevance.
From the Africanization of Journalism curriculum, to the significance of Yoruba Language to teaching and learning, through the Place of Language as an interface between education and development in Africa, as well as the Politics of Educational Policies in Nigeria, and the challenges faced by Fourth Year Social Work Students in South Africa, this special edition has been enriched with critical perspectives in rethinking education and development in Africa, which in fact is what the edition set out to do. Therefore, the authors deserve plaudits for their contributions towards the completion of this laudable African project.