BY TRINITY MAPENDERE
MIDRAND, SOUTH AFRICA-The Pan-African Parliament Permanent Committee on Education, Culture, Tourism and Human Resources on Tuesday, May 22, 2023 sat to discuss the important aspects and concepts that would see a complete transformation of the education system in Africa.
The adoption of the agenda, led by the Chairperson of the Committee, Honourable Amina Abdou Souna opened the doors to some of the prevalent issues affecting the continent’s educational systems.
It is not the first time the Committee has held such a discussion, this time they invited the C.E.O of the Prakis Education Services, Mr. Prince Obilano whose organization focuses on transforming education systems in Africa through collaborating with various organizations on the continent.
In his presentation to the Committee, Mr. Obilano argued that there is no need to completely transform the continent’s education system, rather the need to modify and transfigure it in such a way that will benefit Africa.
“Honourable members, I come before you today to discuss this generally known topic of the education systems in Africa, as Prakis Education Services, our goal is creating a paradigm shift from the colonization, decolonization and the re-colonization education systems that are found in many African education curriculums today.
“Our main purpose is to design an education system that is in the context of the African narrative, we want to do away with the disparities that might have been created from both the pre-colonial era to the post-colonial era”, reacted Mr. Obilano. Members of the committee were in agreement that the current educational systems on the continent do not address or reflect the problems Africa is facing, rather a manipulation of African ideologies, cultural values and beliefs.
According to Honourable Souna, the education systems in Africa should focus on changing and pushing the African narrative from an African perspective not that everything we consume is from the west, “It is fundamental that we truly need to shift our systems, we need to make sure that Africa’s education system should reflect the people’s indigenous knowledge and cultural values.
“Our children have been brainwashed by the west into believing that the only places to get better education was in Europe or America. As a committee, we are going to present this discussion to the president so that he can allow us to debate it in the plenary session with other members of parliament.”
The need to integrate African educational systems for inclusive and sustainable growth was the major issue discussed during the committee session, members argued that it is of paramount significance that Africans should fight for the type of education they want, even though the educational difference on the continent is overwhelming. Honourable Mbow, who is the Chairperson of the West Africa Caucus bemoaned the curriculums in most African countries, “If we take a look of what is being taught today in most African schools, you will find out that 80% of the curriculum does not reflect African ideologies and because of this, we have different ideologies that has hindered the development of the African continent.”
Africa should have a common goal, that is the universal education for all on the continent in line with the SDG 4 which is Quality Education.
Focusing on pertinent issues like the continuing presence of a significant number of children who do not have access to basic primary and secondary education, the adoption and adaptation of technology and its numerous benefits, will be key in reshaping Africa’s education.
In their final remarks, the Honourable members of the committee agreed on the need for an establishment of the Africa Institute of Education and a continental science and technology summit that will bring together various education organization from the African continent for the African people.
