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The Mission of Schools in Africa
| Article
# : |
15119 |
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Section : |
CULTURE
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| Issue
Date : |
4 / 1989 |
3,924 Words |
| Author
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E.H.K. Nsubuga
E.H.K Nsubuga is a professor in the higher education
department of the School of Education, Makerere University,
Kampala, Uganda. |
In literate societies the institution known as the school is charged with the specialized function of teaching certain things. Schools establish a sequence of potential experiences for the purpose of disciplining children and youth in accepted norms and group ways of thinking and acting. This process is known as formal education. Schools are charged with the provision of formal education so that graduated students can, as adults, conduct themselves correctly in their contacts in society in particular and the world in general. The mission of the schools in Africa is, therefore, a very important one.
Traditionally, the education of the African occurred in the home and local community, and prepared him for his domestic, village, and social responsibilities as an adult. The "school" in this sense was the home--representing in microcosm his tribe or society. Traditional forms of education in Africa varied from the simple instruction given from father to son among the Mosarwa of the Kalahari to the complex educational system of the highly organized and sophisticated Poro society of West Africa with its myriad ceremonies. The majority of traditional African societies fell somewhere between the two with respect to the educational arrangements they provided for their young, rituals offered to mark the end of puberty, and heavy reliance upon custom and example as the principal educational agents.
For young Africans, rites of passage marked the culmination of one epoch in life and the beginning of another. As children they had been introduced by their elders to the legends surrounding the previous exploits of their society, to the mysteries of their religion, to the practical aspects of hunting, farming, or raising cattle, and to their
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