Reanna Murthy
Ms. Tompkins
Africa Article
March 13, 2015
Education, a Foreign Concept?
In Africa, a student’s access to education is nearly impossible. For example, in the country of Tanzania, “over 99% of schools” have below average libraries (Africa News Service), an essential part to a student’s overall experience in school. It is widely believed that education is the driving force in the world’s economy, and at the root cause of this are the teachers. Yet in Africa, there are barely enough teachers in their schools, and this has had a considerable impact on their society. Africa’s budget is low, and the amount of staff available to teach the incoming children is even smaller.
Education in Africa is not valued as much as tradition, and this puts an emphasis on the lack of money Africa has to spend on teachers and their proper training. They rely on other world-wide non-profit organizations such as Dubai Cares and the Varkey Gems Foundation to help them with their quest to better their education system (Williams). With these limited amount of teachers, it was projected in 2012 that the country of Africa as a whole will need an equivalent of 63% of its total current workforce to be recruited by 2015 (UNESCO). Because of the lack of teachers, this has caused several universities to turn to different alternatives to educating their students. They have been stressing the importance of agriculture in their people’s everyday lives to not only grow their own economy but to introduce new areas of majors like environmental sciences and marketing as well (Nierenberg & Small).
It is said in China that teachers have the same status as doctors, whereas in Africa teachers are hardly considered at all. “Teachers are front and centre of any education system”, says Vikas Pota CEO of Varkey Gems and founder of the low-cost teacher training program (Williams). A teacher is responsible for the development of their students, and it is difficult for them to do their job because of the lack of their own education. For them, it is a chain reaction, one generation is taught, and is expected to teach the next, and it so on. They describe themselves as, “we are, therefore I am”. Emphasizing the amount of value they place on the wisdom of their ancestors and their “African communalism” (Palmer) instead of relying on teachers and other educators for the development of their children, and in this case adults as well.
Despite the challenges Africa faces with their education system, they have the support of the international community beneath them. Their goal of creating a better school system, with better teachers and resources might finally be achieved. Africa’s students will not just be another statistic for school dropouts, but a real contender in the job market. Their potential as future business men and women remains untapped, and as long as the increase in teacher training continues, there is nothing holding Africa’s students back any longer.
Works Cited
"Africa Needs One Million New Teachers by 2015 | United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization." Africa Needs One Million New Teachers by 2015 | United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. UNESCO, 10 Mar. 2012. Web. 09 Mar. 2015.
Nierenberg, Danielle, and Sarah Small. "Making Agriculture 'cool' for Youth." Global Issues in Context. African Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition and Development 14.5, 2014. Web. 9 Mar. 2015.
Palmer, Eustace. "Chrispen Matsika. Traditional African Education: Its Significance to Current Educational Practices.(Book Review)." Global Issues in Context. African Studies Quarterly, 1 Dec. 2014. Web. 9 Mar. 2015.
"Sir Emeka Offor Foundation and Books For Africa (BFA) Donate 20,000 Books to Tanzania Schools [press release]." Global Issues in Context. Africa News Service, 11 Mar. 2015. Web. 11 Mar. 2015.
Williams, Stephen. "The Business of Business Is Education." New African Nov. 2014: 63. Global Issues In Context. Web. 9 Mar. 2015.
Wow, this was really strong!! I liked that it sounded really natural in my head, lol, good job. It also did not sound at all persuasive. What can the students do, as a generation, to bring school values into their culture?
ReplyDeleteMain takeaway: that they don't have the values of school as much as culture
ReplyDeleteI liked the way that this ended positively and that you brought up the idea of a "chain reaction." Do you think that the teachers in the US are bad? Is this why our economy is bad?
ReplyDeleteI really like your title, and your conclusion, how there is still hope for the future despite the overload of negative factors in the African education system. Education is the basis for an educated society, and I think that because many American children receive schooling, we are viewed as more advanced than African children. But the benefits of traditional teachings may be useful as well. I wonder if there were a way to balance tradition and education in African society so that the children may grow up to have better lives.
ReplyDelete