Having agreed a cut down set of objectives based on a variant of the monitorial format, there remains the need to define or at least justify a curriculum that is meaningful and attractive to the prospective students. To this end, I returned to the library to hunt for more relevant material and spent another weekend indoors reading Education and Society in Africa by Mark Bray et al (1986).
The historical context is highly significant when attempting to understand the development and current form of education on the continent. Whilst allowing for the influence of islamic education in the northern regions of Africa, institutionalised, formal education was first bought to the continent by Christian missionaries in the mid 19th century. Though overtly spreading the word of the bible, the church had an hidden agenda of civilising Africa through the promotion of western values. As trade links expanded, foreign powers became more involved in the local politics of their colony in order to protect their growing range of interests.
In Ghana, this process included government investment in education (schools, teachers, materials etc) and the development a production line of trained administrators for an expanding bureaucracy. Places in British public schools were even offered to the sons of local tribal chiefs as a means of maintaining a positive regional influence in perpetuity.
History suggests (Phelps Stokes report, 1925) that despite the asymmetric nature of the relationship with its colonies, the British did retain a level of sensitivity for local needs. Unlike the French, this included the acceptance of a local vernacular within the classroom. It seems sadly ironic therefore that Africans felt patronised by such an approach and demanded a European style of education; promoting an individualised methodology (based on the colonial language) as opposed to an indigenous form of education. More likely it seems, these Africans represented the local elite and future inheritors of Africa. A European education therefore provided a convenient mechanism for further stratifying and reinforcing their dominant position within society.
In Ghana, there are 43 different regional languages with English designated as the national language and the platform for nation building. However, as politics and the related media coverage is almost entirely in English it places the illiterate and/or uneducated majority (particularly in the isolated rural areas) at a distinct disadvantage, leaving the existing (post independence) power structures largely intact and beyond authentic criticism. Within the classroom, English is the L2 for the majority of students but the L1 for all learning material. Comtemporary research suggests the opposite would be much more appropriate and in fact, aid the process of L2 learning and cognition (Bray, 1986; Owe-Ewie, 2006).
Although the political landscape may have changed since the days of the missionary, the nature of education and curriculum development in most of Africa remains unchanged; dominated by Western opinion and educational notions within the recognised paradigms of formal and informal education incorporating traditional or progressive teaching methods. The current trend appears to be a compromise solution referred to as basic education, representing an integration of formal and informal learning practices. Bray however suggests that society and economics are the principal forces that define education rather than the reverse. In this context, the difficulty of defining a curriculum for Ghana is related the organic nature of modern society resulting from the influences of global trade and economics. Whilst the significance of the skills associated with a mechanical (traditional) society are recognised for their cultural significance, knowledge (as opposed to experience) and certificates are now percieved by the indigenous population as the indicators of academic success and the key to employment.
In contrast, Africa is a characterised by an agrarian and informal (traders, small scale entrepreneurs) culture (75% of labour) related to a labour intensive employment environment as opposed to salaried employment. Attempts to ruralise and vocationalise the curriculum have failed because; 1) Wage disparities. Financial rewards associated with a government job are far in excess of the informal sector. 2) International trade. Farmers in the developing world are completed with heavily subsidised from the developed world leading to artificial suppression of market prices. 3) The local pricing mechanism discriminates against farmers in order to keep market prices low. 4)capital intensive environments are percieved as more modern. Investment in machinery reduces the need for the hired hand. 5) Employers are fearful of labour disputes.
Bray suggests that in the absence of government committment to rural development, under-employment in the rural areas (related to farming subsides in the developed world) has simply morphed into open unemployment in the urban areas.
In view of this outcome, Bray asks why invest in education at all? For the family the reasons are listed as follows: 1) For the family it represents a low private cost. State systems are subsidised and provided there is no opportunity cost, education is worth consideration. 2) For those with an education that do secure employment the returns can be relatively high. 3) Education is desirable in itself. For the Government: 1) Education is believed to be a good investment, though in reality public schools are low quality and expensive. 2) Its easier to provide education than restructure the economy. 3) Its politically popular.
The harsh reality seems to be that despite attempts to broaden access to education and ruralising/vocationalising the rural curriculum, the system is deemed to promote further stratification and inequality in society and is failing to meeting the aspirations and expectations of the population. Unemployment in Africa is high and growing, with opportunities for only 25% of the 15 year old group and higher unemployment for the 15-24 yr age group. Bray even goes so far as to suggest that without an economic revolution, the existing system of education will consolidate not weaken social stratification.
Research suggests that many attempts have been made across the continent to increase the relevance of education particularly in the rural context (whilst avoiding the stigma associated with an informal education) in order to create meaningful employment opportunities. Whilst it would appear that no single programme has achieved these (seemingly contradictory) goals in their entirely, some projects have certainly been more successful than others. Bray highlights the Foundation for Education with Production created by Peter Van Rensburg in Botswana as a potential template for education and development.