EDUCATION - The African Mirror

Jan

19

2023

Nigeria’s university system needs radical reform: student loans for more than 100 million people might be a good place to start

EDUCATION

AMID strikes by Nigeria’s Academic Staff Union of Universities, one thing is clear: the current funding model for the country’s public universities is broken. The government’s new Higher Education Bill aims to fix it. Our view, based on over 30 years of working in the academy, including holding positions as university administrators in Nigeria and the UK, is that the bill won’t fix the many problems facing the country’s higher education system. Unless we rethink the whole system, it is unlikely to deliver the change that’s needed. Authors DAVID MBA, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research, Knowledge Exchange and Enterprise), University of the…

Jan

10

2023

By The African Mirror

6 priorities to get Kenya’s curriculum back on track – or risk excluding many children from education

EDUCATION

KENYA’S education curriculum was reformed in 2017 to improve its quality – but now many Kenyans are calling for change again. Public disillusionment with the competency-based curriculum has forced a government review. Frustrations with the curriculum centre around the complexity of learning activities and its sustainability given the high costs involved in its delivery. Authors ELISHEBA KIRU, Postdoctoral Research Scientist, African Population and Health Research Center BRENDA WAWIRE, Associate Research Scientist, African Population and Health Research Center The previous 8-4-4 curriculum, launched in 1985, required eight years of primary schooling and four years each of secondary and tertiary education. Critics…

Nov

30

2022

By The African Mirror

LGBTIQ learners at risk in South Africa as conservative Christian groups fight plans for safer schools

EDUCATION, LGBTQIA+

ADVOCACY groups in South Africa are intensifying their efforts to prevent the country’s education department from creating safer environments for children of diverse gender identities and sexual orientations. Some of the advocacy groups have ties to conservative US Christian groups. Representing conservative organisations, Freedom of Religion South Africa, the Family Policy Institute, the African Christian Democratic Party and Freedom Front Plus is creating controversy about draft guidelines on sexual orientation and gender identity in public schools. The guidelines have been made public through consultations with communities that began earlier this year. Authors HALEY MCEWEN, Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Gothenburg DENNIS…

Nov

23

2022

By The African Mirror

Ebola: Uganda’s schools were closed for two years during COVID, now they face more closures – something must change

EDUCATION

CHILDREN in Uganda missed out on more schools because of the COVID pandemic than their peers anywhere else in the world. An estimated 15 million pupils in the East African nation did not attend school for 83 weeks – that’s almost two years. Statistical models predict a learning deficit of 2.8 years in Uganda because of the time lost through COVID-related closures. Authors SIMONE DATZBERGER, Assistant Professor in Education and International Development, UCL MUSENZE JUNIOR BRIAN, PhD Fellow, Makerere Institute of Social Research, Makerere University Now the education system has been hit by another public health emergency. In early November…

Nov

19

2022

By The African Mirror

Education in Kenya’s informal settlements can work better if parents get involved – here’s how

EDUCATION

EDUCATION is a public good. All children should have access to education as a human right, irrespective of their gender, socioeconomic or disability status. This is reinforced and validated by countries’ commitment to Sustainable Development Goal 4. Its promise is inclusive and equitable education and lifelong learning for all children. This right is not assured, however. About 303 million children and adolescents aged between five and 17 are out of school. Author BENTA A. ABUYA, Research Scientist, African Population and Health Research Center Research studies have underscored that parental involvement and empowerment make a difference in student educational outcomes and…

Nov

18

2022

By The African Mirror

COP27: Pilot programme to bring climate change courses to African universities

EDUCATION

STEVE UMIDHA, BIRD STORY AGENCY AN educational programme set to launch in 2023 will give university students across the African continent a chance to learn more about climate change and the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), so they can "become ambassadors for the change process". GAIA Education, an international NGO, is readying the concept for launch early in 2023 through a pilot programme involving 15 of Africa's leading universities. It has roped in top academics from the continent through a partnership with the Association of African Universities, headquartered in Ghana, the SDG Centre for Africa based in Rwanda and the…

Nov

03

2022

By The African Mirror

Why a women’s university? In conversation with Women’s University in Africa founder

EDUCATION

ALOIS VINGA, BIRD STORY AGENCY AT 81, when many, if not all, are past their prime, Dr Fay Chung is still going strong. Her determination to provide women with tertiary education is her driving force. When we meet her at the Great Wall Restaurant in Belgravia, Harare, her excitement is contagious, and we can't start the interview fast enough. She immediately starts talking about the university she co-founded with professor Hope Sazda. "I served as the country's education minister from 1980 to 1988, and I knew where the gap existed. One of my main goals was to ensure access to…

Oct

27

2022

By The African Mirror

In 1986 Wits University did a survey about its relevance to South Africa: another is needed

EDUCATION

AS the number of black students increased at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) in South Africa in the 1980s, township struggles spread onto the campus and management came under increasing grassroots pressure to implement change within the university. In response, social scientists in the Faculty of Humanities, with the financial support of the university’s research office, undertook an extensive survey of perceptions of Wits. It included organisations in black communities as well as of international academics, students and staff at Wits. They even had a meeting with the then-banned African National Congress (ANC) in Lusaka. Authors EDWARD WEBSTER, Distinguished…

Oct

15

2022

By The African Mirror

Decolonising education in South Africa – a reflection on a learning-teaching approach

EDUCATION

IT has been seven years since students in South Africa began protesting in a bid to “Africanise” the country’s university curricula. They viewed what they were learning as too neoliberal – characterised by Western values pushing the marketisation of education. They wanted universities to become more relevant to students in an African country and more connected to their own lives. The students’ calls propelled “decolonisation” to the forefront of national (and even international) debate. Decolonisation in the university context involves dismantling the institutional practices and policies that uphold white supremacist, Western values. Since then there have been various initiatives at…

Sep

13

2022

By The African Mirror

Mobile school offers hope to nomad children in Chad

EDUCATION

MAHAMAT RAMADANE IN a makeshift open-air classroom, dozens of children sat squeezed together on a mat and watched as their teacher chalked simple sums on a blackboard - a rare chance of education for their nomadic community in Chad. Around 7% of the central African nation's population of about 16 million are nomads, who move hundreds of kilometres from the south with their herds every year when seasonal rains turn the semi-arid central regions green with fresh pasture. This way of life is centuries-old but incompatible with Chad's formal education system. According to the Copenhagen-based International Work Group for Indigenous…