Hello All, I believe you all doing great things in all works of life and this is what we at Konnekt Afrik desire for each and every individual that we come in contact with. Now on a more serious note, we carried out a survey on EDUCATION; comparing the educational institution in Africa and that of the western world. The findings were fascinating! So what do we do at Konnekt Afrik? We simply went to work.
In this segment we had Kingsley on the streets and Juliet on set with some distinguished guests who have had the opportunity to experience education both in Africa and the western countries.
Kingsley was on the streets of London at popular location(Edmonton Green station) and he was speaking to members of the public who are of the Afro-Caribbean community. Majority of who are partly schooled in Africa, the Caribbean and also here in the United Kingdom. The discoveries were shocking and I must say interesting.
The points highlighted in these interviews were as follows:
- Discipline
- Infrastructures
- Experiment & Research
- Access to current materials
- Quality of Teachers
DISCIPLINE
Majority of our guests confirmed that for this one reason alone, they will send their children who were born and raised here in the UK back to their countries of origin in Africa after they finish their primary education, for a secondary education in Africa.
I mean we all see in the media, harrowing stories of teenagers being stabbed and shot! In addition to all other dangerous things that can happen to the youths of today; this has built a level of fear and is a threat to society and our youths are not safe from themselves. This is the number one scare factor for parent and I guess the reason why most parents have made the decision to send kids back to Africa for a particular period in their education, when they feel they may be vulnerable at that point.
So will I be right if I were say that as far as discipline in school is concerned, Africa can just be the best place for kids. Majority of the guest we had on the show and from the voice on the streets, there was a unanimously vote that Africa happens to be the best place to induce discipline in children.
INFRASTRUCTURES
We cannot do much without the right infrastructure and this is one of the major factors affecting the educational institution in Africa. I can say there are only a handful of schools in each African country that are well equipped to world standard and as a result very expensive for the majority. We can also look at this from a different perspective, that lack of infrastructure means not having enough schools to support the number of students graduating from one level of education to the next and also the decay of infrastructures, which can also mean that the schools available are gradually decaying because advancement and maintenance are not being made to improve the schools in operation. If there were more educational institution with the right infrastructure at least on an average, this will bestow in students, the confidence that their educational careers will not be at stake as they do have a variety of options to choose from.
Perhaps, this could be an advice to the entrepreneurs out there that if you’ve got the money to invest - do invest in the future of the leaders of tomorrow. So based on the opinion of our guest and audience we found out that this is one aspect that needs more development and that Africa is lagging behind on this and necessary advancements need to be made.
EXPERIMENT & RESEARCH
Experiment and research is the juicy part of education, this gets every student excited about schooling. I remember whenever I engaged in an experiment in school I got excited as curiosity sets in especially in the science classes. Sometimes we just love to see things change right before our eyes and then you see students in all their full glory of enthusiasm; asking all sorts of questions ranging from the intelligent to awkward and funny, but this is the fun of schooling and I believe that, to keep the students engaged in schooling advancement has to be made in this area. There need to be more practical ways of experimenting not just talking theoretically, but practical ways of teaching this knowledge. We all learn better with trying something out ourselves and this tells us something on how much our students are learning. Therefore, appropriate provisions have to be put in place for the student to carry out practical experimentation and research in whatever it is that they are being thought.
I remember those days when I was in school back in Africa and my tutor makes statements like “oh I would have love to show you how it’s done but we do not have the equipment to carry out this experiment” Ouch! that does not sink in well does it? You see, it is instances like this that can really discourage learning. So yes, collectively and individually the government, private organizations and individuals in Africa and as Africans all around the world, we all have to be more engaged in the development and advancement of our educational institutions.
ACCESS TO CURRENT MATERIALS
This is a continuation of the paragraph above. The use of old materials and book where advances may have been made and some of the facts in these books may not be exactly accurate or out of date, due to advances and new discoveries which happen every day in science and technology. It is important that schools and libraries in Africa be continuously kept up to date with current editions of books for study, as this will also have a direct impact on the quality of education received by students.
QUALITY OF
I must say the teacher in Africa are doing a really good job as they make do with the little tools and materials that are within reach and it can be extremely difficult and frustrating teaching under such circumstances. Our guests on the show and word out on the streets confirmed that the quality of teachers in Africa is really good and will be even better if accessibility to the right information and infrastructure is brought within reach of the tutors.
So in conclusion, the education in Africa is good and with necessary changes and improvement made in the infrastructure and accessibility to current day materials for learning with the exception of discipline because as it is we have got great discipline in our schools. Yes with this little changes here and there, the education in Africa will be world standard and will gain the reputation it deserves as one of the best.
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