The Difference Between Pre-colonial and Post-colonial Education in Africa
By Maame Ama Bainson
The state of education in Africa is a buzzing topic in our world today. However, it is impossible to discuss the history of African education without mentioning colonization. The history of education in Africa can be separated into two periods: pre-colonial and post-colonial. The colonization of Africa by the seven western European powers took place between 1881 and 1914. What then was the state of education in Africa before this period, during this period and after this period?
Pre-colonial Africa was mostly made up of tribes who often migrated depending on seasons, availability of fertile soil or political circumstances. Individuals and households, within that period, were to some extent economically self-sufficient. This is in the sense that they produced their own food and were responsible for their own shelter and security and hence had no need for the scope of knowledge that we acquire today in our formal educational system. Education in pre-colonial times was therefore a form of apprenticeship, where older members of the household or community passed down their skills, values, and responsibilities to the younger ones. It is also worth noting that, this knowledge was passed down to the younger ones through observation or assistance rather than through an intentional transfer, as is the case in today's formal educational systems. Some of the common skills that were learnt includes farming, fishing, wine making, cooking and in some specific cases, members learnt how to practice herbal medicine etc. Festivals and rituals were also avenues that were used to teach the younger members of the community about the history of the tribe as well as prepare them for adulthood and the responsibilities that come with it. E.g., Dipo.
The onset of colonization marked the end of traditional African education. Missionaries, European military forces and colonists were willing to change the existing systems to meet their own needs and ambitions. The focus of colonization was to reap benefits from the land being colonized and hence colonial powers demanded intensive labor that required little skill. It is for this reason that it was initially considered unnecessary to invest in the introduction of higher education that imparted advanced skills sets to the natives. The colonial powers also believed that if they educate the natives the chances of a revolt or an uprising will be higher.After much controversy over whether or not to formally educate the locals, vocational training was implemented. The vocational training, however, still omitted the development of higher skills sets that would enable natives assume respectable positions as it was assumed that Africans did not possess the adequate mental and social capacity for that. The first schools were put up by missionaries who aimed their training specifically at spreading Christianity in addition to generally promoting the process of colonization.
Between the 1950s and 1990s, when most African countries gained independence, they began to rebuild their traditional forms of education but what had inevitably evolved was a hybrid between the earlier form of education and what was introduced by the colonial powers. With help from donor agencies, pushes for the development of African education and the building of human capital dominated global conversations. The system of education maintained was, however, that which was imposed by colonial rule. i.e., the division of education into primary, secondary, and tertiary levels and the content of the education far surpassed the pre-colonial education where only the skills needed for basic survival were of importance.
Today, although the progress in the state of education in Africa is vivid, we still face the issue of inadequate access and compromised quality in some parts of Africa.
Job well done.
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