A New Zealand Look At Africa

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31360, 4 May 1967, Page 10

A New Zealand Look At Africa

At the conference of the Australasian Association of Institutes of Inspectors of Schools held in Christchurch In August, 1966, Mr Kinsella, the Minister for Education, stated that 60 million was the number of teachers estimated to be required in the world by the end of the century. The present total is approximately 10 million, so that a sixfold increase will be necessary in the next thirty years. The magnitude of this task can be appreciated when it is realised that the majority of these teachers will be required in the developing countries of Africa, Asia and Central America. Most of these teachers will come from the pupils at present in the schools and few of these countries yet have compulsory or well-developed systems of education, even at the primary stage. In most of the African countries more than 80 per cent of those in the age group five to 16 years have not attended school. The secondary enrolment figures are even worse; in some countries, including Northern Nigeria, the ratios are less than 1 per cent though rising to 29 per cent in Ghana and 25 per cent in Lagos City. Biggest Problem It has become commonplace to say that the biggest problem facing the developing countries is that of educating their rapidly-expanding populations. Having said this the tendency then is to dismiss the problem as being one solely for the countries themselves without realising the immensity of the task which confronts them. The provision of an educated population is essential, without this they cannot provide the better standard of life which is so desirable, or even feed their large populations. The development of a successful agricultural programme depends for its success on the presence of a moderate degree of literacy among the peasant farmers. The problems of many of these states can be illustrated by a study of the problems facing Nigeria—a country which has unfortunately been much in the news lately. The former British Administrative area of Southern Nigeria is now divided into the Western and Eastern Regions. Both of these are on the coast; both have had contact with Europeans since the early sixteenth century, even though a great deal of the contact was by medium of the slave traders; both areas were among the first parts of the world to be the targets for Christian missionaries of all nations. Because of the historical association their educational systems follow a similar pattern. Population The East is thickly, though not densely, populated, so education is greatly valued. Education in the primary schools which begins at the age of six years is free for the first three years followed by four years of fairly steep fees. This has its disadvantages: there is naturally a very sharp drop in enrolments at the end of the third year; nothing or very little has been gained in these years and probably most of the money has been wasted. For the first two years instruction is in the vernacular followed by instruction in English. The pupils who leave are not literate and any foundations which may have been made are soon lost when they return to the villages. In the West all primary education is free up to class 6 which is the equivalent of our Standard 4. As in the East, instruction for the first two years is in Yoruba, the prevailing language of the West, followed by English thereafter. Universal primary education, or U.P.E. as it is called, was introduced as a political measure against the advice of many experts. Unfortunately the drop-out rate is high, especially after the second year and here, as in the East, little has been gained. Of the pupils who entered the primary schools in 1961, only 42 per cent survived to Class 6 in 1966 and the pass rate in the School Leaving Certificate had dropped below 50 per cent This drop in

standards was not unexpected but it does indicate the wastage of a great deal of money. The high drop-out rate in a free system can be partly attributed to the disillusionment which followed the first enthusiasm of the introduction of the free system. Partly the decline in standards can be attributed to the fact that a limited supply of finance had to go a very long way. With so much spent on salaries, even though teacher salaries were low, very little remained for equipment and buildings. In the Western Region, prior to the revolution, 45 per cent of the regional budget was allocated to education and 70 per cent of this was spent on primary education. The remaining 30 per cent had to provide for secondary, technical, university and adult

education. Most of this 70 per cent was wasted. As one Nigerian commentator remarked “At least those who dropped out did not miss much.” ■ • The experience of Western Nigeria, one of the most advanced of the African regions and formerly one of the most prosperous and enlightened serves to show that few, if any, of the African countries can afford the luxury of universal education. The question is not what educational policy is desirable, but what is possible within the limits of the resources available. Fees Secondary education in both the West and East is fee paying and very selective. Of 200 secondary grammar schools in the West, in 1965, Only three were directly controlled by the Ministry of Education. One of these three was a comprehensive school financed by U.S.A.I.D. and being developed by Harvard University as a pilot scheme for Nigeria and West Africa. It was on such a scale and so lavishly equipped that as a pilot scheme it certainly was not serving its purpose. The remaining schools were controlled either by the many missions, Catholic, Anglican, Baptist and Mohammedan or by the various local authorities. All salaries were paid by the Ministry. Teaching sisters and brothers of the religious orders received the same salaries as lay teachers, according to their qualifications. As their salaries were usually returned to their respective orders these schools tended to have better buildings and be better equipped than most. The proportion of expatriate graduate teachers, though decreasing, is still high and partly accounts for the high cost of secondary education. When the cost of return fares from Britain, home leave and repatriation allowance is taken into account, an expatriate graduate costs about 50 per cent more than a Nigerian teacher. In helping to maintain standards and providing service, however, they are good value. The courses are still those of the traditional English grammar school. There is still a great deal of Latin taught even in the remote schools.

In the north, the picture is different. The region borders on the Sahara,

I has the largest population, ' and is predominantly Moslem and feudal. In return for the assistance of the local Emirs or rulers in the colonial period, the British authorities promised to safeguard the cul- ■ ture of the North as exemplified by the Moslem religion. • For this reason restrictions were placed on the entry of Christian missionaries. Educationally, therefore, the North remained backward or less advanced and is still so. The traditional Koranic education is still firmly entrenched and then mainly for boys. All other education was regarded as for the eccentric few. When independence came there was a lack of administrators, technicians, clerks, with the consequent dependence on the educated southerners; mainly Ibos from the East. To the proud Hausa this was intolerable and led eventually to the recent slaughter of the Ibos In the Northern Region. Drift To Towns Unfortunately, as in Western countries, one of the effects of education is to accelerate the drift to the towns. As industrial development was not proceeding at the expected pace, partly because of the large proportion of the budget being spent on education, there was large-scale unemployment. It was estimated that in Lagos (where the population was increasing at the rate of 2000 a week) 35 per cent of the male population were unemployed. The inevitable results of overcrowding, the growth of shanty towns, a rise in the crime rate, political unrest, were all present. The large increase in the number of secondary grammar schools further accentuated the problem by creating an army of educated unemployed of school certificate standard. The North was either more reactionary or more careful and delayed expansion until there was a guarantee of jobs for school leavers to go to. This caution went too far and the North may take a long time to recover from the recent loss of the educated Ibos. Even at the present time 90 per cent of the graduate teachers in the North are expatriate, mainly British, whose influence there is still great. Now that very little of Africa is under colonial domination, the decision as to which form future education shall take becomes very important. The aim of the mission schools was to provide catechists, teachers, clerks and thus a premium was placed on literary education. Thus influence still holds. The importance of the sciences is appreciated but the study of science unfortunately needs more than a book. It needs trained teachers, apparatus, laboratories and therefore money. Attempts are also being made to introduce more technical courses but these have failed in the past because of the lack of job opportunities. Attempts by some schools to give a rural or agricultural bias are also meeting difficulties because of the lack of opportunity to rise above the status of a peasant farmer. And yet, if the peasant farmer is to be able to take advantage of agricultural extension programmes, he must be reasonably literate. Cultures A further criticism usually made of African educational programmes is that they bear little relation to indigenous cultures; but most Africans are not interested in a type of education which will set them apart and indicate a separate sphere of development for African culture. All this takes no account of very considerable aid from overseas. One of the most important roles education can play is that of lessening the effects of the two most important psychological factors which affect the situation in Black Africa. The first is the deepening despair arising from a desire not only to feel equal but to be accepted as such. The second is the sense of insecurity brought about by the acids of Western

, civilisation in destroying the i innate sense of security which ! is so much a part of the i African social system, The tribal African, provided his material needs are provided for, lives a life of moderate contentment, submerged in his group, secure in the authority of unquestioned tribal forces, and conscious of his own place in the pyramidal social structure. With education comes the translation to the towns where his tribal system is left behind. He loses what one writer has described as his “Africanness, his negritude.” He loses the security which was ' his because he belonged within a tribe; he is on his own; no longer are his decisions made for him; he is surrounded by the material results of Western technology; he has learned to despise all that which previously ruled his life; he has become spiritually destitute. This minimally - educated detribalised African is today a very powerful political force in the world. Only education can bridge the great gap which separates him from the rest of the world. The African wants this great gap bridged and he wants it bridged quickly. It is important for the result of the world that it be so. Until this is done Africa will depend on the Western and Communist world for technical help, for capital, for markets, even for ideas. A little while ago Banda of Malawi spoke of the new scramble for Africa, a scramble not for the body but for the soul. African education is the responsibility not of the African states themselves but of the rest of the world, and the time may be later than we think.