Joseph Ruzendo
One of the famous physicists Albert Einstein once said; “if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” Allow me to pen down, why children should not be learning the same education.
First of all, we speak very much about equality not just in this country but in the whole world.
The idea that everyone must get the same thing is completely absurd. We are not all tall therefore we cannot all thrive in basketball. We are not all skilled in swimming so we cannot become champion swimmers. We are not all good at cooking but when it comes to the education system, we want to shove and fit every child in the same square hole.
Thus, we need to create a flexible space where people can find what speaks to them, where children who are gifted in arts gravitate and are guided towards the arts, where kids who are talented and have a photographic memory and are very good at cramming and regurgitating a lot of data academically are pushed towards academics. Kids who are great in sports are guided towards a more sport-centric education.
One of the most important things is that; we need to look at the world through countries and nations and to see what nations are good at and strong for.
One of the things we don’t do is we do not look at the states of regions or towns. It is always not making sense how children in mining towns such Tsumeb and Oranjemund are not being taught fundamentally at school how to
mine.
Children in agricultural towns such as Rundu are not all in farming schools where they learn agro-technology, and how to use the land because it’s what stimulates the economy. Children in Windhoek which is a hub of entertainment should be specialising more in acting and theatre productions.
Contrary, we have schools in Namibia that are by the harbour but you find that the children know nothing about building ships, containers, exporting and importing.
Children at the school level are not being taught how to run vineyards, or how to make wine. These are things which could boost our economy. This is mind blowing! It’s almost like being in a family that has a business of taxis and buses, yet the family keeps me far away from that knowledge. A knowledge that will actually feed me and accelerate my development.
It is high time we look at schools or education platforms rather than being more practical and realistic. Yes, we have classes in this country. They are the rich, the middle class and the poor. It is understandable. With that being said, children from poor village townships should not be studying what kids from rich neighbourhoods are studying. Indeed it is a form of discrimination but it is practical.
Children in villages are struggling with basic things like food and clothing. Why are those children not being taught how to grow food and make their own clothes? Why are they being shoved into robotics and chemistry? They do not have labs, internet, Wi-Fi or computers. Those are privileged first world things.
In places like America, Japan and North Korea, the kids have the privilege to learn coding because their fundamentals are on point, they do not have to worry about where the next meal is coming from. Their basics are sorted and they live a privileged life. We need to re-look at our education system.
*Joseph Ruzendo is a Teacher by profession, consultant and co-founder of the Kavango Youth Development Organisation (KYDO). He writes on his own accord. He can be reached at: rjvanott97@gmail.com or on social media.