Joseph Johannes
Who goes to school? Who succeeds in school and a nation’s development depends on the localisation of education?
“Education is a fundamental human right and essential for the exercise of all other human rights (UNESCO, 2010)”.
In this piece of writing, I will explore the relationship between the choice of localised education and quality learning, as well as the implications of this choice for children’s rights in education.
I raise the question of why African countries are disregarding evidence that local education is essential for both learning and identity.
I intend to contribute to the development of a new perspective on policy formulation concerning the localisation of the education system.
I also scan why English is preferred over local languages as a language of instruction and the implications for quality learning and equity.
I hope to contribute to a more informed understanding of why African countries are still choosing a western education – more especially most of our teaching approaches and languages, such as English, French or Portuguese as the language of instruction – a choice that does not permit countries to localise their educational curriculum.
I will further argue that the choice of a local education system is essential to quality learning and the satisfaction of children’s rights in education.
Tanzania is an interesting choice for study because it is one of the few countries in Africa that has chosen an African language, Kiswahili as its official national language and as a language of instruction in primary school.
Today, Kiswahili is the principal means of communication among different ethnic groups in Tanzania and within the government.
Kiswahili has the status of both a community language and a national language.
The achievement of this status has been assisted by different policies that directly or indirectly facilitate the development of Kiswahili, such as government-funded structures (Mulokozi, 2008).
Currently, Kiswahili is used as a language of instruction in elementary schools but not in secondary schools.
The implication of quality learning is that children who have learned in their localised education system learn more quickly than those who are first taught in western education (Kosonen, 2010; Benson, 2010).
Secondly, in terms of academic learning skills, learners taught in their local education system acquire such skills more quickly (Brock-Utne, 2006; Benson, 2010).
Studies carried out by Prah (2003) and Qorro (2009) have shown that children taught in a localised education system with diversities similar to their local languages are better off in their learning comprehension than those taught in an adopted foreign education system and language, such as English.
Therefore, the idea of forcing learners to think in a foreign language as advocated by Dikshit (1974) is unproductive.
Hence, Olarenwaju (2008) states that the process described by Dikshit above “does not help learners to be creative but reduces them to “robots”, who merely memorise the notes given to them by their teachers and reproduce them when required without demonstrating an appreciable degree of understanding of the scientific and technological information and process under consideration”.
He furthermore noted that if “learners merely memorise facts, principles and generalisations only to be regurgitated during the examination, they will not be in a position to use the knowledge acquired since it has not been internalised”.
These lead to the conclusion that the lack of internalisation of scientific knowledge, process and skills by us (Namibians) will be largely responsible for our inability to make a breakthrough in scientific and technological development.
Fafunwa (1990) points out that an imposed local education system is an important factor in mitigating the dissemination of knowledge and skills, and therefore directly impacts the rapid social and economic well-being of the majority of people in Namibia and Africa at large.
There tends to be a correlation between slower assimilation and the use of a foreign education system.
No society in the world has developed in a sustained and democratic fashion based on a borrowed or colonial education system.
Many educational specialists continue to ignore culture as a central ingredient in education.
For instance, Geo-JaJa (2009) affirms that “the alien factory model of schooling (Western educational system) that is rooted in mechanistic and linear worldview, found in most developing countries today, oppose traditional values are inconsistence to right in education”.
As with the notion behind ‘Education for All’, many educational experts continue to ignore intrinsic factors, particularly culture as a central core of education.
Moreover, this is more significant, as the needs of rural excluded communities are rarely captured in school reforms or policy, including those directed at the poor or those located in more isolated areas.
The use of a local education system that learners are familiar with significantly redistributes access to quality education between the elites and the masses – and also strengthens African languages to the detriment of hegemonic forces promoting the use of colonial languages (Brock-Utne, 2006; Qorro, 2009; Babaci-Wilhite, 2013a).
Another important issue in the localisation of the education system is the usage of local languages.
The use of a local language in the educational system adds self-respect and contributes to decolonising local culture.
By reinforcing the importance of local languages, one reinforces the interest in local knowledge and skills.
In addition, the importance of local languages to the protection, preservation and promotion of cultures and the enhancement of human dignity, and the necessity of learning a major language for purposes of promoting national unity and integration.
Learning in a localised education system is directly correlated with the improvement of learners’ abilities to think critically about their conditions and the world.
Using local languages as a medium of instruction provides a sustainable benefit in national cohesiveness for nation-building and cultural identity. Children of all backgrounds will be able to perform better in school with the local education system. In addressing the localisation of the education system, one needs to develop policies and curricula in our local languages to implement and maintain cultural identity and social equality which we value as a right in education so that they keep local knowledge including local languages in school while opening to global developments. This path forward will contribute to our understanding of quality education and children’s confidence in their community, but also to their ability to understand and engage with the world on their terms.