DECOLONIZATION OF THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM
On the twenty fifth of May every year the liberation of Africa from colonialism is celebrated. The celebration of the day brings to mind the facts of and the necessity of the total decolonization of the African continent. Though many years have passed since most African countries attained independence, the state of independence of the African continent is still subject to debate. It can actually be said that the entire continent, Nigeria inclusive, is in a state of illusionary independence.
UNESCO raised the alarm in 2015 that over 65 million people (about 50%) in Nigeria were illiterate. What is more shocking though is the fact that out of the 50% of Nigerians that are supposedly literate only slightly above 30% can actually read and write. We could simply say that literacy has lost its basic meaning in Nigeria.
Some people attribute the failure of the educational system in Nigeria to the failure of the government to create an accurate replica of the British educational system. Here is a brief history of the colonization of the educational system in Nigeria.
Before the arrival of the colonial masters in the early 19th century we basically had two major forms of Education. The Islamic education found mainly in the northern parts of the country which was religious in nature and the indigenous system of education where children worked in age groups and were taught practical skills needed to function in the traditional society such as wood carving, hunting, farming and much more. The formal western education was introduced by the British missionaries in the early 1840s and as soon as Nigerian adopted it, the traditional system of education became eroded.
Colonization wasn’t widely accepted by Nigerians at first especially in the educational sector. They were not open to the change and eventual eradication of their culture which encompassed their dressing, food, language and also their system of learning. As time went on though, those who welcomed colonization were rated very highly. Everyone wanted to have a white collar job. Those specifically taught by the British and who could speak, read and write the English language were literally worshipped. At this point, majority of Nigerians were sold to the idea of colonization. It became the new gold. Languages were modified to accentuate the acceptance of the British system of education and English Language officially became the lingua franca.
Decolonization of the educational system is the process of reverting it to a traditionally and culturally oriented approach. It involves the steps taken to modify the teaching and learning approach in the country and make it inclusive of traditional/ cultural education. Though it might be argued that maintaining relevance with the rest of the world might require us to continue in our attempts at recreating Britain’s educational system, a lot could also be said in support of decolonization.
The introduction of learning of mother tongue is a major step in the decolonization of the educational system. This will further facilitate the process of cultural education as the teaching and learning of indigenous cultures can only be done using local languages. Imagine teaching Yoruba Language in English. Another major means of successfully decolonizing the education system in Nigeria is to reduce the practices adopted from the foreign system of education such as introduction of curriculums, time limits, paper qualifications and examinations.
The compulsory teaching of one of the three local languages (Hausa, Igbo, and Yoruba) has been a major step towards the decolonization of the educational system. Also the introduction of cultural and creative art in schools has brought about increased knowledge and interest in the traditional culture.
The process of decolonization of the education system is however a complex process which involves a lot of adjustments to the current methods and patterns of teaching and learning. More realistically the total decolonization of the educational system in Nigeria may not be possible due to the over dependence on the foreign system and the immense structural adjustment made to the original indigenous system. The diversity of Nigeria’s culture also makes it difficult to completely shake off colonial influence and lean on indigenous systems. This may come with problems of conflicts due to the issues associated with adopting new customs and the problems of too many customs to adopt. For instance, imagine that I delivered this speech in Yoruba. You, an Igbo or Hausa listener would have difficulty understanding me.
Conclusively, if successfully supported, the decolonization process will bring about positive changes. It will bring about a more inward and approach towards tackling the challenges of Nigeria. It will bring about a more skill oriented educational and economic system. It will also provide more flexibility for teachers in the teaching process as they will freely express themselves in their local languages and without the holster of a curriculum.
