My post today is not to talk about how education is carried out in Africa because i know it is not the same in all countries around Africa. My post today is more about why education is seen differently in countries in Africa than in other parts of the world. Now, First of all i will start by saying this post is not to offend or insult anyone or to make anyone look smarter or better than anyone else. It is simply to give people an understanding of how education is seen in Africa compared to other countries like UK or USA etc. I will be using UK as an example as i was born and raised in the UK while spending all my life learning about Africa and traveled to Africa. So i feel i have witnessed and understand a lot about the way education is seen in both the “western” world and in Africa.
A lot of people can be judgmental about westerners and how some don’t take education as serious as they should but i have to just say, its not always the kids fault. If someone is born into a certain culture and way of life they simply feel they are doing no wrong. Also there is thousands of children who focus their whole life on their education so i don’t think the stereotype is always true.
Anyway, if we take a look at education in certain parts of Africa we can see it is somehow looked at differently, which i experienced when visiting schools around Ghana , other than the obvious things like language, culture and religious education which is sometimes different in each country but other than that the subjects are basically the same Maths, Science, history etc but how adults and children around Africa look at education is kind of different to the UK. I believe that this is because, in Africa, Education is EVERYTHING! Without education there is almost no opportunities for young children and young adults to gain employment or work placement or a better future. YES education is very important world wide! BUT in some countries like the UK, there is help from our government and other options and opportunities for young adults to gain employment and better their life’s. For example there is something we call “get ready for work” Course which young adults can join even without school qualifications, this scheme is funded from the Scottish government education funding. On these courses they will find a work placement for you and also train you how to do well in the work place as well as a small salary, not much (around £55 per week) which is not a lot in the UK as living costs here are very high, BUT it is still an excellent opportunity for young adults who want to better their life and gain work experience. In Africa an opportunity like this is no common at all and some governments in Africa don’t help with free education or courses. So having good grades and education is very much essential if you want to better your life.
If you know any parents or friends from Africa it is most likely that they do ALL they can to assure their children have the best education they can and do well in school and pass! It is not always easy to get money in some parts of Africa to pay for good education but for those who are fortunate enough to get the chance to go to school or university then it is extremely important that they give it their all! Some people think African parents are too strict on education with their children but no, they are not. They simply want a better life and future for their children and they have worked hard to get the money to make that possible.
I totally admire the friends i have all over Africa as they are totally focused on their education and try hard to make their parents proud. As for the parents who work so hard to fund their kids education i take my hat off to you all! It is even hard for some people to gain employment in Africa even after graduation so i really pray that the future will start to look up for Africa and i pray everyone gets the chance to have a good and comfortable life after all the hard work and effort put in.
Well i hope you enjoyed reading my post for today and i hope it has been informal. I do know that i may not know everything about Education in Africa and i may have missed a few facts but this is judging from my experience and what i know so far. Feel free to share your comments but keep it friendly please as i will just delete negative comments 🙂 Thanks again and thanks for all the lovely comments so far.
Ese Pupo! 🙂
Africa - the side they won't show you on TV 