I was walking across the biggest library in Montreal and took the time to observe all the people reading, writing and searching for books. So i really wonder why African countries don't have the same idea of sharing one space for knowledge purpose? I never had the chance to visit a public library in Egypt beside having to reach an University campus. When are we going to understand that we are doing it wrongly? Egypt's college have been on a strike for more than a year and my young cousins are simply chilling around. The same question can be applied on why we don't apply technology in the education. Here is a pure exemple of application that are used by many universities in North America:
What about us? Papers and pens still...? Advanced countries reached a level where you don't need to present yourself in the universities when you have distance courses..
Africa needs a serious education rethinkk, reforms.
In DRC the situation has gotten very worrying even tho parents pay for their own kids education at all elevls. the last 25 years have been a desaster for the country. The internet itsellf is a desaster.
African economies are still agrerian economies so education is so elitist in countries like this..
What i would like to see in DRC is a Soviet style mass industrialization (in heavy industry)...Leave the Light industry to the private sector.
IMO, This will move the country from being agrerian to industrial and obviously the country will change forever.
But introducing a library system where students and normal civilians can loan books for free is easy to do but the problem (which i really believe is our main problem) is how we lack of trust and wouldn't lend a book for free lol. Anyway... Africa is still in the era where you need private teachers to have a good grade!
As for the part where DRC needs heavy industrialisation. I don't think this is what DRC really needs. Keep in mind that heavy indus will destroy your estate market.. Light industrialization is what DRC needs. Invest in telecommunication + education. Create more friendly environment for startups. Heavy industrialisation will worsen the condition of your population..
I don't think the utility of education is actually fully understood. The colonial model was created to make as many customers for british/French/dutch goods as possible, so they teach you just enough to know about Europe and be useful to the colonial administration in mid-level management. With that being our formal introduction to education, the idea of education being a means of expanding ones mind and enriching your experience on earth isn't common. You'll find that the people that have the 'go to school get a good job' mentality the most are people from former colonial nations. More than anywhere, education was introduced to them as route job training more than it was a means of improving your thinking, or capacity as a person.
This can be reversed if people that understand the thinking aspect of education starting putting forth efforts to build and stock libraries, host debates and fund research. Till this day Nigeria doesn't really teach history. History calls is 'this is all the nice stuff various british individuals did during the colonial era. and it end there. The average Nigerian teacher doesn't understand the value of teaching history, art, science, literature, etc. Most Africans themselves don't because these courses are beyond 'get a good job' in purpose.
Most people in Africa feel the humanities aren't a 'big deal' or is for white people. Then they have no clue why they can't have an election, follow traffic signs, handle authority, judge rationally, organize themselves, or show empathy
I was discussing this very topic with a Congolese friend of mine and yesterday with aunt.
In DRC humanities are taken seriously by the teachers. and all Universities (small, big, private or by the church). tho there are Art Academies that only teach Art..Art is serious in Congolese, be it music, sculture, painting, dressing etc... Litererature is also serious, but the country's political, social economic mess has badly made literature very bad....we even have Litterature Major that start from high school level tho its in French. hno:
There are a few researchers in local langguages..tho Lingala and Swahili are supreme.
The Catholic church is the master of education in DRC, followed by privates, protestant, and Kimbangu churches.
I think the Central gov only built 2 community colleges since 1960.
People come to America to make money, that is why they study to make money.Its different from those born in America tho. lol
I think it will take time before many people realize why they get education.
Remember that the Europeans, East Asians started very long time ago and until the industrial revolution education was still for the minority elite class...the industrial revolution made that most people start going to school to earn a living.
Recently there was an article about Tunisia that produces 70 000 unemployed graduates a year and one described the Tunisian university as a ' factory for unemployed '..
50% of the Tunisian economy is not competitive, too many monopolies etc.
They need economic reforms. But not much has happend since 2011..
Zimbabwe has one of the best educated people in Africa, but the wrong economic model. They need more liberalizing of the economy to really benefit from their good educated people.
It is a myth that education will develop a country. You need first a good economic policy and then adopt the education system to what the private sector, investors want..
Those are two conflicting statements. I don't think anyone is suggesting that education alone will develop a country. But a country with sound economic policy and an uneducated populace will only get so far. Therefore, education is extremely important, but not the only step towards developing a country.
Butembo, you should compare Ukraine with other European countries not with Africa. 30 years ago they were not much better then Poland. Poland started reforms late eighties and made enormous progress. Ukraine did not reform and made no progress.
Albania is also a country with a good education system , but very closed economy and one of the poorest countries in Europe..
Ukraine has a lot of heavy industries, but non is really competitive. Most of it goes to Russia. The reality is that many of this industries are bankrupt..
Back to Africa....Why Tunisia has better living standards than the Africa's best reformer Rwanda? and why does Rwanda has too many foreign workers when millions of Rwandans are in chronic unemployment?
So, the reform is to bring in lots of freigners while the locals stay poverty?
South Africa also faces the same problems, brings i neducated foreigners while they have chronic unmemployyment.
You overhyp the FDI investors thing....most of the economy must be developed by the locals.
The issue of education in Africa, especially starting from secondary school to tertiary and eventually to cutting edge research is extremely important. In the past, with heavy influence from Western donors, emphasis was placed on primary school education. This was done in order to improve "literacy" rates in the continent, especially in poorer countries. Neglected were the high schools which produce the olympiads and debaters and exposes potential. Even worse were the universities which are not reformed to meet current needs. Universities often suffered because of intellectuals who questioned the political order of the day.
With the current state of events, we will continue to see a huge number of African scholars, who have succeeded with these minimal resources going out of the continent to Europe, North America, Australasia and now Asia. South Africa will stand as an exception since scholars can do something with the current conditions there. Indeed, at the present moment, a lot of young African scientists are moving to SA to study or work there in a similar way they go to Europe or US.
Butembo, Tunisia started after independence with investing in tourism, social projects etc. They were one of the few who started with social housing, giving people easily acces to credit.
That is the most important thing why they are ahead of Rwanda and others.
30 years ago Mauritius was very poor and mainly depending on sucre production.
Mauritius was one of the first in Africa who reformed to attract more FDI. Thanks to FDI Mauritius could diversify its economy and launch its manufacturing.
Butembo you really underestimate FDI. Every developing Asian country is competing hard for FDI, but you think it is not that important..
A country needs FDI but also a big private sector and SME..
Education (including language factor) is the biggest challenge to African education.
You just have to see how horrible economic and political management of African countries are.
In DRC there used to be this general notiion that speakinng French or English or protuguse very well, or having senior college degrees somehow make the person automnatically a password to being an intelligent person than the rest.
Its sad because a big chunchk of the populattion still beleive this...but its good news because another part of the population has dicovered that this belief is Rubbish. LOL
How did some people find out? well, this pass terrible 20 years the country has been in unearthed this myth. through both social polituiucal and economic hardship.
Considering the before the wars the State was the biggest employer, it used to be he who speaks French well, gets the job and ethnocentric (Trablism as its called) played a big part in the getting a job pprocess and at this time, the private Congoldr sector was almost innexistent.
But since the early 90s as the economy collapsed, more than 3 million people loose jobs, people started opening small and medium businesses started pupping up, war followed, things got worst, , by mid 2000s, these small and medium businesses continue to grow etc...Private schools boomed....This brought up meritocracy in the culture. Not tribe/ethnic advantages, no that i speak French so well, i have these college degrees so im qualified for the job, but rather merit.....This is the best thing that has happened to this country since Independeence.
I am all for Egypt promoting English or French instead of Arabic. Having a population that speaks and writes fluently english is a huge boost for the economy attractivity. I know Azmat will disagree with me.
You are right. In Morocco Arabic and Berbers are useless . You need to speak good French to get a good job. English is becoming a requirement in Morocco. Even some French companies in Morocco require that employees know English.
I remember that an EU ambassador said that speaking Arabic, Berbers etc is not going to develop Morocco. That people need to learn English or French..
No because the process of globalization requires bilinguism and even more.. Egypt has a couple of college branch privately owned from abroad but we don't have much schools from the public sector.
One thing is sure, the french community in Egypt is weak.
Morocco is slowly moving to English. The prime minister, many ministers and politicians are calling for replacing French with English as the primary language of higher education. A think thank also advized to replace French.
Many Moroccans already learn English.
Educationnl reform is something hat's progressive process . not an overnight and short term thing, tho there are some short term programs as well as long term programs.
It should be easy in countries like Egypt etc...where they have 1 language only.
For a country such as DR Congo,it needs to promote education first in it 2 major languages which are the lingua Franca..
DRC's overall education needs an absolute reform. not just linguistic side.
It needs to focus so much on quality, the current French system we have is so stupid and no quality at all.
Industries like Cinema and this new internet age is also another thing that Africans needs to invest in as part of education promotion IMO.
Many ways of prooting education...Its just about having the right leadership to make this a reality.
T
Thi however, must be hand in hand with economic development especially accomplishing the development of basic social sector.
What makes the education successful is how varying the population is. Why do you think the Western educational institutions encourages language seminar? It's in the interest of all the countries to have a bilingual or a trilingual population. What comes next through the reforms is mainly from the competence of the administration rather than a complexe situation..
The new generations of Arabs and Africans in the West have good chances to move to Asia rather than returning to Africa and i wouldn't refuse the opportunity unless North Africa decides otherwise and try to attract their diaspora to their respective country.
When ypu see the type of governnce Africa has, then you know you education quality is os Rubbishly low
When ypu add to the type of cinemas majorty of Africans watch, then you understand how extremely low the education is in Africa
When you hear how the African presidents talk and what they do. There is no way these people can be intellectuals. lol
Like when Kagame said that he would shoot his own people i n opposition in broad day light :lol:
Or when he told his ethnic people that he is the only one who can protect them :lol
How can you say that this person is an educated person?
Having adiploma in your hands does not mean you're edicated. otherwise there would be no need for Interviews when looking for a job or doing election campaihns. the diploma should be enough to prove that the person is capable.
Creativity will always be found in poor areas. African economies should formalize the informal sector because they have a huge potential. Cairo and Alexandria are now benefitting from the post-revolution reforms that created an environment for Startups. Now Alexandria and Cairo are in the top 10 of the cities with the best environment to launch a startup.
Why Nigerians are saving up to $50,000 to pay for UK and US degrees
More Nigerian families are saving up tens of thousands of dollars in order to pay for their children to study at universities in the United Kingdom, Europe and North America. Data from StudySearch, a London-based start-up that helps African students find universities outside the continent, shows Nigerian parents save up as much as $50,000 to finance their kids’ education outside Africa.
The sum is significant in a country where the minimum wage is just $90 a month and middle class starter jobs for graduates pay between $500 to $1,000 a month.
Getting a degree abroad is believed to give the degree holder an edge in a hyper-competitive Nigerian labor market with few jobs. An international degree can almost guarantee entry to Nigeria’s growing middle class.
The United Kingdom is by far the most popular destination for Nigerian students seeking international degrees, but in general, the top destinations for Nigerian students abroad are spread across Europe, North America and even Australia.
The middle and upper class is the one that read books, go to libraries etc....even in the US, the lower class is just not into book reading. Obviously because the education is lower, and has no time anyways.
Tho the media and the interent is replacing the traditional paper books.
The middle and upper class is the one that read books, go to libraries etc....even in the US, the lower class is just not into book reading. Obviously because the education is lower, and has no time anyways.
Tho the media and the interent is replacing the traditional paper books.
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