The Sand in our Garri – The real issue with our curriculum.
The current curriculum is not the highest quality that Nigerians deserve. Why? So far, it has not been empowering us to explore the peculiarities of our daily realities. This is why we are largely consuming innovation and advancement that fit the context of the West and we lack innovation that is created by us for us. Young Nigerians everywhere are doing the most to learn new ideas and bag more degrees but somehow, we still get looked down at, even when we have more qualifications than our contemporaries in the West. It is solely because we live in their own realities that are not original to us but to them.
It is true that education around the world in the last century has been modernized to fit the dispensation we are all living in, but what is common about countries with leading academic excellence around the world is the individuality of their curriculum. The kids in the schools are taught about their realities and what they can do to advance their society when they are older.
In Japan, for example, the subjects and their contents that are taught today are the same as half a century ago, the modes of delivery are still the same. Because they are a society that consistently makes decisions from deep and meaningful research, the curriculum communicates to the learners on a daily basis why these decisions in their society are being made and where such thoughts stem from.
It is important to note that countries with leading education performance spend time teaching children ages zero to five about their environment and mother tongue. They let them know about the realities in their own society and not about what exists in another country.
In her book, ‘Indigenous Knowledge and Education in Africa’, author, Chika Ezeanya-Esiobu said that Western intervention in Africa denied the validity of Africa’s originality, belittled our authentic experiences and way of life, and by extension, our educational structure and curriculum which all together were considered backward. She went on to say that “following this misconception was concerted efforts aimed at a superimposition of the European psyche over that of the African, often strategically orchestrated through colonially established, or post-colonially controlled education systems. Indigenous knowledge systems, which are a product of the environment and should ideally form the foundation upon which the formal education system of any society is constructed, have been consistently and intentionally relegated to an inferior position”.
SIMILAR ARTICLES: Garri and Sand: The Nigerian curriculum
Why exams are not the future of education
The amount of knowledge outside the four walls of the classroom that exists in Nigeria cannot be exhausted, whether it is our languages, agriculture, science or mathematics. If you have ever lived in Lagos city, it is very likely that you have taken the public transportation, commonly known as ‘danfo’. The bus conductors, who may have gone through primary education only, have an astute understanding of financial math, easily learnt because of their daily realities. The people whom we seem to put on the other divide as ‘illiterate’ have some of the best remedies for any malady that daily plagues Nigerians; it is also worthy to note that these best-kept secrets are now being sought after in recent times. This is our society in its purest form and so it is therefore very important that we start putting these contents in our curriculum for learning and for objective criticism.
The sand in our garri is us thinking that our curriculum is teaching us to obtain mastery in our society, but in reality, it is second-hand education. It is not good enough to make us and the West equal and it definitely is not good for us because it is fake, it is not original for us and will not address the issues we have in our society. From purposeful research, we need to carefully curate a curriculum that suits us and will advance our society till we become the envy of other nations through innovations that are made for us by us.
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SIMILAR ARTICLES: Garri and Sand: The Nigerian curriculum
EduTimes Africa, a product of Education Times Africa, is a magazine publication that aims to lend its support to close the yawning gap in Africa's educational development.
Loved reading this…
Thanks you so much.
Sand in our garri indeed. Imitation and lack of originality
Thank you so much!