education

The Constitution mandates free and compulsory primary education in The Gambia, but a lack of resources and educational infrastructure has made implementation difficult. In 1995, the gross primary enrolment rate was 77.1 percent and the net primary enrolment rate was 64.7 percent. School fees long prevented many children from attending school, but in February 1998 the President of The Gambia ordered the termination of fees for the first six years of schooling. Girls make up about 40 percent of primary school students, though the figure is much lower in rural areas where cultural factors and poverty prevent parents from sending girls to school. Approximately 20 percent of school-age children attend Koranic schools, which usually have a restricted curriculum.

Traditional Education – The system that facilitate learning in the African Community, especially in West Africa.
Learning, elevating and educating youngsters have never been an easy task and have never been a burden. Before the so called civilisation set in, or modern educational system was infused, our Great Grandparents and Great Granmothers “Mamatti Mamyi” had already had an educational system in place well defined and well established.
Initiation was already part of the culture, part of our traditional system. Everyone in our African community has heard of the stories: how it used to be and that is one of the reasons why we will always find ways to adapt to new systems because learning was a new thing. The fine distinction was just apparent but we had it all.
In Africa, children’s plays reflect the adult world. When we go back to many decades, from stories heard of, from films watched, we can recap on how we hear stories about the elders in our communities. We can recap on how we play in villages when we went on holidays. We all have uniform ways of role plays when growing up. For example children play a game of hyena, sheep and shepherd, or play with clay or wooden toys representing animals and plants.
“Lebbon lippen, amon naffi dan na amm” This is the way we were taught about communication skills, interpersonal skills, and negotiation skills.
I believe that this applies to every community before civilisation. When we look into the lifestyle in the Victorian days.
In West Africa, traditional education is based on informal apprenticeship with kin and early participation in the work force. Special skills, such as medicine, music, crafts, etc. are acquired through more formal apprenticeship with specialized persons. Other special skills, such as tree felling, hunting, and metallurgy are taught by religious leaders during initiation ceremonies. Among the Fulani of northern Senegal, children start pastoral duties at a very young age (6-7), progressing naturally from their plays to actually guarding calves in the compound. In almost all groups, the father teaches his sons by going out with them first, then giving hands-on responsibility, and the knowledge is already firmly established by ages 10-11, for example among the Serere, Fulani families in Senegal and the Gambia. There weren’t teachers then. Missionaries were the first teachers and they already found our own systems established that they adapt to and used what we already had in a different way.
The knowledge of range and livestock husbandry among the Africans is passed on as young boys (7-8 years) are taken to “Getta” camps and learn from firsthand experience which grasses are good, noxious/harmful, etc. (unfortunately no mention was made of how African girls learn to guard goats and latter cattle).
At 8-10 years old, children start to learn about herding by being assigned to watch over calves near the camp. Between 10-12 years they start to herd shoats alone in the bush, and at 15 they herd cattle on their own. African girls start at 9-10 years to make butter, at 11-12 years to pound millet, and at 14-15 years to milk cows. Among the many, young boys and girls would go to the cattle posts in the wet season to herd cattle and to be “hardened and taught morals and tribal law.”The Fulani of Mauritania say that the initiation of the pastoralist begins at the entrance to the livestock kraal, and ends at its exit, i.e. at age 63. They consider pastoral education to encompass three phases: “initiation” which takes the first 21 years, “practices” which takes the next 21 years, and “teaching” which takes the last 21 years.
Now then when we look at the Modern Education we can evaluate how the system blends with the traditional education. This is stage by stage by stage etc…etc…
Can anyone give us a breakdown of how the modern system goes? It is not because we do not know or because we do not have the time to research for it ourselves. But, because we want to hear from you.
We want your participation, your opinions.
Most of all it is because Elegance magazine values your findings and it will be an honour to hear from you.