Republic of the Philippines

NUEVA ECIJA UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Main Campus, Sumacab Este, Cabanatuan City
College Of Education

AFRICA’S CURRICULUM, ECONOMIC STATUS AND GOVERNMENT

Submitted by:
ARCELIE DELA PEÑA BACTON
BSE I-H

Submitted to:

MR. RAMON DUEÑAS

Subject Teacher
 CURRENT CURRICULUM IN AFRICA

Structure and Policies

The department of Basic Education is headed by the director-general Hubert Mathanzima

Mweli, and its policy is made by the minister Angie Motshekga and the deputy minister Enver
Surty. The department of Higher Education and Training is headed by the director-general Mary
Metcalfe, and its policy is made by the minister Naledi Pandor and the deputy minister Buti
Manamela.

Both these departments are funded from central government taxes. The department of
Basic Education pays a portion of teachers' salaries in government schools, whereas independent
schools are funded privately. Government schools may under certain circumstances supplement
their funds through parent contributions.

Basic education system (primary and secondary schools)

The DBE officially groups grades into two "bands" called General Education and
Training (GET), which includes grade 0 plus grades 1 to 9, and Further Education and Training
(FET), which includes grades 10-12 as well as non-higher education vocational training
facilities.
The GET (General Education and Training band) is subdivided further into "phases" called the
Foundation Phase (grade 0 plus grade 1 to 3), the Intermediate Phase (grades 4 to 6), and the
Senior Phase (grades 7 to 9).
The administrative structure of most ordinary schools in South Africa do not reflect the
division of bands and phases, however. For historical reasons, most schools are either "primary"
schools (grade R plus grades 1 to 7) or "secondary" schools, also known as high schools (grades
8 to 12).

Optional grades

Education in South Africa is governed by two national departments, namely

the department of Basic Education (DBE), which is responsible for primary and secondary
schools, and the department of Higher Education and Training (DHET), which is responsible for
tertiary education and vocational training. Prior to 2009, these two departments were represented
in a single Department of Education.

The DBE department deals with public schools, private schools (also referred to by the
department as independent schools), early childhood development (ECD) centres, and special
needs schools. The public schools and private schools are collectively known as ordinary
schools, and comprise roughly 97% of schools in South Africa.

The DHET department deals with further education and training (FET) colleges, adult
basic education and training (ABET) centres, and higher education (HE) institutions.
The nine provinces in South Africa also have their own education departments that are
responsible for implementing the policies of the national department, as well as dealing with
local issues.
In 2010, the basic education system comprised 12 644 208 learners, 30 586 schools, and 439 394
teachers. In 2009, the higher education and training system comprised 837 779 students in HE
institutions, 420 475 students in state-controlled FET institutions and 297 900 in state-controlled
ABET centres.

In 2013, the South African government spent 21% of the national budget on education,
some ten percent of the education budget is for higher education.

African indigenous education

African indigenous education was a lifelong process of learning where by a person

progressed through predetermined stages of life of graduation from cradle to grave. Cameroon &
Dodd (1970). This implies that African indigenous education was continuous throughout lifetime
from childhood to old-age

Mushi (2009) defines African indigenous education as a process of passing among the
tribal members and from one generation to another the inherited knowledge, skills, cultural
traditions norms and values of the tribe.

African indigenous education is defined as the native, locally developed form of bringing
up the youngsters by the older and more experienced members of the society. Being native is by
no means to deny the fact that indigenous learning goals, content, structures and methods have
not been enriched, or for that matter, polluted or both by outside influences. African indigenous
education can generally be defined as the form of learning in Africa traditional societies in which
knowledge, skills, and attitudes of the tribe, were passed from elders to children, by means of
oral instructions and practical activities.

The main characteristics of African indigenous education included the following.

Traditional African indigenous education was community oriented, geared to solving the
problems of the community. The instructional activities were therefore, directed towards the
social life of the community, so as to prepare the learners to fit into their community.

Kenyatta (1961 in Mushi 2009) holds it that;

It was taught in relation to a ‘concrete’ situation. The boys and girls learnt about
birds that were harmful, how they could be controlled, and what birds could be
eaten. In the same way they learnt about trees that were good for firewood,
building or for propping crops like banana and yams as well as those which
resisted ants.

It put emphasis on practical learning and the young adult learned by watching,
participating and executing what they learnt. The skills like carving, masonry, clay working,
cloth making, building canoe making, cooking, and home management were insisted among the
children in the community. These were the skills opened to all, as they consisted of the basic
skills, knowledge and attitudes that enabled individuals to live and function effectively in their
tribe.
The question of learning by doing is very important. The best way to learn sewing is to sew; the
best way to learn farming is to farm; the best way to learn cooking is to cook the best way to
learn how to teach is to teach and so on. Nyerere (1975 in Mushi 2009)

It was not separated from other spheres of community activity. This implies that it was
the whole life of the community and it had no special time of a day or life when it took place.
Instead it took place in the entire span of life it can therefore be viewed as a life-long process in
which an individual acquired skills, knowledge and values from womb to tomb. Mush (2009)
comments that in this case education was essentially part of life and not separated from the
societal culture.

It was functional. The knowledge skills and values that were imparted were relevant to
the socio-economic activities of an individual. The learners learned the skills that were for
immediate and long term activities. Mushi spotlights the Bena society and has the following to
say;

In Bena society, the individual who were earmarked for various community roles like
guards, leaders or teachers, received training around the chiefs (ntemi) residence. The
compulsory subjects comprised fighting, religion, law, history, agriculture and animal
husbandry. Upon completion of their training they were appointed as guards, teachers and
warriors.(ibid)

African indigenous education did no develop in a vacuum, it had its own philosophical
bases on which it was built. Having looked at the main characteristics of African indigenous
education lets examine its philosophical bases. The following should be considered as
philosophical bases for African indigenous education

Preparedness/preparationism. This implies that the role of teaching and learning was to
equip boys and girls with the skills appropriate to their gender in preparation for their distinctive
roles the society. In most African traditional societies such as Sukuma, Zanaki, Kurya, masai,
Nyamwezi most girls were taught how to become good mothers and how to handle their
husbands soon after marriage, and boys were prepared to become warriors, manual farmers, good
fathers (the heads of the family) and other male dominated occupations.(ibid)

Functionalism. This was another philosophical base in which the knowledge, skills and
attitudes imparted were relevant to the social economic activities of an individual. And so
education was for utility value. It was provided for immediate induction into real life in the
society. Learners learnt by observing, imitating and initiation ceremonies. Mushi has the
following to say on it

Indigenous African education was functional, the knowledge, skills and values that were
imparted were relevant to the socio-economic activities of the individual … this was evident in
the fields of agriculture, building, fishing, iron smelting, canoe making dancing or child rearing.
(ibid)

Communalism. In African traditional society learners learned/acquired a common spirit

to work and life and that the means of production were owned communally. The education was
also an integral part of culture and history. For example children upbringing was a whole
community’s role. If for instance a child misbehaved in the absence of his/her parents any adult
member of the community was responsible to correct him/her on spot. That implies that even
children belonged to the society.

Holisticism/multiple learning. In this philosophical base a learner was required to

acquire multiple skills. They were either not allowed to specialize in specific occupation, or a
very little room for specialization did exist. When a learner learnt about a certain skill, say
farming s/he was obliged to learn all other skills related to farming such as, how to prepare
farms, hoeing, food preservation, how to fight with diseases attacking crops and so on. Also he
had to learn other skills like, hunting, house building, cookery, and principles required for the
wellbeing of an individual, clan and ethnic groups. The learner learnt multiple skills and
mastered them all.

Perennialism. This philosophical base ensured that the traditional communities in Africa
use education as a necessary tool for preserving the status quo of the tribe. Based on this fact it
did not allow the progressive influence of on the mind of young people and so it was viewed as
conservative in nature. Learners were viewed as passive recipients and could not contribute
anything to the learning process. Mushi says on this that, “criticism about what they were taught
was discouraged and knowledge was not to be questioned. Questions seeking clarification on
aspects not clearly understood were encouraged” (2009:39)

African indigenous education displayed the following strengths to its recipients and the
society at large.

Every member of the community was employed. Children learnt the skills that prepared
them to immediately utilize their physical environment for self-employment. The skills acquired
by watching, and imitating the elders were immediately put into practical use. And thus the
children became productive and useful members in the society.
It was successful in maintaining the socio-economic and cultural structures of the society.
The learners were taught among other things, to preserve their own culture and to get rid of
external influences. Also the skills like masonry, clay working, carving, cloth making, building
canoe making and tinsmithery, were taught in the view of maintaining the socio-economic and
cultural heritage of the society.

The learners/recipients acquired communal attitudes rather than individual. From

communalism philosophical base point of view, learners were taught to respect the properties of
the whole society, and they used their acquired knowledge for service of the society. The Masai
moran for example protected the whole society and the properties therein.

Despite its strengths, African indigenous education did not go without limitations. Below
are some of the limitations that befell African indigenous education.
 It was confined to a particular clan or society and covered that aspect considered being of
immediate relevance to them and it did not go beyond the borders of the society. Worse enough
the elders who were teachers hardly entertained any challenge. That is what Mushi expresses in
this paragraph; “traditional education had a specific body of knowledge to be learnt which never
changed, and which concentrated only on the transmission of cultural heritage, i.e. of traditions,
values, and norms among the members of the tribe from childhood to adulthood…”

The accumulated knowledge and skills could not be preserved in written form. It lacked
proper methods of storing knowledge and relied on the memories of the elders. Because it was
not documented it was difficult to spread from one place to another. Mush says “it was not easy
to describe, compare, and estimate distance, volume, weight, and size of different objects
because figures or letters were unknown to traditional African societies” (ibid).

Intellectual training occupied a very small place in traditional African education. This
means that greater emphasis was placed on the ‘concrete’ rather than the ‘abstract’. It ignored
other cognitive abilities like reasoning, which although it was imperative, was insufficiently
developed. So sometimes, everything happening, be it good or bad was attributed to God’s will.

It is correct to argue that traditional African societies had their own ways of reasoning,
but to some people this kind of reasoning could not enable them to imagine alternatives to
decision arrived at, a factor that was partly attributed to the emphasis placed on traditions i.e.
beliefs and their threats”(ibid)

Learning was lineal; the young people were taught by elders who had experiences in
societal life. The young people were not given chance as they were considered to have no
experiences that would help them contribute in the learning process; they were required to listen
and internalize what they were taught by elders. That limited their creative and innovative mental
development, thus leading to slow development of a traditional society.

In traditional society some members were prevented from eating certain types of food,
such as eggs, fruits, chicken, fish, and milk. In those societies if the forefathers did not eat such
types of foods it was generalized that even the subsequent generations should not eat. Some
beliefs were attached to such foods for example if eggs were to be eaten by expectant mothers it
was believed that she would give birth to a bald-headed child. This was a big misconception
since it was not realistically true.

In traditional societies, women were seen as the source of labour, they did not own means
of production neither did they take part in decision making, but men heavily exploited their
labour. Even in learning segregation took place as womwn were isolated from men and were
supposed to learn skills realated to home management, mid wifery, healthcare weaving and
farming. On the other hand men attended to those skills considered irrelevant to women, these
included; masonry, building, or fishery.{ibid)
 FACTORS WHY SOUTH AFRICA DID NOT ACCEPT K to 12 CURRICULUM

The right to primary education frames many international statements on human rights and
education. While South Africa did achieve the Millennium Development Goal (MDG)
of universal primary education ahead of the 2015 target year, it is unfathomable to think that 17
million of its school-aged children will never attend school. Africa’s struggling educational
sector can be outlined in these 10 facts about Africa’s education crisis:

 In many countries within sub-Saharan Africa, educational disparities exist with respect to
wealth, gender and social divisions. The degree of extreme educational poverty, which is
defined by less than two years spent in school, is much higher among the poor. For
instance, in Ethiopia, a staggering 68.3 percent of the poorest quintile of its population
lives in educational poverty.

 There are 12 countries in Africa–namely Malawi, Zambia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Benin,

Nigeria, Chad, Ethiopia, Congo, South Africa, Namibia and Comoros–in which 30
percent or more of children do not meet a minimum standard of learningby grades four or
five.

 In countries such as Ethiopia, Nigeria and Zambia, over half of in-school students are not
learning basic skills by the end of primary school.

 Another major concern is the relation between the language of instruction and student
performance. South Africa’s population speaks 11 languages, and students writing the
examination in a language other than their mother tongue continue to experience great
difficulty in interpreting questions and phrasing their responses.
 Teachers’ knowledge of English is poor, and, unless emphasis is laid on training and
preparing teachers, the state of education will not improve. According to the World Bank,
teacher absenteeism, neglect and lack of a working knowledge of the language may be
blamed for poor student performance.

 According to Action Aid, the economic crisis has meant that around £2.9 billion is
expected to be lost to education budgets for the sub-Saharan regions. It is not an
overstatement to say that most rich countries have failed to keep their promises to help
poor countries out of educational poverty. This is also attributed to the fact that both the
International Monetary Fund and the World Bank have severely restricted funding to
poor countries, thus reducing their chances of investing in education.

 A global competitiveness report released by World Economic Forum ranks South Africa

last out of 140 countries in regards to the quality of education offered. This perception
 will severely impact the willingness of employers to create more jobs and invest in the
country, thus plunging the South African economy further down.

 The fact that only 53 percent of year 12 students who sat for math exams in 2014
achieved above 30 percent, and only 35 percent achieved above 40 percent, shows the
extent of the education crisis. One of the more disturbing statistics among these 10 facts
about Africa’s education crisis is that 25 percent of South African schools do not even
offer mathematics in grades 10 to 12.

 Despite being a middle-income country and having six percent of its GDP spent on
education, South Africa’s performance in standardized tests is far below the average for
African countries.

 Despite all these reasons, both internal and international politics play a major role to play
in Africa’s educational crisis.

ECONOMIC STATUS OF AFRICA

In March 2013, Africa was identified as the world's poorest inhabited continent: Africa's
entire combined GDP is barely a third of the United States' GDP; however, the World Bank
expects that most African countries will reach "middle income" status (defined as at least
US$1,000 per person a year) by 2025 if current growth rates continue. In 2013, Africa was the
world’s fastest-growing continent at 5.6% a year, and GDP is expected to rise by an average of
over 6% a year between 2013 and 2023. In 2017, the African Development Bank reported Africa
to be the world’s second-fastest growing economy, and estimates that average growth will
rebound to 3.4% in 2017, while growth is expected to increase by 4.3% in 2018.

The economy of Africa consists of the trade, industry, agriculture, and human resources
of the continent. As of 2012, approximately 1.07 billion people were living in 54 different
countries in Africa. Africa is a resource-rich continent. Recent growth has been due to growth in
sales in commodities, services, and manufacturing. Sub-Saharan Africa, in particular, is expected
to reach a GDP of $29 trillion by 2050.

Growth has been present throughout the continent, with over one-third of Sub-Saharan
Africa countries posting 6% or higher growth rates, and another 40% growing between 4% to 6%
per year. Several international business observers have also named Africa as the future economic
growth engine of the world.

Poverty is at the heart of Africa's problems. This is an overview of some of the economic
challenges facing the continent.
Most of Sub-Saharan Africa is in the World Bank's lowest income category of less than
$765 Gross National Income (GNI) per person per year. Ethiopia and Burundi are the worst off
with just $90 GNI per person.
 Even middle income countries like Gabon and Botswana have sizeable sections of the
population living in poverty.

North Africa generally fares better than Sub-Saharan Africa. Here, the economies are
more stable, trade and tourism are relatively high and Aids is less prevalent.

Development campaigners have argued that the rules on debt, aid and trade need
reforming to help lift more African nations out of poverty.

GOVERNMENT OF AFRICA

Presidential Republics

The most widespread form of government in Africa is the presidential republic. In a

presidential republic, an elected official -- the president -- operates independently of the
legislature as the executive authority. In Africa, presidential republics vary in regards to the level
of power entrusted to the electorate. Some countries, such as Nigeria, operate as true
constitutional republics, with transparent elections and leaders beholden to the people. Others,
such as Angola, function as virtual autocracies, with presidents who maintain power through
force or coercion. Presidents on the continent have sometimes been installed by military coup or
civil war rather than elections. Twenty-six African nations, including Zambia, Sudan, Kenya,
Chad, Republic of the Congo and Zimbabwe, have presidential republic governments.

Parliamentary Republics

Seven African nations possess parliamentary republic governments. Parliamentary

republics differ from presidential republics in that executive authority resides in a cabinet of
ministers, rather than the president. These ministers come from the elected legislature, which
provides popular oversight to the cabinet’s power. Some African nations, such as South Africa,
maintain parliamentary systems first established under the colonial rule of Great Britain. Other
African parliamentary republics include Ethiopia, Somalia, Botswana and Mauritius. Libya
instituted a provisional parliamentary government in the aftermath of the 2011 revolution that
overthrew dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

Semi-presidential Republics

A semi-presidential government combines elements of presidential and parliamentary

systems. Semi-presidential governments have popularly elected presidents that serve as heads of
state, and also cabinets beholden to the legislature. A widespread form of government in Africa,
semi-presidential systems exist in 17 countries. In Egypt, a semi-presidential government
developed in the aftermath of Hosni Mubarak’s downfall and represented an attempt to curb the
power of the presidential position. Algeria, Madagascar, Niger, Mali, Rwanda, Tunisia, Djibouti,
Uganda and Equatorial Guinea all function as semi-presidential republics.
Traditional Monarchies

Monarchies, once widespread throughout Africa, now exist in only three countries.
Lesotho, a landlocked sovereign nation entirely surrounded by South Africa, functions as a
constitutional monarchy, with the king as the head of state and a prime minister as head of
government. Another constitutional monarchy, Morocco, also has a hereditary king who shares
power with an elected parliament. Swaziland, a small country in southern Africa, became a
nation under the mid-19th century rule of King Mswati II. The king of Swaziland, the last
absolute monarch in Africa, oversees all aspects of his country’s economy and military, and
appoints a prime minister and cabinet to serve as advisors.
The Republic of South Africa is a parliamentary republic with three-tier system of
government and an independent judiciary, operating in a parliamentary system. Legislative
authority is held by the Parliament of South Africa. Executive authority is vested in the President
of South Africa who is head of state and head of government, and his Cabinet. The President is
elected by the Parliament to serve a fixed term. South Africa's government differs greatly from
those of other Commonwealth nations. The national, provincial and local levels of government
all have legislative and executive authority in their own spheres, and are defined in the South
African Constitution as "distinctive, interdependent and interrelated".

Operating at both national and provincial levels ("spheres") are advisory bodies drawn
from South Africa's traditional leaders. It is a stated intention in the Constitution that the country
be run on a system of co-operative governance.

The national government is composed of three inter-connected branches:

 Legislative: Parliament, consisting of the National Assembly and the National Council of

Provinces
 Executive: The President, who is both Head of State and Head of Government
 Judicial: The Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court of Appeal, and the High Court
 All bodies of the South African government are subject to the rule of the Constitution,
which is the Supreme law in South Africa.

Africa contains more sovereign nations than any other continent, with 54 countries compared
to Asia’s 47. Africa’s tumultuous political history has resulted in extreme disparities between the
wealth and stability of its countries. For example, populous and industrialized South Africa has a
gross domestic product more than 530 times that of the Comoros. Despite its cultural and
economic diversity, Africa contains only four different types of government: presidential and
parliamentary republics, semi-presidential republics and monarchies.