46 | http://www.nomadafricamag.com | ...Celebrating the world’s richest continent | Issue 11
All over the continent, governments have either
settled with the legacy of colonial education or tinkered with
reform. But one country that is serious about changing the
existing paradigm to an appropriate educational
system is Uganda.The pattern of brainwashing the minds
of Africans to subservience was repli-
cated everywhere and illustrated in the
last African country to obtain independ-
ence, South Africa, where the infamous
Bantu education was designed to make
blacks aspire to be bus drivers and
labourers.
Decolonising the education curriculum
On attaining independence, some post-
colonial thinkers and politicians em-
barked on the decolonisation of the
education system, to serve the needs of
Africans. This has had varying degrees of
success and failure. Most failures can be
attributed to the colonial mindset of
African policy makers and implementers,
fostered by the former masters.
Arguing for the abolition of the English
Department and establishment of the
African Literature and Languages De-
partment at the University of Nairobi
many years ago, Ngugi wa Thiong’o
wrote:
“We want to establish the centrality of
Africa in the department. This, we have
argued, is justifiable on various grounds,
the most important one being that ed-
ucation is a means of knowledge about
ourselves. Therefore, after we have ex-
amined ourselves, we radiate outwards
and discover peoples and worlds around
us. With Africa at the centre of things,
not existing as an appendix or a satellite
of other countries and literatures, things
must be seen from the African perspec-
tive.”
Mwesigire notes that in Uganda several
steps to decolonise the education cur-
riculum have been undertaken to date.
“At present, learners in [classes] PrimaryOne to Three learn about their immedi-
ate environment, through the oral
strand. They learn about the family, the
home, school, neighbourhood and sub-
county. This is called the thematic cur-
riculum, and they study in their local
languages, with English studied as a
subject.
It is at Primary Four that learners transit
to studying in English. Under Social
Studies, learners are taught about the
district in which their school is located.
They learn about its location, physical
features, vegetation, people, leaders,
and how to meet people’s needs in the
district. In Primary Five, they look at
Uganda, Primary Six, East Africa and in
Primary Seven, Africa. There is no doubt
that the curriculum is very contextual up
to this level.
The textbooks in use are almost all lo-