PANAPRESS
Panafrican News Agency
Former ADEA boss calls for new school system in Africa
Tunis, Tunisia (PANA) - Former Executive Secretary of the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA), the Senegalese Mamadou Ndoye, Saturday in Tunis called for the reform of African schools so they could respond to socio-economic challenges of the continent.
"The African school as it exists today is a job -oriented structure. It is no more suited to the realities of the continent. So we need to change the paradigm," he said in an interview with PANA.
Presenting the main features of the new African school, Mr. Ndoye stressed the need to move from general knowledge to operational knowledge.
"The programmes taught in schools today do not prepare the learner to solve the problems he will face in daily life. We must therefore rethink creating a true interaction between the school and the environment, " said the former Senegalese Minister of Basic Education and National Languages.
He believes that schools must accommodate external actors and learn from other structures to benefit from their expertise, while highlighting the benefits of dialogue and partnership between the school and the other actors in its environment.
"The new African school must be a structure in which the community and families will hold a strategic place. We learn in school, but we also learn in family and community. Therefore consistency between these different levels of learning is necessary,'' he added.
He said the local culture and African languages would be essential pillars of the new African school.
To contribute to the debate on this new African school, ADEA has chosen as the theme for its 2011 triennial meeting: "Promoting Knowledge and skills pivotal for sustainable development in Africa: how to build/design an effective response of education and training systems.”
Sectoral exchanges with development partners, stakeholders from the civil society and policymakers will be held at a major meeting planned for late 2011 in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso.
-0- PANA SEI/ASA/JEN/SEG 5Dec2010
"The African school as it exists today is a job -oriented structure. It is no more suited to the realities of the continent. So we need to change the paradigm," he said in an interview with PANA.
Presenting the main features of the new African school, Mr. Ndoye stressed the need to move from general knowledge to operational knowledge.
"The programmes taught in schools today do not prepare the learner to solve the problems he will face in daily life. We must therefore rethink creating a true interaction between the school and the environment, " said the former Senegalese Minister of Basic Education and National Languages.
He believes that schools must accommodate external actors and learn from other structures to benefit from their expertise, while highlighting the benefits of dialogue and partnership between the school and the other actors in its environment.
"The new African school must be a structure in which the community and families will hold a strategic place. We learn in school, but we also learn in family and community. Therefore consistency between these different levels of learning is necessary,'' he added.
He said the local culture and African languages would be essential pillars of the new African school.
To contribute to the debate on this new African school, ADEA has chosen as the theme for its 2011 triennial meeting: "Promoting Knowledge and skills pivotal for sustainable development in Africa: how to build/design an effective response of education and training systems.”
Sectoral exchanges with development partners, stakeholders from the civil society and policymakers will be held at a major meeting planned for late 2011 in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso.
-0- PANA SEI/ASA/JEN/SEG 5Dec2010
