Karim F Hirji - Under-Education in Africa: From colonialism to neoliberalism

A collection of essays from an educator-activist that take us back to one of the richest periods of African intellectual debate about knowledge and colonization, the early 1970s at the University of Dar es Salaam, with valuable lessons for today. Budd L Hall, PhD, Professor Emeritus, UNESCO Co-chair in Community-Based Research and Social Responsibility in Higher Education, University of Victoria, Canada.

This is a timely, broad ranging, provocative series of essays about under-education in Africa. The authors lived experiences, particularly in Tanzania, form a rich base for much of the critical contextual analysis. New generations of scholar-activists in Africa and elsewhere are urged to learn from history, to debate, to question and strive, with passion and hope, to attain a just, more egalitarian world. Shirley Walters, Professor Emerita, University of Western Cape, South Africa.

An inspiring collection of vivid stories and profound critiques of education from a committed scholar-activist who draws upon a lifetime of engaged learning, teaching, research and debate. Revealing how under-education has been spawned by global capitalism, it also inspires hope and offers strategies for educational and social change in Africa and beyond. Pat Saul, UDSM graduate, teacher and community activist for social change, Toronto.

A dedicated and passionate educator and scholar activist, Karim Hirji explores the connection between education and a dependent economy, and the systematic de-education of the Tanzanian and African masses during the colonial and post-colonial periods up to the present day. Broad structural analysis of underlying factors such as social and economic injustice, political accountability and neoliberal policy is combined with concrete investigation of the challenges facing students and teachers at all levels of the education system and ends on a positive note, dare to dream. An enjoyable work; a valuable resource for all concerned about advancing education in Africa. Marjorie Mbilinyi, Professor of Education, University of Dar es Salaam (1968-2003), independent researcher and writer.

To

The People of Tanzania

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Each day be open to the world,
be ready to think;
each day be ready not to accept
what is said just because it is said,
be predisposed to reread what is read;
each day investigate, question, and doubt.
Paulo Freire
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Education means breaking free.
Abhijit Naskar
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IN THE COURSE OF TEACHING for over four decades, I wrote a number of essays on the different facets of the education systems in Tanzania and the USA. They were based on my classroom experience as well as wider investigations. The main issues that interested me were:

• What is the purpose of education, for individuals and society?
• Are educational curricula what they should be?
• Whose interests does the education system serve?
• Should educational institutions be run on a democratic footing?
• What is role of teachers in the education system?
• What is meant by good quality and poor quality education?
• How can education serve the interests of the common people and contribute to the development of a just, humane society?

These questions were explored in relation to varying phases of history and different components of the systems of education. This book brings together, in edited and revised versions, sixteen essays in the belief that what they contain is not just of historic interest but is also of relevance to the present times. In revising them, I have tried to maintain the essence of what was in the initial versions, though in several cases, I have added new material. Four essays are new to this book.

While the essays can be read in any order, it is best to tackle them in the sequence given. What appears earlier sheds light on what appears later. The spelling in this book follows US English.

In the course of initially writing the essays, I gained much from my colleagues and students. It is not possible to name them here. Yet, they have my profound thanks. I also thank Christina Mfanga for research and typing two essays, Yusuf Ahmad for photography, Firoze Manji for his comradely and professional support in the production of the book, Rosa Hirji for useful advice, and Farida Hirji for editing assistance and enduring love and encouragement.

Karim F Hirji
July 2019

Dont limit a child to your own learning,
for he was born in another time.
Rabindranath Tagore
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EDUCATION, FORMAL AND INFORMAL, elementary and advanced, is the means by which a society transmits its accumulated knowledge, skills and values from one generation to the next. The teacher, a central player in this process, bears the responsibility of molding the growing human along ways consonant with social needs and values. A good education fosters the growth of creative, intellectually mature and astute individuals who prize critical thought and freedom of expression as well as service to fellow human beings.

That, in theory, is how it is supposed to be. Modern societies are not homogeneous entities but are based on economic class divisions. The interests of the many at the bottom do not coincide with those of the few at the top. In such societies, social institutions function in accord with the interests of the dominant class. Education here has a dual role, a technical role and an ideological role. Besides training people who can competently undertake the tasks in the various sectors of society, it also inculcates values and an outlook that conform to the