Professor Toyin Falola, a historian and professor of African Studies, has called on Africans to project its culture and education to the world through digitisation.
He made the call at the 20th Anniversary of the African University College of Communication (AUCC), held in Accra.
Prof Falola said the modern education system, introduced to Africa by European colonialists, became an integral component of societal development and the vehicle for entrenching a new socio-political order were demanded by African nationalists.
He said the nationalists considered education to be the path to the emancipation of African people, but the structure, curricula, and values underlying Africa’s education system had thwarted their objective.
He said Africa’s education system was beyond decolonization and required efforts that reflected Pan-Africanism and promote Africa to the world through digitisation.
He advised that decolonization of Africa’s education systems must, address the structures, institutional cultures, curricula, and underlying philosophies that form the bedrock of the continent’s education system.
He said policymakers must implement policies and projects to transform the continent’s education systems.
“We must also focus efforts on directing the African education curriculum to speak to the objectives of Pan-Africanism and its ideal, this is a conscious effort that we must have policymakers, change makers, and governments embark on,” he said.
He said ‘we must also consciously establish Pan-Africanism in its true essence and in the way our children will be eager to follow through.
“The generation of Africans today seems to have gone a long way away from the spirit of Pan-Africanism, and as the connectors between true African traditions and contemporary lifestyles, our sole duty is to hold their hands till they get back on track”.
“Let us teach our children about Nkrumah, Lumumba, Mandela, Nyerere, Mbeki and many other heroes of Africa, not in the way that white supremacists have crafted a one-sided monologue about them, but in a way that portrays the wholesomeness of their ideas on freedom for Africa and moving the continent forward”, he said.
Prof. Folala said the complete decolonization of Africa’s education systems would not be achieved overnight, but time and deliberate action would be necessary.
“These actions must include encouragement and commitment from stakeholders to support the preservation of indigenous knowledge through digitisation and give easy access to such knowledge in public libraries”, he said.
