Education and Social Inequality in Sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

Few would disagree with the observation that the schools and universities of sub-Saharan Africa are perhaps the most important contemporary mechanisms of stratification and redistribution on the continent. They are not simply reflections of extant patterns of social and economic differentiation, but rather powerful independent forces in the creation of new and emergent groupings based on the variable possession of power, wealth, and prestige. Moreover, in using the word ‘contemporary’ we should not overlook the fact that formal educational systems are not a recent phenomenon in Africa. Schools existed on the western littoral in the eighteenth century, and their development in many parts of Africa, though slow up to the beginning of World War II, was of great significance. However, the African ‘educational explosion’ is largely a post-war phenomenon, and as a result we can no longer regard the school as an alien and intrusive institution perched precariously atop a range of predominantly ‘traditional’ societies. In most parts of Africa, the school is now as familiar a part of the local scene as the corrugated iron roof. Virtually everywhere, a whole generation would think it inconceivable to be without schools and, what is more, though Africa still remains the least formally educated of the continents, almost everyone now has a lively sense of the individual benefits that education can bring. As in other areas of social life, Africans perceive schooling in shrewd, pragmatic, and instrumental terms.

Digital turn, digital geographies?

“…The proliferation and public accessibility of digital platforms for geographic knowledge dominant theory of truth, in particular advancing a shift away from the correspondence model of truth towards consensus and knowledge production with the digital which involves questions of how particular knowledges come to be considered legitimate (Elwood and Leszczynski, 2013) -remain influenced and marked by hegemonic social relations of, amongst others, race, class, and gender, as well as global digital divisions of labour (Graham and Foster, 2016). Moreover, they increasingly reflect the interests of the corporate entities that own and exert control over dominant digital spatial platforms by, for example, managing the use of APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) to which they may revoke access, without explanation, at any time (Leszczynski, 2012).…”

Farmers' new strategy: myth or reality

“…The economic calculations alone do not bring the children to schools. The increased opportunities of cash income, in fact, has resulted into early drop-outs of some children from schools as reported elsewhere in the literature (Hunt, 1978;Foster, 1980). Even the free education opportunity is not contributing to reduce the early drop-out of the children from schools.…”

“…2 Sharma 7) Sending children to school: These days, there is an increasing tendency to send children to schools. However, it is a complex decision process that involves a lot of factors (Foster, 1980;Shrestha, 1984;Kasaju et al } 1985). The economic calculations alone do not bring the children to schools.…”

Mother tongue education in primary teacher education in Kenya: a language management critique of the quota system

“…Considering for a fact that in many parts of Africa formal education is, in the words of Foster (1980), p. 201 perhaps the most important contemporary mechanism of stratification and redistribution and does not just simply reflect extant patterns of social and economic differentiation, but rather powerful independent forces in the creation of new and emergent groupings based on the variable possession of power, wealth, and prestige; these policies have also been accompanied by a fair share of controversies. As a way of introducing the discussion on quotas later in the article, some of the debates and controversies around quotas in education in Africa as found in the literature are sampled in this section.…”