Education is the transmission of the culture, norms and value system of a people to an unenlightened person.
Education has also been seen as a process which prepares the young ones in a community for challenges of life by equipping them with the necessary skills required to flourish.
The latin wore that bore EDUCATION is "educare" which means to bring forth. It could be translated as bringing forth the hidden potential or training an individual so that he can take his place in the society.
Education is not literacy. While an IFA cleric (although can't read or write) is educated in the yoruba philosophy as documented in the odu he is not literate simply because he cannot read or write.
So how does he learn? In teaching methodology we call it rote-learning translated as "akosori" in yoruba language.
Professor Babs Fafunwa concerned about the rate at which we denigrate our mother tongue, (shrouding it with the most demeaning title of vernacular) tried to use the mother tongue of a group of students to teach them. They excelled better than their counterpart who were taught using english language.
Professor Sophie Oluwole also carried out a research on why the African child records a low level of cognition when compared to his white counterpart. She discovered the African child has to learn his lingual franca and be instructed in that same language while the white students simply glides into understanding since he already thinks in English.
How do we wish to strike the change we desire in this nation when we have neglected the beauty and wisdom behind our mother tongue. And, how do we intend to educate the coming generation, build love and societal interest when we constantly expose them to foreign content and foreign value system?
Germany, Japan, China, Vietnam use their native dialect to instruct at the foundational stage of education. They teach English too but its not used to teach/instruct at that level. Where are they today and where are we with all our grammar? Our engineering prof. can't build an engine, our economics profs. can't write an econometrics book, our professors of linguistic thinks Yoruba is a primitive language so therefore we should never translate English to Yoruba- classic fallacy...
Make me the minister of education today and:
1. Establish and reform primary education that uses our local languages as a means of instruction.
2. The major languages should be taught from the primary school through university education.
3. Mandate all to have a compulsory 1 year course in education and 1 year training in a skill before proceeding to the university.
4. Redefine contents at all level to reflect the needs and aspirations of our society.
5. Create special funds for innovators- they are the ones that shape the landscape of any society
TELEVISION literally translate as "distance vision" while in Yoruba it is called "amohun maworan" audio-visual and this is a more scientific interpretation of what that device does.
After speaking grammar in your government class for 30 mins, do a Yoruba summary in 10mins and ask your students which is clearer?
In building the right future that puts Nigeria and Africa on the world map and not in the shadow of other nations and continents we should begin to educate our Nigerian and African child in the way his God created enclave accommodates.
Comments
Post a Comment