Secondary school education is quickly becoming the definitive level of basic education in most parts of the developing world. Countries in East Africa for example have made primary and secondary school education universal and compulsory to be able to meet their social, economic and political aspirations.
In an informal sharing with some colleagues in a postgraduate course from Tanzania and Uganda, it was apparent that subjects that make up the humanities are shunned by learners, many parents and even teachers. In Kenya and Uganda, teachers of science subjects climb the promotion ladder faster than their colleagues in humanities. In fact, it is government policy in the said countries to encourage learners to opt for science subject leading to learners having a negative attitude towards the humanities subjects.
Granted, science education is crucial in this science and technology based world but let us not forget the subjects that have traditionally produced for the world some great minds in order to deal with the socio-economic and political realities of their times. Here, we remember Nelson Mandela (RSA), T.J. Mboya (Kenya), Koffi Annan (Ghana) to name a few from the African continent. From the northern hemisphere, they are uncountable but again just a few examples will do - Emile Durkheim, Max Weber , Karl Marx, Immanuel Kant and Sigmund Freud. All great minds that have shaped thinking to date.
Whereas each learner should be left to navigate their destinations, proper guidance is quite necessary so that the children come out from the education system, empowered for the world's challenges without limitations of subject specializations. Imagine a world of "hard" science (full of experiments) devoid of human touch. It would be an interesting one to live in! Very impersonal and quite detached in a host of respects.
It is only reasonable that both science and humanities should be given due attention in our schools so that one is not made to believe that it is a mistake to study Art based subjects so much so that those who study them are expected to be apologetic for having chosen and done them.
In Kenya, some of the best paid public servants are judges and politicians. Most of them are graduates in the humanities and have done very well in terms of delivery of service to the Kenyan public and it is believed that this is the case in the other East African countries. Good pay however is not the parameter to use in encouraging learners to choose certain subjects. It is the interest of the child and ultimate goal of attaining the best that should be the guiding principle.
A chart with a Religious Studies teacher in a prestigious public high school in Britain revealed that the situation could probably be worse there as students outrightly look down upon the subject. This begs the question then, why the curriculum insists on subjects that all governments seem to find unhelpful in the long run.
The realities of the world make science and arts relevant at all times of human existence so let both
have support from benefactors led by government.
Hello Leonard
ReplyDeleteThis is quite thoughtful, but don't you think that the Arts are getting the due attention they deserve. Draw your mind back to thousands of Arts graduates who float around without jobs. I guess the guilt conscience they suffer is due to the realization at a very late stage that the skills set they acquired is not that which is required to comfortably survive in today's world, yet they are as capable as the science graduates of doing the sciences.
I have noticed that of all the great minds you mentioned as having contributed to human achievement that we are enjoying today, only Koffi Annan is still alive, albeit as an old man in retirement. All the others died decades ago or as for the case of Mandela a year or so ago but in his mid nineties. this means that going by the average life expectancy in African countries which is about 50, Madiba lived for over 40 years on borrowed time. This means in their era the Arts were the most suitable skills set for the majority to be socialized into society, but now it is no longer the case.
Our societies are trying hard to undo a colonial policy that promoted science education for Whites and Indians and the Arts for the Africans. Please flashback to your school days and think of how many black science teachers you saw in your school. These colonialists were just malicious!
Dr. Shelly Jones says that the girl child has to be treated in a way that seems unfair in order to bridge the historical divide between boys and girls in the education arena, so why not for the sciences.
In any case many of us are Arts teachers recruited and paid by the government, so why say the Arts are neglected?
C'mon lets move with the times!
Best regards
Faizal
The only issue here is planning on the side of government which thinks that all people have same genetic composition. If this is the case let every body do basic science e.g.ICT Health science and public health along side the arts to avoid the sideline.
ReplyDeleteHowever we have to believe that sciences are more demanding and therefore need serious considerations.