Falana: Africa’s education syllabus still in colonial era

Femi Falana, senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN), says Africa’s educational syllabus is still stuck in the colonial era.

Falana made this comment in a paper titled ‘The Politics of Education in the Developing World: The African Perspective’ which was delivered at the convocation lecture of The West African Union University, Cotonou, Benin Republic on Saturday, January 26.

He warned that “Africa is being left behind in the global educational revolution”.

“It is undoubtedly clear that education in Africa has not benefited the people due to a number of factors. Educational authorities have failed to decolonize the content of the syllabus of education while the governments have refused to give priority to education,” he said.

He said the unavailability of basic educational materials has made the rich train their children overseas or in private schools, widening the gap between the rich and poor.

“African governments must take on a new role to quickly exploit the knowledge revolution or forever be left in a dark abyssal of a brain drain generation with a strong army of dysfunctional, unemployed, unemployable, uneducated and confused population,” he said.

“There is a dire need to create an economy that would cater for our ever-increasing population.

“Most jobs for our graduates are for low-skill industries. There has been a decline in high productivity agriculture and industrial advancement which is critical in knowledge-based economies.

“It seems that the purport and existence of oil-producing countries in Africa is solely determined by crude oil. What happens when the world stops using crude oil due to new advancements in bio-fuels? What happens to the next generation?”