Publish at September 18 2022 Updated September 22 2022
Written in collaboration with Narcisse Fomekong
In a previous article, we demonstrated the importance of establishing African schools abroad, especially in countries where African communities are strongly represented. These are not, - at least not yet - pan-African schools like the banned in Guadeloupe, but schools that direct their programs toward the training that African countries need to accelerate their development.
After the publication and dissemination of our reflection, several readers, in their comments, while recognizing the merits of such a project, suggested that it would first be necessary to change the school systems in Africa; the majority of which had no real epistemological, pedagogical, or systemic originality.
From a postcolonial perspective, it is important to clearly define what is "originally African" in contemporary educational systems in order to be able to identify and define the added value they could potentially bring to the foreign educational systems and cultures in which these "African" schools would be located. The debate on African identity and particularly on "Africanness" is still ongoing and it is not the central focus of our reflection, although we will indirectly allude to it. Our main task here, therefore, is to propose adequate and concrete avenues (six) for the implementation of "African" schools abroad.
The point here is to identify pedagogical practices and values that are specific to Africans in order to draw inspiration from them and to be certain not to undertake an already existing project. Projects to reform education systems to the socio-cultural realities of the continent are not legion, but there are some cases that could be mentioned. For example, in our last article, we had mentioned the case of Touba, a Senegalese city with a contextualized education system adapted to local needs and realities.
In East Africa in Kenya, we also have Freedom School or Freedom School, which has designed a curriculum based on culture, mother tongue, and dress, all summed up on the term "Afrocentrism." Founded in 2018 by Oku Kanayo, a Kenyan engineer who did some of his training in Britain, the school already has about 100 followers and according to teachers, the results are compelling. Students who go through this system understand better the other disciplines inherited from colonization: Physics, Chemistry, Spanish etc. Given the eminently recent nature of this school, it is, for the moment, difficult to measure its real impact for the development of Kenya. However, it is an example to be encouraged and could well be exported outside Kenya.
We recognize that it is very ambitious to want to undertake an African educational system that adapts to the cultural realities of Western countries. Since the needs are different, it is important to adapt school systems to the needs or development of each country. Africa has major challenges to face and depending on the country, there may be differences. We will demonstrate this based on two elements: natural resources (of the soil and subsoil) and languages.
Let's first take the case of Côte d'Ivoire, whose subsoil is poor, cannot have the same development priorities as the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), a real geological scandal. Thus, in the DRC, training can be oriented towards the optimal exploitation of mining resources, iron, coltan, diamond, gold, etc., while in Côte d'Ivoire, training could be more oriented towards agricultural industries. So if Congo needs mining engineers to exploit its potential, Côte d'Ivoire needs agricultural engineers to exploit its land. In the same vein, Chad would benefit from training more solar energy engineers than Cameroon, which, with its many rivers, may have more need for hydroelectric engineers, etc.
In terms of language, a country like Equatorial Guinea would benefit more from promoting the French language to better exchange with its direct neighbors (Cameroon and Gabon), which are all French-speaking countries. Also along these lines, a school created for the Ivorian community outside of Côte d'Ivoire would have to put special emphasis on French while the Ghanaian school would focus more on the English language...
These two examples are proof that each country has its reality and by implication its difficulties. Thus, it would be good practice to create systems that offer solutions tailored to different countries.
When programs are clearly defined, it is important to conduct awareness campaigns to mobilize the targeted communities. If it is a Cameroonian school in France for example, the project leaders will have to identify the different groups that make up the Cameroonian community in France through associations, forums of these different communities, etc. This is how the project can reach the target and benefit from the commitment of the members. The feedback of some people will contribute to the improvement of the programs and/or the vision. This information and awareness campaign will lead to another campaign, that of resource mobilization.
Many innovative and ambitious projects never come to fruition due to lack of funding. A project, which is truly innovative, must also be bankable, that is, convincing enough to induce financial investments for its realization. Thus said, the sensitization of African diasporic communities on a project of "African" school (Cameroonian, Senegalese, Moroccan, etc.), will only be effective if it leads to the mobilization of the necessary resources (financial and non-financial).
This financial mobilization is very important in order to allow the project holders to maintain a certain autonomy in decision-making and limit the interference of the host countries. Indeed, the hand that gives orders. Many development projects in Africa do not have a real impact in the beneficiary communities, simply because they address priorities defined in the West and not in agreement with the beneficiary populations. Resource mobilization is an additional channel to promote the project and verify its robustness with the public. People will never invest in projects that seem doomed to fail. So the intense mobilization of capital from diasporic communities will be an indicator of the initiative's potential for success and its future reception by the public.
In Canada, an idea to create an "African" school was denied funding by the state. As a result, the project holders decided to resort to internal funding, from African nationals. Although informed, the administrative authorities of the host country are under no obligation to financially support the educational projects of their nationals, unless these are aligned with local development priorities. Of the various funding mechanisms that exist, participatory funding, whose reach and impact is amplified by digital technology, is a solution that is highly sought after by entrepreneurs.
Once the human, financial and material resources have been collected, it is necessary to look at the legislation of the host countries regarding the creation of schools, especially foreign schools. Particularly with regard to teachers or staff, it is important to recruit people who share the Afro-centric vision of the project and not necessarily African nationals.
The creation of schools is carried out according to regulations specific to each country. In most cases, African schools will be able to be classified as private schools. Let us take the examples of France and Cameroon to illustrate the importance of knowing the laws in force in each country.
In France, point 2 of Article L914-3 of the Code of Education stipulates that persons carrying a project to create a private school must be of French nationality. Failing to have French nationality, the "African" school project holder could associate with a person with French nationality, to facilitate and accelerate the administrative procedures.
In Cameroon, on the other hand, the creation of private schools must respect the prescriptions provided for by Decree N° 2008/3043/PM of December 25, 2008. This decree recognizes four types of private schools: Protestant, Catholic, secular and Islamic. Paragraph 2 of the said decree stipulates: "Private schools or training institutions apply the official school programs. However, they may also apply autonomous programs approved by the minister in charge of basic education or the minister in charge of secondary education, as appropriate. "This provision allows for the development of specific programs, but these must be validated by the ministry. Whether in Europe, Asia or America, countries have specific regulations to be aware of and follow.
It is one thing to sensitize communities and it is another thing to convince them to send their children to newly created schools and in a context where they are a minority. This recruitment must be open to all parents of children who share the vision. Strong branding and public communication strategies will be essential to generate mass student engagement.
Just as American, French, and Chinese schools welcome foreigners, African schools will need to do the same, given that their goal is not to create identity folds, but to provide a setting in which, while integrating into their host country, they contribute to the development of their home country.
To conclude, we can reiterate that the creation of African schools abroad is a necessity. For this, strategies must be original and adapted. The ideal would be to identify the needs and potentialities, then adapt the systems, find the means to set them up before exporting them. Although this is a long-term project, it is important to start now with existing resources and improve incrementally over time. We believe that these six main steps are necessary for establishing "African schools" abroad.
Of course, we imagine that there are probably other important elements to successfully establishing African schools abroad (in Africa or outside the continent). And we'd be happy to read your comments on other key factors.
Illustration: depositphotos - michaeljung
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