AFRICAN PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION: RETHINKING JULIUS NYEYERE’S PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION AS A PANACEA TO AFRICA’S UNEMPLOYMENT CHALLENGES

Abstract

As Africa pushes through the murky pedals of self-sufficiency, education which has been irrefutably acclaimed as a panacea for human liberation and development is yet to find its bearing on the continent. This is because the western form of education as imposed on the African continent failed to accommodate the salient tenets that define the African communal spirit as enshrined in the traditional/indigenous education system. Education for Self-reliance and moral rectitude which form the fulcrum of indigenous education in Africa, are not explicitly pursued within the modern system of education; resulting in mass unemployment in Africa’s workforce. This lacuna has birthed all sorts of ills, leaving the citizens of Africa at the receiving end. Western education which has foisted a capitalistic and individualistic mentality upon Africans, with its system of education, has made education a luxury of a few, forcing a good number of the population not to access such type of education. Sadly, even those who have the privilege of accessing western education do not all have the luxury of a decent job. To bridge this gap, there is the need to x-ray the core tenets inherent in African Indigenous education as espoused in the “Ujaama” of the renowned African Philosopher Julius Nyerere. It is the author’s submission that an integration of the tenets of Africa Philosophy as contained in the Ujaama would help Africa curb its problem of unemployment.