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Achebe anniversary and thirst for knowledge
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Posted: Saturday May 16, 2009 8:46 AM BT
Posted: Saturday May 16, 2009 8:46 AM BT
One of the things I have learnt during my stay overseas is the true meaning of education. To us in Africa, education is often regarded as a stepping stone to a better life. Most parents dream that their children will bring them redemption through education.
That they will turn out better than they were. Education is the answer to the three chief enemies of Africans (disease, poverty and ignorance), according to founding President Mwalimu Julius Nyerere, who died nine years ago this week.Come to the rich countries. Education is free (at least) up to Advanced Level, since different countries deal with university differently.
As 1 teach and lead workshops in various institutions of learning (schools, cultural centres, libraries, and prisons), I see how students take education for granted. It's automatic that a child born here will be educated as long as he or she wants. Every child is guaranteed a university level education if he or she wishes.
It's unlike in Africa, where youngsters depend on the economic class of their parents plus availability of good teachers. Of course, in the wealthy societies, it is equally hard to find a good school. Parents struggle to take their children to schools of their choice. However, this is more of a matter of quality rather than availability.
I spoke with Masoud Pashamoto, a Bongo friend, who completed his master's degree two years ago and admits that most of his childhood friends back home are now jobless. One has actually become a robber.
Masoud said: "I was on holiday recently and bumped into Musuli (assumed name). 1 was excited but noticed he was giving me these strange looks I asked if something had happened and he replied, what would? This is Bongo.
The sun is always hot. Life is tough. I debated what best to give him; because it was Ramadhan and we could not go to the pub. I offered him Sh 100,000. Later, he came to my house and tried to rob me."
The tale did not end there.
Masoud recounted that most of his Tanzanian pals, who are now suffering, were actually better than him in class and yet never got the opportunity. How come he got the opportunity? Because his mother was a fighter, he admits. She was a sports coach and often travelled and made money in Kenya, Zambia, and so on. His grandfather, (Masoud never knew his dad) was a teacher who believed in education so much that he stayed late helping him with schoolwork. To cut a long story short, the moral here is: Education is a hard take for us.
Certain things are subsequently, overlooked.
Take the question of reading. We always take reading to mean studying for examinations. Many in our society still view books and novels as something that scholars carry and read in order to pass exams, get a certificate or some other kind of qualification.
My mind wanders back to my days at Ilboru Secondary School, Arusha. While in Form Three, studying Literature in English, we read novels by many Africans, including Chinua Achebe, that award-winning Nigerian writer.
At the time, we were enchanted by his simple language, his fascinating story about how a village in Igboland is suddenly wrecked by the arrival of the white man at the end of the 19th century. Published in 1.958, the book has since become a global classic translated into more than 50 languages, "making it one of the most widely read novels of the 20th century", according to Prof Lyn Innes, of the University of Kent.
"Things Fall Apart" celebrated its 50th anniversary last week and the author, who is nearly 80, came to London in a wheelchair (following a car accident, which occurred in 1990). Prof Achebe was received with so much plaudits and cheers; it was like we were seeing an African king.
One of the advantages of reading novels such as Achebe's is not just entertainment, but (also) being informed and bettering one's knowledge of English. If only our people were taught to carry on reading after school, we wouldn't have some of the language problems that are mushrooming in our communities.
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