African Indigenous Education System: Its Relevance in Contemporary Africa

Abstract

Africa, as a continent, has gone through various stages of development and before the coming of Arabs and Europeans, African societies had their own education system through which knowledge was disseminated from one generation to another. This system of education was indigenous in nature and it was deeply rooted in people’s traditional way of life. When the Europeans colonised Africa, they painted a picture that portrayed Africans as people who did not have any education system worth upholding. This paper therefore, intends to achieve the following objectives; (i) explain the concept of African Indigenous Education (ii) explore the philosophical foundations of the African Indigenous Education system (iii) to examine the characteristics of the African Education system (iv) to state the aims of African Indigenous Education and (v) to assess the relevance of African Education system in contemporary Africa. The study employed secondary research (desk research) and oral accounts to collect existing data. Through a critical review of secondary data, it was concluded that African Traditional Education played a significant role in shaping the way of life of African people. Its practice remains relevant today in the context of shaping African social cohesion, moral values, intellectual growth, economic development, self-sustenance and solidarity