Islam and education policy reform in the southern Philippines

The devolution of control over education policy in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao of the southern Philippines has led, in recent years, to efforts to Islamise education in the region, a trend reflective of similar efforts in other Southeast Asian Muslim countries but often seen as worrisome by secular observers concerned about the alleged radicalising influences of Islamic education. This essay critically examines two approaches to the Islamisation of education proposed by Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas and Fazlur Rahman, arguing that Islamisation of education in Muslim Mindanao is more likely to take a pragmatic than fundamentalist course.     

Koranic schooling and its transformation in Coastal Kenya

This paper examines the philosophy of Koranic education and its practice in a Muslim community in coastal Kenya. Attention is drawn to characteristic features of Koranic instruction and their antecedents in tenets of the Islamic faith as well as to the transformations which are taking place in Koranic learning as a consequence of the expansion of secular schooling in Kenya, where Koranic schools (madrassas) are struggling to accommodate what many Muslim parents now expect ‘good’ education to consist of: instruction carried out under the supervision of a trained teacher, planned in a sequential fashion in accordance with the principles of child psychology, and provided in an atmosphere thought to be conducive to learning.     

The politics of workers’ education in Nigeria

In this analysis of workers’ education in Nigeria, set against the broad definitions of the broad meaning of workers’ education, education as against training, and other fundamental issues, an important point should be noted. It is that the ‘worker’ in Nigeria is defined by law. This definition excludes, for example, those who are not on a monthly or annual wage. Thus those unskilled people hired on a temporary basis are not, legally, ‘workers’.     

Vocational education in Nigeria: A preliminary appraisal

This paper examines the vocational education aspects of the new National Policy on Education (NPE) in Nigeria. The NPE advocates a 6+3+3+4 system which means that the educational system would be divided into six years of primary school, three years in a junior secondary school, three years in either a senior secondary school, a technical or teacher training college and four years in a university. The junior secondary school will be terminal for those who do not have the aptitude for the more academic subjects of senior secondary school and the emphasis at this stage would be both pre-vocational and academic. While it is generally thought that the vocational provision outline in the NPE would help to lay the foundation for a modern technological society, it is clearly an over-simplistic appraisal of the Nigerian socio-economic background. First, the selection for the trainees in vocational education is not usually from an open population in terms of relevant characteristics but from a closed population, those who had already proved to be of lower than average ability, by failing to gain entry to the ‘academic’ senior secondary school. The social implication of such a situation is that trainees in vocational education are caught up in an ‘ecological niche’ in society as fishermen, miners and other direct producers. Secondly, when the elite, the top federal government officials, advocate vocational expansion, it is often for other peoples' children rather than their own. Furthermore, as could be seen from the results of the Udoji report set by the government to harmonize civil service salaries, those who had academic qualifications from schooling rather than vocational qualifications were more favoured. Thus this paper calls for a rethink of the NPE, bearing in mind the realities of the Nigerian educational system and the job market.     

The spatial aspects of higher education in Nigeria

The development of higher education in Nigeria over the past quarter of a century has been characterized by a high degree of proliferation and dispersal. In the distribution of universities there exists a cautious state of balance among the former regional components of the country. Variation is much more marked in the distribution of other categories of institutions of higher education. Perhaps of greater significance is the concentration of these institutions in towns and cities. Economic, social, and political reasons are accountable for the observed pattern. There are also enormous benefits as well as problems resulting from the proliferation and dispersal of higher education institutions.     

Religious education and hermeneutics: the case of teaching about Islam

ABSTRACT

This article attempts to do three things: the first is an exploration of the ways in which Islam is presented in an essentialist way (with a focus on religious education (RE) in England and Wales), leading to stereotypes and unsubstantiated generalisations that are then embedded in resources and agreed syllabi, secondly, it provides a critique of essentialism, and finally a case is made for the role of hermeneutics in the teaching and learning of Islam. We argue that a hermeneutical approach is a sound way to both conceptualise the phenomenon of Islam and a pedagogical opening to make sense of it, that may help overcome some of the weaknesses of the current ways of teaching about Islam.     

ICT enabled Almajiri education in Nigeria: Challenges and prospects

Education and Information Technologies - The Almajiri children in Nigeria are deserving of special interventions to reduce the life-long divide in educational achievement, social status, and...     

The impact of the national policy on education on indigenous education in Nigeria

Indigenous education in Nigeria is contrasted with Western orientated education. The former includes both the traditional and more recent locally generated modifications of educational procedures. Until recently the two have been in equilibrium but this is now under attack. Nigerian society is undergoing rapid change. The Government is aiming to create a national identity, eradicate regional inequities, and eliminate parochial and inefficient indigenous educational practices. But the author challenges the assumption that the school system alone can accomplish these tasks. Quick implementation of the plan to regulate indigenous private educational institutions and craft apprenticeships could aggravate the employment situation, while local communities under an increasingly centralised education system will have little authority to initiate local adaptive responses to perceived weaknesses.

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Zusammenfassung In diesem Artikel wird die einheimische Ausbildung in Nigeria mit der westlich orientierten verglichen. Erstere schließt sowohl traditionelle Erziehungsmethoden als auch neuere, vor Ort entwickelte Änderungen ein. Bis vor kurzem bestand zwischen beiden ein Gleichgewicht, aber jetzt soll sich das ändern. Plan der Regierung ist es, eine nationale Identität zu schaffen, regionale Ungleichheiten auszumerzen und lokale einheimische Erziehungspraktiken zu unterbinden. Der Verfasser bestreitet die Annahme, das Schulsystem allein könne diese Aufgaben erfüllen. Eine schnelle Durchführung des Plans der Regierung, lokale private Bildungs- und Ausbildungsgänge von oben zu regulieren, könnte die Beschäftigungslage verschlechtern und die Gemeinden hätten unter einem stärker zentralisierten Bildungssystem weniger Möglichkeiten, örtlich Maßnahmen zur Beseitigung wahrgenommener Schwächen einzuleiten.

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Résumé Le système indigène d'éducation au Nigéria est mis en contraste avec une éducation orientée vers l'Ouest. Il comporte les procédés éducatifs traditionnels aussi bien que des modifications plus récentes qui ont été développées localement. Jusqu'à récemment, les deux étaient en équilibre mais maintenant celui-ci se trouve menacé. La société nigérienne est en rapide évolution. Le gouvernement a pour but de créer une identité nationale, d'effacer des inégalités régionales, et d'éliminer des pratiques d'éducation indigènes qui sont trop localisées et inefficaces. Mais l'auteur s'oppose à la présomption que le système scolaire seul puisse accomplir ces tâches. Une exécution rapide du projet sur la réglementation des institutions d'éducation privées indigènes et de l'apprentissage dans l'artisanat pourrait aggraver la situation de l'emploi, alors que les communautés locales sous un système d'éducation toujours plus centralisé n'auraient que peu d'autorité pour introduire des adaptations locales visant à répondre aux faiblesses ressenties.

     

The role of higher education in national integration in Nigeria

This paper discusses the machinery for higher education policy formulation and implementation in Nigeria with particular reference to the university system. It identifies the goal of national unity and national integration as a new addition to the university's traditional roles of manpower production, research and teaching. An analysis of the implementation of measures aimed at achieving national integration with emphasis on student recruitment is attempted. Two features are apparent, both of which are counter-productive to national integration. First, universities recruit their students mostly from the states and geopolitical regions in which they are located. Secondly, inter-regional migration of students is a one-way traffic - mostly from South to North. Measures to improve the achievement of national integration are also suggested.     

Poverty of primary education in Nigeria: the way forward

Inspite of the fact that primary education forms the foundation on which education at the secondary and tertiary levels rests, the issue of poverty is undermining its roles in Nigeria. In this paper, this issue of poverty of primary education was examined, from the perspectives of its history, scope, indicators, in terms of inadequacy of resource inputs (i.e. funds, facilities, and teachers), narrow curriculum, and limited access. The effects of the poverty, particularly on the other education levels as well as the economy on which it depends for fund, were also examined. To eradicate/alleviate the poverty and enhance the status of primary education in the country, allocation of more funds to the education sector and primary education, recruitment of more teachers, provision of more infrastructural facilities in primary schools, among other suggestions were made.