The Need To Develop African Cultural Conservation Education Academies: A Case Study Of Eastern Africa

Abstract

This article sought to establish the need for developing cultural conservation educational academies in East Africa. Today, Africa remains the world’s poorest continent. There could be several reasons for this but one of the key ones is that education has not been relevant to the needs of the African society. Substantial resources have been expended to boost education in Africa, even though such resources may not have been adequate. The basic problem is that educational structures were formulated by colonialists who had a cultural background different to that obtaining among Africans. Decades of selfrule and independence have not succeeded in empowering Africans through enabling them determine their educational framework. In part, this difficulty is a result of the continued social and economic ties between African countries and their former colonizing powers. Although Africa is politically independent, it remains technologically and economically dependent on countries that colonized it. Current educational structures are meant mainly to foster this bond, rather than reduce it. Reforms in African education were conceived and implemented within the framework of his relationship, hence they did not go far enough to develop and foster African culture. Key Words: African cultural conservation education academies, education in precolonial Africa, social framework of cultural education in Africa