Minister Mtambo advocates for introduction of Character Education in African schools
The Minister of National Unity Timothy Pagonachi Mtambo has emphasized the need for African schools to introduce character education as a subject in African schools.
He argued that the Western or colonial education, which most African countries follow to date, was not designed to build a civic, healthy, critical and successful citizenry; hence, it 0failed to meet the expectations of character education or what could also be referred to as holistic education.
Mtambo made the remarks in Seoul in Korea on Saturday at the International Academic Conference on Pursuing Peace and Unity in Malawi and Africa Based on the Vision for Character Education.
The conference brought together global leaders and former presidents. Notable speakers included former President of USA, Donald Trump, and a number of Secretaries of the State from the US, among others.
Mtambo observed that, with few exceptions, modern education in many parts of Africa, including Malawi, is largely a result of western influence through colonial and Christian missionary activities towards the end of the 19th century through 20th century.
He lamented that this is the model of education that independent Africa inherited and with little modifications still dominates the curriculum.
“In this part of the world, western education had its own primary objective. The key objective was more to do with building the capacity among some members of the indigenous communities as a human resource for the accelerated propagation of the Christian Faith and aiding the administration of the colonial state in providing support services.
“Thus, given this overarching objective, colonial education was not designed and neither was it meant to build a civic, healthy, critical and successful citizenry, hence failed to meet the expectations of character education or what could also be referred to as holistic education,” he said.
According to Mtambo, character education would help in inculcating the beliefs and values of a given society thereby facilitating the production of women and men of integrity and honour, trustworthy.
He defined character education as a process of inculcating the beliefs and values of a given society that is critical for the production of women and men of integrity and honour, trustworthy and consumed with zeal and welfare of their families, communities, society, nations and humanity at large.
The minister said in Africa and particularly Southern Africa including Malawi, these noble values are firmly encapsulated in a philosophy and way of life commonly referred to as ubuntu.
Mtambo assured that Malawi is committed to peace and unity as founding instruments of “our nation entrench peace and unity.”
“Since independence, Malawi remains an oasis of peace. Nevertheless, the government realizes that maintenance and sustenance of peace is compromised by the subtle violence embedded in social, cultural, economic, religious and political systems and structures that perpetuate exploitation, injustice and inequalities.
“Over the years, Malawi has maintained peace and tranquillity by resolving conflicts through diverse mechanisms including traditional and modern approaches. These include interventions by the government security agencies, judicial mechanisms and commissions of inquiry,” narrated Mtambo.
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