A Ghanaian curriculum development expert, Thomas Osei-Kumah has called for a fundamental transformation of African education systems to enable the continent to harness its indigenous knowledge, cultural values and natural resources for sustainable development and wealth creation.
Mr. Osei-Kumah of the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NaCCA), Ghana, made the call when he presented a paper at the 6th Annual Conference of the African Curriculum Association (ACA) held in Tanzania under the theme “Transforming Education Systems in Africa.”
Speaking on the sub-theme, “Policy and Practice Consistency in Curriculum: Lessons from Africa,” Mr. Osei-Kumah argued that African countries must move beyond simply incorporating elements of indigenous knowledge into school curricula.
He emphasised the need to develop endogenous education systems that deliberately connect scientific knowledge with Africa’s indigenous knowledge, local expertise and natural resources in the Standard Assessment practices.
He noted that although Africa is endowed with rich cultural heritage, diverse natural resources, and generations of indigenous expertise, many of the continent’s formal education systems continue to be influenced significantly by external models that do not always respond adequately to local socio-economic realities.
According to him, education should not merely prepare African learners to seek employment within existing economic structures.
Instead, learners should be equipped with the knowledge, skills, and innovative capacity to identify opportunities within their communities, create value from local resources and contribute to national and continental prosperity.
Drawing on a qualitative analysis of curriculum frameworks, policy documents, and scholarly literature from Ghana, Mali, Ethiopia, and Tanzania, the presentation found that the four countries have made progress in incorporating indigenous knowledge, local languages, oral traditions, and community values into their curricula.
However, Mr. Osei-Kumah identified a continuing gap between curriculum policy and classroom practice.
He particularly highlighted assessment systems as an area requiring urgent transformation, arguing that many assessment practices continue to favour imported academic standards, Eurocentric forms of literacy and rote memorisation.
This phenomenon, he said limits the extent to which indigenous knowledge and African ways of knowing can meaningfully influence learning outcomes.
He therefore called for a shift from what he described as “symbolic inclusion” to systemic transformation, where African epistemologies and indigenous knowledge are not merely added as components of the curriculum but are reflected meaningfully in teaching, learning and national assessment systems.
The presentation, which attracted strong interest and applause from conference participants, reinforced the need for African countries to rethink the purpose and orientation of education in the context of the continent’s development aspirations.
Mr. Osei-Kumah’s central message was that Africa’s educational transformation must ultimately enable Africans to create solutions, generate wealth, and build sustainable prosperity from within, while drawing strategically on both scientific knowledge and the continent’s rich indigenous knowledge systems.
The conference brought together curriculum scholars, education policymakers, practitioners and experts from across Africa and beyond to deliberate on strategies for transforming education systems on the continent.
