Annual report on Nyasaland / Colonial Office.

  • Great Britain. Colonial Office.
Date:
[1954]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Annual report on Nyasaland / Colonial Office. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    138/170 (page 128)
    investigations showed that the problem of the £‘ over-age ” child, allegedly debarred from entering school by the operation of the age-limits imposed in 1949 was not serious although it undoubtedly existed. One existing village school was taken over by the Native Ad- ministration and developed into a full Junior Primary School. An operation, called ££ The Kwaca Experiment” from the name of the primer used, was undertaken which resulted in the establishment of a number of unassisted village schools financed by the Native Ad¬ ministration and managed by its Education Committee. If a suitable building were available, the school met there; if not, it used the shade of a mango grove. Prospective instructors were found from local nominations, and given three months* training in the elements of teaching. No age limit was applied for the first three years, so that every child who wanted to do so could obtain elementary instruction. Eight of these schools have now been assimilated info the ordinary educational system, and in 1954 three were giving instruction akin to the ordinary Standards I and II; the others give the two vernacular classes only. The long-term results of this experiment cannot yet be assessed, but the progress of groups of children who have gone from Kwaca schools to ordinary ones suggests that there has not been very much to choose between their performance in the higher classes and that of children who began their education in a more formal way under certificated teachers. These results show that the instruction given provides some foundation for further education. The system also brings the leaders of the people, through Group and District Councils, into closer touch with the realities of educational problems, and increases African participation in their solution. Two attempts were made to deal with adult illiteracy, but these met with little response; the apathy of the women being particularly noticeable. Of those adults enrolled less than 30 successfully completed a course. It may be that there is little economic incentive, and that under local conditions someone can always be found to read or write for the illiterate. There are t.wro night schools in the District, but these cater mainly for young people with a little education who are too old for the ordinary schools or who have not been able to find room in the higher classes. They are usually intent on passing an external Standard VI examination. Adult education’s real contribu¬ tion to community development lies in specialized instruction in sub¬ jects likely to be of practical value to the pupil and not leading to paper qualifications. Self-help It is difficult to inculcate the idea of self-help into a people used to having most decisions taken for them, and the audience at Domasi