Title: | Africa’s Destiny and Higher Education Transformation. In The Promise of Higher Education |
Authors: | Barnabas Nawangwe |
Keywords: | |
Published: | 2021 |
Abstract: | Background: Africa, the cradle of mankind and civilization, presents the best example of a people falling from the most culturally and technologically advanced society to the most backward and marginalized. While other ancient civilizations like China, Babylon, and India either transformed and survived or persisted in the case of China, the Egyp- tian civilization was destroyed and was never to recover. The University of Sankore at Timbuktu, established in the 13th century and recognized by many scholars as one of the oldest universities on earth, is testimony to the advancement in scholarship that Africa had attained before any other civilization. But that is all history. Instead, Africa remains the most marginalized continent, viewed by many as a hopeless sleep- ing giant without any hope for awakening and moving forward as part of a modern global society Different parts of Africa were conquered by different civilizations, and their influ- ence implanted to varying degrees. Little is known about scholarship between the time of the fall of the Egyptian Empire and the era of colonialism. However, Africa still boasts of some of the oldest existing universities, including the University of Karueein, founded in 859 AD in Fez, Morocco. Outside the Maghreb, all universities are modern-day creations of the colonial powers which subdued Africa as early as the 15th century |
Published in: | Publication Link |