Education in many parts of Africa predominantly relies on post-colonial Eurocentric or American curricula, which offer limited insights into African history and culture. Moreover, the existing curriculum often presents a distorted view of African heritage.
However, there is a noteworthy exception in Kenya known as Children in Freedom School. This institution takes a distinct approach to learning by adopting an Afrocentric curriculum. Its primary goal is to guide children in embracing their identities and embracing their African heritage.
“We’ll tell them, for example, about Mali emperor Mansa Musa who has been dead for roughly 700 or 800 years and yet is still the richest man that has ever lived,” said founder Dr Utheri Kanayo.
The idea for the school was sparked when Dr Kanayo decided to focus on the education of children after a brief teaching stint, at the University of Cambridge in the UK, saw her base her educational research on the African continent.
In 2013, Dr Kanayo and her husband quit their jobs in the UK and moved to Kenya.
The school originally started as a charity but slowly morphed into a scholarship and mentorship programme. Now, they focus on teaching African history, culture and literature alongside basic education like mathematics.
“If we can start teaching children from when they are small, then we don’t have to decolonize minds in the future,” Dr Kanayo.
They were recently shortlisted for the World’s Best School Prize, putting them among the top 10 schools worldwide in the Overcoming Adversity category.