Abstract:
In Namibia, as is the case in the rest of Africa, different versions of an indigenous knowledge-based education, mainly through the formal setting of traditional
initiation schools, was an integral part of community life (Amukugo, 1993; Ray,
1999). The initiation school, of which attendance was compulsory, was a system
of formal education with parallels to Western forms of education. For example,
initiation schools had a standardized curriculum, set times of instruction, specified
age of children for instruction, assessment strategies, use of ‘qualified’ instructors
(experienced village elders) and formal arrangements to recognize and celebrate
those who successfully completed the education (Matemba, 2010). The curriculum offered included teaching the neophytes on ‘proper’ use of language, survival skills, customs, values, marriage, parenting, religion, respect for others, etc. (Mbiti, 1999; Amanze, 2002). As numerous studies have shown, the arrival of missionaries and colonial political powers in Africa from the mid-1800s onwards and their attitudes towards African cultural institutions impacted negatively on the viability of the African indigenous system of education, which was condemned as barbaric, heathen and an impediment to the consolidation of Christianity and Western culture on the continent (Abernethy, 1969; McCracken, 1977; Nduka, 1980; Ball, 1983; Comaroff & Comaroff, 1986)
