The purpose of this study is to identify some issues encroaching upon the efficiency and relevance of Guinea-Bissau's educational system.
The study has attempted to answer the following questions: (1) What approaches have dominated educational reform in Africa? (2) What factors are behind Guinea-Bissau's educational problems? (3) What are the alternatives, including language policies, that would help Guinea-Bissau break with neo-colonialism and intellectual dependency?
The study was divided into five areas:
The first area presented an overview of Africa's educational problems.
The next area of emphasis examined traditional education in pre-colonial Africa, including its philosophy, the curriculum and methodologies of teaching and learning. It also examined African educational development during independence. Educational policies were seen as primarily determined by the imperatives of resource constraints, manpower needs, and by pressures from both national and international interest groups.
The third area explored the special educational problems and requirements of Guinea-Bissau's educational system. Guinea-Bissau's educational problems were seen as determined by lack of financial resources. Other categories of problems were the result of planning and coordination inefficiencies and lack of the necessary indigenous skills to redirect the development of educational system after independence. It is assumed that none of the borrowed educational traditions, be it Portugese, French or English, are adequate to the solution of Guinea-Bissau's problems.
The fourth section presents an interdisciplinary framework to the analysis of issues considered essential in designing an autochthonous educational system for Guinea-Bissau.
The last area of emphasis explored alternative techniques and methods which could accelerate educational development in Guinea-Bissau. The results of a research study on the relevance and efficiency of Guinea-Bissau primary education suggests that the structures and values of both the modern and the traditional African society, would have to be incorporated.
The proposed reforms recognize the existence of degrees of interdependence between traditional and modern values. It is a proposition that sees latitude for compromise and synthesis. An educational system designed with this in mind might be able to cater to the particular learning needs and circumstances of Guinea-Bissau.
