Education in a Multicultural Society

"But in conversations about Africa especially about development, there are a few consistent talking points – an absence of data. This absence of data hurts African nations in their ability to make good policy and solve problems especially about a lack of infrastructure."

"The old South African flag, once a marker of national pride for the apartheid state, is now a painful reminder of the country’s past. When South Africa became a democracy in 1994 with a new representative flag, the old blue, white and orange flag with its nod to colonialism and roots in Afrikaner nationalism, wasn’t entirely folded away and forgotten."

"Africa’s most advanced economy has threatened to regress this past fortnight as rolling blackouts kept the country in the dark. The blackouts are scheduled and limited, affecting different areas at different times, in a process meant to convey some sort of stability, even as the national grid flounders. These organized power cuts are known as “loadshedding,” a term coined by the failing national power supplier itself."

"In their latest release of crime statistics, the South African Police Service seem to have tried to downplay crime rate increases (and exaggerate crime rate decreases), by using the wrong population estimates. The police incorrectly used the June 2018 population estimates in their analysis of the 2017/18 crime rates. This is not the first time they have made this kind of bungle."

"Development charity Cafod, which forms part of Caritas International, has spoken to some of those left behind."

"Residents of Kenya’s biggest slum Kibera started their week on a bleak note: government cranes and bulldozers demolishing homes, schools, and businesses in certain sections of the slum to make way for a new $20m dual-carriageway in the capital Nairobi. Over 30,000 dwellers were rendered homeless in the process on Monday (July 24), a move Amnesty International Kenya said, “betrays the public trust and violates our laws.”"

"Proponents of mother tongue education tend to argue that children should be taught in the language they first learned and spoke at home. Those who oppose this approach argue that English is a “global language” and should be the main language of instruction throughout the school system and into higher education spaces."

"This report documents the progress South Africa has made in reducing poverty and inequality since the end of apartheid in 1994, with a focus on the period between 2006 and 2015."

"Some research suggests that droughts actually reduce, rather than cause, conflict. Similarly, in a recent paper I find that violent conflict across Africa is more frequent, on average, during times of higher agricultural productivity than during periods of scarcity. It is therefore misguided to blame violence on climate change alone."

"The United States is worried about China’s engagement in Africa, and how it is jockeying to spread its diplomatic, military and trade influence across the continent. That much is evident from comments of top US officials, who have recently stated that China’s financing of roads and bridges “comes at a price,” and that it’s new base in Djibouti on the strategic Gulf of Aden corridor is aimed at asserting “power over world trade.”

"You could compile a long list of ‘blackfaces’ in East Asian media over the last decade. But the latest version this Euro-American racist archetype in Chinese media is by far the most controversial—a skit on China’s English language TV station CCTV’s Spring Festival Gala featuring ‘blackface’ actors. Like the others on the growing list of racist incidents, this one has also gone viral."

"Data focused on the African continent is not as readily available, but what exists is alarming. Recent research by the Confederation of Tanzania Industries estimates that over 50% of all goods, including food, drugs and construction materials, imported into Tanzania are fake. Anecdotal evidence suggests that rates could be between 10% and 50%, depending on the food category and the country." 

"A majority of those leaving is forced out by conflicts, leaving their homes in countries such as South Sudan, the Central African Republic, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Sudan. Many of them are also children and women, who are fleeing inter-communal violence, economic decline, disease, and hunger. But some people are also moving from peaceful and economically stable countries too, like Namibia (190,000), Botswana (80,000) and Sao Tome & Principe (80,000)."

"Kenya’s economy expanded by an estimated 5.8 percent last year, the bank said in its latest report on the country, as the country recovered from a slowdown the year before caused by another drought and election jitters."

"Last week, Malawians living among South Africans in a squatter camp on the outskirts of Durban were attacked by their neighbors. More than 100 crowded into a police station for protection and were eventually housed in a tent in an open field. Unconfirmed reports said two people were killed."

"A new Afrobarometer survey of respondents in 34 African countries shows that 36% of Africans are more likely to move to another country within the continent. The trend noted in the report is also backed by reality as only 20% of African migrants who decide to emigrate from their countries actually leave the continent, according to the African Union. "

"In a key address delivered today (Sept. 12), European commission president Jean-Claude Juncker said Africa was “the future” and called for strengthening partnerships with the continent. Juncker specifically proposed a new program that would create up to 10 million jobs in the next five years and could potentially unlock €44 billion ($51 billion) in public and private investments."

"The Kenyan nonprofit organization Shining Hope for Communities (Shofco) was announced this week as the recipient of the the Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize."

"In Nigeria, an almost two-year recession brought on by disrupted oil output and a crash in commodity prices, led Africa’s largest economy into a period of intense self-analysis. The oil growth that Nigeria enjoyed between 2011 and 2015 was exposed as a poisoned chalice and diversification became a rallying cry."

"Ezekiel is one of the thousands of comfortably middle-class Nigerians looking to uproot their families and plant them across the Atlantic. For many, that desire is borne out of growing frustrations with living in a country where basic amenities can often be a luxury despite the trappings of a middle-class life."

"More than half of the population already lives in poverty, and a further 27% of the population live in a state of susceptibility to poverty. These 27% are referred to as the transient poor by the World Bank in it’s report “Overcoming poverty and inequality in South Africa.” On the other hand 20% of the country can be considered middle class, while only 4% of the country is considered elite. In comparison, Mauritius’ middle class is nearly 80% of the population."

"UNICEF estimates that Nigeria has 10.5 million children of school age who do not get into school at all, the highest in the world."

"Accra’s gutters are persistently clogged, despite pressure on government and promises in return. A common complaint through the city is that when people clean out the gutters, waste will sit in a pile nearby and eventually find its way back. Piles of rubbish sit on street corners, picked on by birds. After a storm, plastic bottles washed out with the rain return to line the beaches."

"The UK will pay up to £700,000 ($967,954) to build a new 112-bed wing at Kirikiri maximum security prisons, one of Nigeria’s largest. Boris Johnson, UK’s foreign secretary says sponsoring the prison will allow for some of the over 320 Nigerian inmates currently serving time in the UK to complete their sentences in Nigeria—in line with a 2014 prisoner transfer agreement between both countries."

"The country’s current debate over land expropriation without compensation, which has now been endorsed by Parliament, is important. Not because, as some fear, it will radically change the constitution. Rather, it tells South Africans how, in the economy and other spheres, the country deals with its minority ruled past: by crisis followed by compromise."