Education must be balanced. Money should not be a barrier

For Africans and other stakeholders the time has come to ensure that universities and education institutions get restructured so that they can fully care for and accommodate African children.

Teaching and learning African languages is the major key to the transformation of the education system in universities.

A compulsory online module should be instituted for all first-year undergraduate students in every university to introduce them to the reflections and writings of African thought leaders.

As Africans, we cannot talk about transformation or the decolonisation of education without involving African languages.

To decolonise westernised universities, all indigenous languages in the country must be used as official languages in every university.

Universities must offer these languages from undergraduate to postgraduate as a medium of instruction.

Most buildings and statues that were built during the colonisation or apartheid eras must be changed because – for black students and staff arriving at the university – those buildings and statues remain a constant reminder of how and for whom the university was designed.

This includes colonial architecture.

Education must be balanced. It must favour both non-Western and Western people. There must be no information that is considered inferior or superior because of skin colours.

In some universities, reports state, there are still faculties in which black lecturers are not allowed to lecture.

Another thing, education must be free or affordable to black children.

Education has become more important in today’s life. But, because of high fees at universities, many of our black sisters and brothers are left out. They can’t afford to pay those fees, but they meet all the requirements to be eligible for university.

Affordable or free education is seriously needed. I don’t think the state will suffer financial loss resulting from free education.

There’s a lot of money that is used to bail out state entities that are not generating profit.

If things were being channelled correctly, that money could be used to finance needy students across the country.

As a student, I want the universities to offer one African language in every qualification from first year to third year and make it compulsory to pass it.

Students should be allowed to write assignments in the language of their choice.

The government should make education accessible to everyone who meets the requirements to be in varsity.

Money should not be a barrier.