With the fall of apartheid in South Africa, expectations were high for the enfranchisement of the acutely underdeveloped majority in South Africa. But problems abound, and this educational study looks critically at the educational situation and puts forth a number of proposals that could produce better results in contemporary South Africa. Abdi urges that beyond the celebratory platforms of the political triumph over apartheid, there must be effective and culturally inclusive programs of education for the development of the highly disenfranchsed majority in South Africa. Deliberate programs of colonialism and apartheid in South Africa resulted in inferior education, cultural marginalization, political oppression, economic exploitation and resulting underdevelopment in the lives of the disenfranchised majority. In addition to historical and contemporary analysis, this study looks at the possibilities of formulating and implementing new programs of education and development that could effectively deal with such current problems as chronic unemployment, skyrocketing crime rates, stagnating learning systems, and the continuing formations of a huge underclass that may be losing its stake in the promised post-apartheid project.

This book focuses on education policy framework for educating marginalized children in sub-Saharan Africa. It uses “marginality” as a critical discourse to highlight the complicated ways education policy making in sub-Saharan Africa have constructed and perpetuated marginality in the region since Africa’s encounters with Europe. The book is organized around two parts, each of which discusses a specific dimension of the marginality and education policy nexus. Part I focuses on theorizations of marginality and education. The theoretical framework on marginality and education outlines the definitional and conceptual backgrounds on marginality – the complicated ways policies of the Christian missionaries, colonial governments and postcolonial governments constructed and perpetuated marginality in the region. Part II focuses on addressing the issue of marginality from theory to practice. These chapters highlight the ways policies shaped the educational development, schooling processes, and educational outcomes of selected marginalized communities and groups. Attention is given to schooling in rural communities, the complexities of girls’ education in rural contexts, education of Zongo Muslim communities, violence in school in rural contexts, and education collaboration in rural traditional communities. The book argues that education policies in sub-Saharan Africa fail to address the educational needs of marginalized children because current policy frameworks ae not based on examination of colonial policies which created the existing marginality. In order to implement policies that address policy gaps and meet the educational needs of marginalized children, strong synergies are necessary between education policy makers, other education stakeholders, and marginalized communities.

The book represents a contribution to policy formulation and design in an increasingly knowledge economy in Zimbabwe. It challenges scholars to think about the role of education, its funding and the egalitarian approach to widening access to education. The nexus between education, democracy and policy change is a complex one. The book provides an illuminating account of the constantly evolving notions of national identity, language and citizenship from the Zimbabwean experience. The book discusses educational successes and challenges by examining the ideological effects of social, political and economic considerations on Zimbabwe’s colonial and postcolonial education. Currently, literature on current educational challenges in Zimbabwe is lacking and there is very little published material on these ideological effects on educational development in Zimbabwe. This book is likely to be one of the first on the impact of social, political and economic meltdown on education. The book is targeted at local and international academics and scholars of history of education and comparative education, scholars of international education and development, undergraduate and graduate students, and professors who are interested in educational development in Africa, particularly Zimbabwe. Notwithstanding, the book is a valuable resource to policy makers, educational administrators and researchers and the wider community. Shizha and Kariwo’s book is an important and illuminating addition on the effects of social, political and economic trajectories on education and development in Zimbabwe. It critically analyses the crucial specifics of the Zimbabwean situation by providing an in depth discourse on education at this historical juncture. The book offers new insights that may be useful for an understanding of not only the Zimbabwean case, but also education in other African countries. Rosemary Gordon, Senior Lecturer in Educational Foundations, University of Zimbabwe Ranging in temporal scope from the colonial era and its elitist legacy through the golden era of populist, universal elementary education to the disarray of contemporary socioeconomic crisis; covering elementary through higher education and touching thematically on everything from the pernicious effects of social adjustment programmes through the local deprofessionalization of teaching, this text provides a comprehensive, wide ranging and yet carefully detailed account of education in Zimbabwe. This engagingly written portrayal will prove illuminating not only to readers interested in Zimbabwe’s education specifically but more widely to all who are interested in how the sociopolitical shapes education- how ideology, policy, international pressures, economic factors and shifts in values collectively forge the historical and contemporary character of a country’s education. Handel Kashope Wright, Professor of Education, University of British Columbia