ASRC 6600 - Education and Development in Africa

(crosslisted)
(also EDUC 5020)

Spring. 4 credits.

N. Assié-Lumumba.

Human capital theory establishes a positive and linear relationship between formal education and individual productivity and socioeconomic attainment and economic growth and development of nations. While enjoying considerable popularity in industrial and developing countries, including African countries, education has also been perceived as a hindrance to development. The concept of human capital and paradigms of development including modernization, dependency, and Third World Forum are first introduced. Specific issues discussed include schooling and nonformal education; the role of primary, secondary, and higher education in development; and language, access, output, and outcome based on social class, ethnicity, race, and gender. Employment, migration and international brain drain, the information and communication technologies, indigenous knowledge systems, and the role of higher education in regional and international cooperation are also examined.