Indigenous Knowledge and Vocational Education: Marginalisation of Traditional Medicinal Treatments in Rwandan TVET Animal Health Courses

Chika Ezeanya-Esiobu,Vedaste Ndungutse,Chidi Oguamanam

doi:10.23962/10539/31372

Abstract

This study explores Rwandan ethno-veterinary knowledge and the degree to which this knowledge is reflected in the country’s technical and vocational education and training (TVET) instruction. The knowledge considered is the Indigenous medicinal knowledge used by rural Rwandan livestock farmers to treat their cattle. Through interviews with farmers, TVET graduates and TVET teachers, and an examination of the current TVET Animal Health curriculum, the research identifies a neglect of Indigenous knowledge in the curriculum, despite the fact that local farmers use numerous Indigenous medicinal innovations to treat their animals. The focus of the Rwanda’s TVET Animal Health curriculum is on Western-origin modern veterinary practices. The authors argue that this leaves Rwandan TVET Animal Health graduates unprepared for optimal engagement with rural farmers and with the full range of potential treatments.

Highlights

Often dismissed as fetish, retrogressive, superstitious, and of no scientific validity, Africa’s Indigenous knowledge systems were mostly ridiculed by the colonial administrations
The end of colonial rule in Sub-Saharan Africa did not generate a meaningful departure from reliance on Western knowledge systems, and the colonial state of affairs largely persists in many African countries in respect of the treatment of Indigenous knowledge in official, formal education curricula
We explore Rwandan farmers’ use of Indigenous knowledge to treat ailments in cattle, and the degree to which this ethno-veterinary medical knowledge is reflected in the country’s technical and vocational education and training (TVET) instruction in Animal Health

Summary

Introduction

Retrogressive, superstitious, and of no scientific validity, Africa’s Indigenous knowledge systems were mostly ridiculed by the colonial administrations. Cattle, animal health, Indigenous knowledge, ethno-veterinary medicine, medicinal herbs, technical and vocational education and training (TVET), Rwanda Indigenous knowledge and vocational education: Marginalisation of traditional medicinal treatments in Rwandan TVET Animal Health courses.

Results

Conclusion