Schooling: a political analysis of the distribution of power and privilege

Abstract

The magnitude and ramifications of societal revolutions, on a global plane, have served to illuminate and heighten the crucial role of schooling in the economic, social and political development of a polity. Similarly, such events have borne witness to the central role of schooling in social selection, that is in conferring differential power and reward upon a nation's citizenry. It is the purpose of this paper to examine the complex relationship between schooling and the social, economic and political development of the underdeveloped Third World countries of Africa. The theme of this paper is that schooling, despite the unswerving faith placed in it to stimulate economic development in emerging African countries, may indeed by dysfunctional, in the short run, to social, political and economic unification. Given the fact that many of the Third World African countries have gained their independence since the post-World War II period, speculatively speaking, it becomes appropriate to ask the question, after colonisation and the revolutionwhat? (Hendrikz, 1979). African university students command a unique position in African society constituting the largest reservoir of highly trained manpower on a continent where individuals with such skills are rare. As the most highly educated members of their societies, they have often been considered 'an incipient elite' destined for future leadership roles. For this very reason, African students though regarded as agents of modernisation, whose skills are vital for development, are similarly regarded as potential sources of conflict in advancing a class barrier between the educated and less well-educated members of their societies. Although emphasis is placed upon schooling at the university level, the findings have relevance for the overall system of schooling, in light of the fact that universities are but a mirror of processes operative in other schooling levels. The term 'Third World', as used in this paper, is an evolving concept (Hermassi, 1980). Initially, the notion encompassed struggles for national liberation in colonised regions of the world and coincided with the period of decolonisation in most of Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean. This period witnessed the espousal of socialism and Third World solidarity which sought to adopt a stance of neutralism, with alignment with neither the Communist nor non-Communist bloc countries. Even further, the concept generally includes the underdeveloped nations in the world. For the purposes of this study, specific focus is placed on the underdeveloped countries of Africa. The term 'underdeveloped' is used to characterise those countries that have yet to realise their potential economic level of production and capacity for a higher standard of living. Clearly one would err in positing that all underdeveloped countries are alike in 173