African Traditional Education is comprehensive in nature and therefore holistically develops every aspect of the personality of the individual ie. Individuals produced under this system are physically, economically, intellectually, emotionally, potentially, socially and morally as well as religiously and spiritually prepared for life. Such expressions like “uneducated trained teachers” and uneducated graduate” do not feature.
African Traditional Education succeeded to integrate its recipients into society from birth to death. Young people are given adequate knowledge about their history, briefs and culture as well as good character and good health; thus enabling them to participate fully in social life.
Every adult member of society had the responsibility of a teacher in African Traditional Education, all were concerned about the proper upbringing of the child and the whole environment was the school. Teaching and learning went on twenty – four hours a day; non – stop.
African Traditional Education is assessed locally based on the performance of the individual or the behaviour he/she put across. This made people to be cautions in whatever they do.
African Traditional Education developed in the members of society, natural collective consciousness ie. each was his brother’s keeper and support for one another in all situations was assured.
African Traditional Education purposefully prepared individuals for life in their immediate environment. For this reason, under that system, there was nothing like unemployment in society as we find under school education.
again, there was much educational and moral values in the initiation ceremonies under African Traditional Education such as Dipo and Brago. These values are now lost to us and this has thus contributed to the weakening of the good old traditions.
African Traditional Education develops special relationships between the adults and the young and this encourages the respect for adults.
Weaknesses of African Traditional Education
Despite the advantages that African Traditional Education has, some weaknesses can be observed. Some advantages inherent in African Traditional Education are:
- African Traditional Education in its true sense of the word is indigenous and local; as much most of the knowledge acquired through it could only be used in the local environments and may not meet the demands of other environments.
- African Traditional Education is more focused on the group more than the individual and as such no consideration is given to individual differences in terms of interest, aptitudes, and self – actualization.
- (c) African Traditional Education was a hindrance to development since birth (parentage) and environment (place of birth) determined the development of the individual; for example, a child born in a fishing locality is bound to be a fisherman; no matter his abilities and skills in other areas of endeavour.
- By nature, African Traditional Education was non – literate. This characteristic feature creates a weakness for the programme. Since it was non – literate, no figures and letters are learnt to recall events for the future generation. Every event was to be remembered. Though the elders could remember; many details were lost to us and even those that could be remembered were exaggerated in some cases.
- Let us reason out how the more complicated systems of trade, commerce and government could have been run without a system of recording. The use of recall of facts and events alone would have been difficult to operate.
- African Traditional Education by its nature exhibits the problem of lack of the sense of comparison and estimation, This weakness is still evident among Ghanaian illiterates; one say: “just there” and that will be about three kilometers away.