This essay vividly illustrates the hardships of childhood education in West Africa.The title is "Education in Africa : A Matter of Survival of the Fittest".

Essay by SAEEDN58College, UndergraduateA-, September 2003

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Education in Africa: 'A matter of survival of the fittest!'

As he approached me by walking bare-footed on a dusty road in one of the poorest villages of West Africa (not mentioned), his eyes wept tears of hopelessness, discouragement, and agony. Without any second thought, my eyes soon became filled with tears of sympathy as I slowly held my hands on his shoulders to ease his pain.

I said, "What's the matter?"

He said, "School fees," as the tears run on his cheeks onto his brown-dirty-shirt.

I then managed to calm him down and continued: "What else?"

He slowly but painfully said, "FOOD....."

I thought so, for he was not only feeling the pain of his teacher's cane, but also hungry.

This compelling, yet sympathetic story is about a 10-year-old orphan. Residing with his father's friend at that time, he was beaten and sent back home by a primary school teacher of some variety, simply because his school fees was not paid and he refused to stay home as ordained by the teacher.

This innocent boy who sometimes endures three days without food (but manage to be in school), apparently, has become another victim of educational abuse mostly perpetuated by primary school teachers in many West-African countries. Plus, his dream of becoming a doctor was yet to fade due to the inaccurate, fruitless educational systems adapted from colonial era in the country, and virtually every West African country for that matter, for if there were to be a better educational policy in a nearby country, I was willing to help send this child to that country to continue his education.

Permit me to write, that gone are the colonial masters, therefore it's about time for African leaders to reform the educational policies in their respective countries, and thus to...