Education

Teaching students how to learn will transform our education for generations

by

For most learners being educated at school is remembering or memorizing. Why? Because that is how the system orients them to look at education. Most learners consider schooling like a reward system, and themselves as heroes depending on how high up the reward ladder they are ranked.
One is considered not smart, creative, or intelligent unless the grading system says so! As such all creativity and innovativeness has to be shrunk to fit into the demands of the spoon- feeding system; which unfortunately, kills many dreams and talents.

How should the ‘dialogue’ between education and problems be structured for expertise to transform society?

by

We cannot deny the fact that the available education in itself has already equipped us as a nation with enough knowledge and skills to be far ahead of where we are. But growth of a state is a game of chess which takes skills, wisdom, commitment and discipline to win. It is a manifestation of us being learned people when our educators add value by being concerned with educating our own systems and are respected and listened to as experts.

Artificial Intelligence and Society: A Global Opportunity and Challenge

by

Researchers express concern particularly on the negative impacts of the modern technologies – especially now with the capacities of AI being only partially known – on behavioural and psychological health, and on cognitive capacities, such as decision making and critical thinking.
Among experts there are agitations regarding limitations of effective human control and unpredictability of the AI systems.
It is baffling and scary even to scientists themselves that AI tools can solve problems beyond what they were trained for by the human programmers, and even further applying problem solving models that humans do not recognize and cannot understand.

Wanted Urgently: Concerted public effort to reduce single-use plastics

by

Speaking of use of single-use plastics, we need policies that strictly forbid entry of unnecessary plastics, especially in packagings.

We need to more and more invest in biodegradable packaging, especially for consumables like foods and drinks. About 40 per cent of plastic waste has a connection with food and drinks.

Will Kiswahili poetry survive the whims of spoken language pollution?

by

Poetry is beyond rhymes and play of words, it is an art that enables poets to express carefully deeper thoughts and meaningful mental constructions which simple conversational words cannot present sufficiently. It is an art because we enjoy its richness especially as it informs both the society about itself and the outside world, and the world about itself and in relation to that particular society, respectively, in an inward and outward dynamic.

With language as the vehicle and safeguard for the treasures in poetry, it follows that when a language is polluted, there will be repercussions in the poetry of that language, and in the understanding of the corpus of poetry that has lived generations before such pollutions. Dynamics of languages are diverse and are often irreversible if appropriate action is not taken.

INTERVIEW | “A Child is a Free Mind”: Author Corona Kimaro Cermak on Storytelling, Identity, and Tanzanian Children’s Literature

by

My African heritage plays a crucial role in my storytelling. My Swahili culture and language largely constitutes my identity as a storyteller. ven though my children are half Czech, and half Tanzanian, they are blended in both cultures in a beautiful way. I believed by them having Swahili language and cultural awareness they will appreciate more the half of who they are, and be happy and free, when they visit Tanzania.

Lessons after a century past the racist zoo caging of Congolese ‘Ota Benga’ in America

by

he case of Mbye Otabenga (c. 1883-1916), now popular as “Ota Benga,” a Congolese young man from the Mbuti indigenous forest people, who was put in the zoo in America, is not isolated from the deep-rooted and widespread oppression and suppression of people of different races by the Caucasians of Europe and America, who at the time dominated science, trade, media, and publications.

The degrading oppression of people of African origin who have been referred to by colour ‘black,’ a hugely controversial and widely unacceptable taxonomy, has for centuries been given both reason and justification meaning by manipulating science in favour of the pervading oppressive idea.

Collective and urgent duty to safeguard mother languages – Part 2

by

A positive ideology behind a language is important for its life and survival. When this positive ideology is communicated, the love, passion and sense of ownership are deepened, especially among young people.

Researchers who studied reverse language shift say positive ideology and positive beliefs associated with speaking the language together with a strong cultural support are the two factors that most influence positive language growth among youth.

Collective and urgent duty to safeguard mother languages (Part 1)

by

Children can be encouraged to learn foreign languages even without being told their mother languages are not good enough. This way they will keep their love towards their mother languages and will not feel shameful to use them.

Need to protect traditional artists from AI and ‘modern art’

by

While traditional visual artists have so much value in the work done, the social media art appreciation is being taken over by the AI artists who invest nothing in their designs, and have no emotional connection with such art works. Traditional visual artists deserve more admiration and support than the AI artists who are not personally involved in the production of the artworks.