Contending perspectives on workers’ education in Nigeria and South Africa.
Abstract:Comparative analysis of the African labour movements is rare, and yet these movements grapple with similar challenges, such as confronting colonial and post-colonial labour regimes. While South Africa and Nigeria boast invaluable literature on workers’ education, an educational tool used by the labour movements, no attempts have been made to compare structured workers’ education in both countries. To bridge this gap, this article examines workers’ education in Nigeria and South Africa, with the aim of unveiling patterns of both similarities and dissimilarities in their implementation. The central focus of the article is to illustrate how workers’ education in both nations was influenced and shaped by distinct political and ideological perspectives. In the cases of Nigeria and South Africa, two predominant and contrasting perspectives emerge: the radical approach and the reformist perspective. These competing viewpoints on workers' education have persisted from colonial times in Nigeria and have continued through the colonial and apartheid eras in South Africa, persisting even after both countries embarked on their respective paths to political liberation.
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