The current paradigm shift toward promoting education for skills and sustainable development gravitates toward alternative teaching and learning approaches in vocational education and training (VET) in Africa. It is argued that solutions to problems that currently plague the formal VET systems in the continent with reference to Uganda must proceed from understanding of local capacities. Such include the role of Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) in promoting sustainable development. This can be achieved by integrating IKS into the formal VET system to address some of the knowledge deficiencies in the VET system that, in Uganda, is currently practiced according to educational paradigms acquired from Western Europe in the wake of colonialism. This paper explores the possibilities IKS have to offer to the formal VET systems in Africa, specifically in Uganda, and within my own field of art and industrial design. It discusses by relating the current training gaps in the formal VET systems with the possibilities the indigenous knowledge systems offer. The paper concludes by highlighting that, formal VET curricula ought to constitute some design elements from the indigenous knowledge systems. Specifically, the elements should relate to policy and goals formulation, content and delivery strategies, organization of learning and the evaluation criteria. It also recognizes the fact that there are other challenges in the current VET systems that affect the implementation of education programs in Africa.

1. Integrating Indigenous Knowledge Systems
(IKS) into Formal Vocational Education and
Training (VET) Systems in Uganda: The
Potential for Sustainable Development
Wycliff Edwin Tusiime
Tampere, June 15th, 2013
Myths & Brands in VET Conference
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2. Outline
• Why integrate IKS into today’s VET?
• IKS in Africa: Is this a myth in VET?
• Possibilities of integration.
• Conclusion
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3. Why integrate IKS into today’s VET?
• VET has not yet
realized its master
key role of
alleviating poverty,
improving the quality
of life for all and help
achieve sustainable
dev’t on the African
continent.
(World Bank, 2001, 2004;
UNESCO 2001, 2004, 2006, 2012;
UNICEF, 2009)
• Missing link
between formal
VET and IKS and
pedagogies that
majority African
communities still
depend on and
are sustained.
(Nyerere 1968; Ngugi (1981)
Odora Hoppers (2002);
UNESCO, 2003; Breidlid, 2013;
Mswazie and Tapiwa, 2013)
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4. IKS in Africa: Is this a myth in VET?
• IK is not “myths” nor “folk
knowledge” nor “primitive” nor
“irrelevant” as it is branded in
most African formal education
systems.
[ Agrawal (1995); Moodie (2004);
Ogachi (2011); and Breidlid (2013)]
• IKS reflect local knowledge and
skills embedded in traditional
cultural values that Africa’s
majority rural people depend on
for survival. Such knowledge is
usually transmitted through
local languages. (Wolfensohn ,2000;
Kagoda, 2009)
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5. Possibilities of integration.
• VET policies and Goals
a) Re-define the role of IKS in formulating VET policies
and goals for the cultural and social-economic
development of traditional mostly African rural
communities.
b) Change perception towards IKS. IKS is not “Myths”
nor “primitive” nor “irrelevant”
• School curriculum
a) Localize learning content
b) Medium of instruction and materials
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6. Possibilities of integration.
• Introduce and modernize indigenous pedagogies
in formal VET
a) Hands-on training through apprenticeships and
workshop-based learning.
b) Problem-based pedagogical methods e.g. Action
Research
• Evaluation criteria
a) Assess skills and competences rather than Knowledge
Accumulation.
b) Recognize , certify and license skills acquired thru
Informal systems
c) Introduce social rewards/appraisals rather than
certificates.
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7. Conclusion
• Solutions to problems that currently plague
African societies and communities must proceed
from understanding the dynamics within the local
context e.g. IKS (Freire, 1970)
• Formal VET systems should incorporate the
cultural heritage and values (IKS) as the
grounding for VET policies and curriculum.
• Need to also address other VET challenges
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8. Thank you!
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