The Gap between Indigenous Ways of Life and Formal Education among the Guji People in Southern Ethiopia: Challenges and Lessons

Abstract

Children among indigenous people are involved in two disconnected social environments: the indigenous home context and the “modern” school environment. This disconnection and the way it affects children’s everyday lives have received little research attention so far.   Drawing on an ethnographic approach, this article examines children’s perspectives on this disconnection and its effects on their educational well-being among the Guji people in Ethiopia.  Unstructured interviews, focus group discussions and participant observations were used to generate data. Data were collected from three villages in the western part of the Guji district in 2019. Twenty-five children (13 girls and 12 boys) in the age range of 6-13 and their parents participated as sources of data.  The data wereanalyzed qualitatively and the result shows that the gap between the indigenous ways of life and formal education has exposed children to a sense of dis-entanglement and increasing challenges of learning. It discusses that the gap between the indigenous ways of life and formal education has weakened children’s learning efficacy; therefore, needs due attention from the government, policymakers, curriculum developers, teachers, and parents.