Conference article

Enrolment numbers in Design and Technology and other technology related subjects are reported to be declining in Botswana and in other countries of Africa. Design and Technology enrolment in Botswana junior secondary schools have declined by up to 6% per year over 10 years; while in Kenya enrolment in Art and Design has gone down to as low as one student in a year stream in some schools. In Swaziland female enrolment in Design and Technology dropped from 200 in 2007 to 25 in 2011. Research has indicated that while a decline in enrolment numbers cannot be attributed to lack of resources alone; this is a major factor that should be accorded much research attention; at least in the African continent. Africa is endowed with indigenous materials and technologies that could relieve curriculum systems in the continent the burden of too much reliance on western systems of production that require modern materials; tools and equipment. This paper explores the role of Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) in addressing the problem of declining enrolments in Design and Technology. Two examples of the same product (an indigenous design and a western design) are compared in terms of resource needs in making the products. It is concluded that the western design is far more capital intensive in terms of resources needed to make the product and therefore costly for African economies.

Indigenous Knowledge Systems; Culture; Euro-Western; Design and Technology; Botswana; Kenya; Swaziland