Pre-service Science Teacher Education in Africa: Prospects and Challenges

Since the independence era in the 1950s and 1960s, many African countries have recognised the important role that science plays in the socio-economic development of any country. As a result, various African governments have enacted policies and allocated a large proportion of their gross national product to the science and science education sector of the economy. For instance, many African countries introduced universal primary education and to cater for the bulging student population increased the number of their secondary schools considerably. However, the rapid expansion of educational facilities has to some degree compromised the quality of the science teaching in many African schools. Among the various problems facing science education in Africa since the independence era, however, the most frequently mentioned has been the shortage of qualified science teachers. Science teachers play a critical role in laying the foundation of scientific literacy of a country. Indeed, no education system can outperform the quality of its teachers.