Schooling and well-being in postcolonial societies

ABSTRACT

Well-being is realised through the interaction of the individual’s desires and capacities, and external contexts. Contexts in postcolonial societies diverge from the assumptions of functioning liberal democratic states and capitalist economies often assumed in theories of schooling. Instead, these contexts are characterised by poverty and inequality, cultural diversity, and ongoing projects of state and nation-building. Through case studies of two rural communities in India and South Africa, this paper analyses the role of postcolonial contexts in shaping well-being opportunities through schooling in these contexts. It highlights the contested nature of this relationship in cultural, economic, and political spheres.

KEYWORDS:

• Well-being
• postcolonial
• school
• education
• the capability approach

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. This paper is based on the author’s doctoral research.

2. The naming of these groups is contested. Tribal is the official category, while they identify themselves as Adivasi (original inhabitants). See Xaxa (2008).

3. These communities were forced to move from their dispersed homesteads into consolidated villages (‘Locations’) in the 1960s by the apartheid regime. AmaFengu means Fengu People in Xhosa.

4. Bhakti or devotional Hinduism was also propagated by Gandhains in the 1950s who had moved into this region heeding Gandhi’s call for Sarvodaya (upliftment of all).

5. Minimum government implied outsourcing of public services and reduction of bureaucracy, as well as minimal regulation of private enterprises.

6. http://www.statssa.gov.za/?page_id=993&id=ngqushwa-municipality accessed on 8 May 2020.

7. Norms suggested a merger of a primary school with less than 100 learners and a secondary school with less than 200 learners with a nearby school.

8. http://www.statssa.gov.za/?page_id=993&id=ngqushwa-municipality accessed on 8 May 2020.