Choosing 'medersa': discourses on secular versus Islamic education in Mali, West Africa

bibliographic database
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Periodical article

Title:	Choosing 'medersa': discourses on secular versus Islamic education in Mali, West Africa
Author:	Bell, Dianna
Year:	2015
Periodical:	Africa Today (ISSN 1527-1978)
Volume:	61
Issue:	3
Pages:	45-63
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Mali
Subjects:	Islamic education educational history
External link:	https://muse.jhu.edu/journals/africa_today/v061/61.3.bell.pdf
Abstract:	As leaders in Mali continue to stress the importance of education and literacy, those seeking to follow the call for formal schooling have options to choose from, including public schools modeled after the European education system, Qur'anic schools, and 'medersas'. This article explores the motivations that lead Malians to select and value Islamic education. It describes how systems of Islamic education in colonial and postcolonial Mali have operated and reveals the ways Malians measure the worth of education. It shows that education cannot be understood solely for its potential to advance development and alleviate poverty: rather, it argues that Malians assess the worth of education through Islamic notions of merit ('baraji') and as an opportunity for expressing a Muslim identity against a colonial legacy. Bibliogr., sum. [Journal abstract]