African Union International Schools
 


The African Union International School is one  model ACE school. Typically, an AU International School serves 240-500 primary and secondary students from the 54 states of the African Union and from the African Diaspora. The School is a unique international co-educational institution offering an African Centered Curriculum, which combines world-class standards with the best practices in afrocentric education.

The African Centered International Curriculum places Africa and the Africans at the center of the educational experience. It emphasizes African history, culture and worldviews while imparting to students the scientific and technological competencies as well as the ideological commitment to work for the unity and prosperity of Africa and the world. The K-12 curriculum is designed to prepare students for entry in the best universities in Africa, Asia, Europe or America. Its aim is to produce an international citizen proudly rooted in his/her culture with open arms reaching out to the other members of the human family.

The AU International provides a pan African learning environment in which a new generation of Africans will be trained in the spirit of African Renaissance and groomed to hold continental and world leadership positions in the public or private sectors for the purpose of steering Africa in the path of rebirth in this tough and competitive world. Graduates of the AU International School form a pan-African network of leaders that collaborate to make African Renaissance a reality across the continent.

1- Background/Rationale

There has been a paradigm shift in African leadership. African Heads of States and Governments have taken the firm resolution to work together for the political and socio-economic rebirth of the African Continent and its Diaspora. This vision of African Renaissance has materialized by the transformation of the Organization of African Unity into the African Union, and the creation of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD).

The long-term sustainability of any programme for change depends heavily on its ownership by the people for which the reforms are intended and who stand to benefit from them. History teaches us that no major social change has occurred without parallel qualitative overhaul of the educational programmes. The success of the vision promoted by the African Union and NEPAD will depend on our ability to impart the values of African Renaissance to the young generation of Africans through schooling and other socializing agencies. By the time the youth thus educated become adults, they would have internalised the new values, norms and programmes, and will be willing and able to carry them into reality.

At the present time, there is a gap between the great vision and programmes of African Renaissance and the way African children are being educated and socialized all over the Continent and in the Diaspora. The national educational systems of Africa have not been modified to reflect the shift of paradigm in African leadership. Overcrowded schools, lack of educational materials, ill trained and underpaid teachers are just some of the diseases plaguing African primary and secondary schools. But the main problem remains the continued use of the culturally irrelevant curriculum inherited from former colonial masters. Numerous studies reveal a growing dissatisfaction of the general population with the product of African educational systems. A recent survey revealed that paradoxically, the disgruntled African Elite is now sending their children into French, British or American international schools that are present in every major African city and are actively recruiting African youth.

The problem is that western international schools are not designed to educate African children for African Renaissance. In his classic book “The Miseducation of the Negro”, Dr. Carter G. Woodson, an African expert in the field of education, makes a critical assessment of eurocentric educational system as it relates to educating students of African descent: “The same educational process, which inspires and stimulates the European student with the thought that he is everything and has accomplished everything worthwhile, depresses and crushes at the same time that spark of genius in the African child by making him feel that his race does not amount to much and never will measure up to the standards of other peoples. The African thus educated is a hopeless liability to his people”. If we do not reclaim the hearts, minds and souls of our young ones, someone else will and it will be to our detriment.

The need to develop and promote an African focused educational curriculum that is relevant to the African Renaissance project cannot be overstated. This curriculum must be able to compete effectively with other international curricula currently offered on the global market for education. The continental network of African Union International Schools insures the presence of African worldview and knowledge systems in the international market for the minds and hearts of the younger generation, and provides a credible and competitive alternative to the Eurocentric education of the African elite.

2- Brief Description of the School

Curriculum
: Standardized African Centered International Curriculum. Grade 12 students must sit for the Advanced Placement International Diploma. A pass mark in 5 of the following subjects is required for graduation: Calculus, Computer Science, Physical Science, Life Science, English, Swahili, French, African History, African Geography, and Egyptology. Agriculture and appropriate technologies are taught. Leadership, Entrepreneurship and Spirituality programs are mandatory for all students.

Languages of Instruction: English and Swahili.

School Calendar: August to June

Number of school days per annum: 190

Average number of student per class: 20

Facilities: Classrooms, Science and Computer Laboratories, Library, Multipurpose hall, Sports facilities, Nurse Quarters, Administrative Building, Student Hostel, Cafeteria, Places of worship for Christian, Muslim and African Religions.

If you would like to register your child in an AU International School or if you have the interest of setting such a school in your country or locality, please contact:

ACE Foundation
53 West Road President park
PO Box 6972 Midrand 1685

Tel: +27(0)11 310 3040
+27(0)10 223 70 62
+27(0)80 033 36 36
Cell: +27 71 602 2895
Fax: +27(0)11 310 8067
Email: info@auis.co.za



 
   
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