INSIGHTS
Decolonisation of knowledge and the fourth industrial revolution
BY SAURABH SINHA AND SHIREEN MOTALA This article first appeared in The African on 09 September 2022. Seven years after the #FeesMustFall protests broke out and swept across some South African universities, questions continue to linger as to whether, and how institutions are responding to the renewed calls for decolonisation of knowledge and higher education. The year 2015 was a turbulent time in higher education, and the decolonisation call arose as part of an increasingly broadening transformation agenda, ignited by the call for fee-free education. Yet, the call for decolonisation of knowledge in this field was unclear. At the height of the protests, we got to engage with some students
courses in the engineering curriculum contribute to building a sense of identity and ownership among South African students, and hence play a role in decolonising the study of engineering? In South Africa, the curriculum structure of engineering programmes is premised on international engineering accreditation accords. The curriculum structure or model provides for core engineering knowledge in combination with complementary courses. The purpose of these is to build the mindset for thinking “outside the box”. The latter can include courses in the humanities and social sciences, disciplines where students might find themselves owning widely disparate knowledge. This might include positioning engineering as an enabler to society – for instance regarding improved water quality has contributed to better health.
engineering has been around for many centuries, but has it adequately contributed to building equality, if at all?” Another student said, “Indigenous knowledge systems have been excluded, and the identity of knowledge does not always reflect black students.” These questions provoked a flurry of responses, but what was clear from the debate was that there was not a single answer to the question about decolonisation and engineering; it was rather collective perspectives that required reflection. One is tempted to draw an analogy with the field of language studies. One of Africa’s foremost authors, Ngugi wa Thiong’o has written extensively about the association of identity with language, the language one speaks as a child and grows up with. Could we learn from this in engineering? Could so-called complementary
who shared their viewpoints. One student indicated, “Well,
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