ABSTRACT

The education of young people in Africa has been receiving increasing political attention due to expanded schooling and, as a result, an expanding number of unemployed educated youths who challenge governments. While many studies have described young people in Africa as being in a stage of ‘waithood’, this special issue looks at decision-making processes in youths’ education. The articles, which are mainly based on anthropological fieldwork, show how fears of ‘losing’ the future and ideas of ‘securing’ it guide decisions about young people’s education. Economic, political, moral, gendered, and religious factors are decisive in educational decision-making processes. Moreover, the status and prestige attributed to various forms of education impact those decisions. By looking beyond ideas of ‘proper’ education, which often reduce it to public schooling, this issue gives insight into the educational landscape in Africa and its connections to those of other continents that shapes young people’s lives and futures.

摘要

由于学校教育的扩大，非洲青年的教育受到了越来越多的政治关注，结果，挑战政府的失业青年人数也不断增加。尽管许多研究都将非洲的年轻人描述为处于“等待”阶段，但本期专刊着眼于青年教育的决策过程。这些文章主要基于人类学实地考察，显示了对“失去”未来的恐惧和“确保”未来的想法如何指导有关年轻人的教育的决策。经济，政治，道德，性别和宗教因素在教育决策过程中起决定性作用。此外，归因于各种形式的教育的地位和声望也会影响这些决定。通过超越“适当”教育的观念，