1. UKZN INSPIRING GREATNESS
AFRICAN INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE SYSTEMS AND
HUMAN RIGHTS: IMPLICATIONS FOR HIGHER
EDUCATION
J. C. Mubangizi and H.O. Kaya, University of KwaZulu-Natal

2. UKZN – INSPIRING GREATNESS
Structure of the Presentation
• Introduction
• The Ubuntu Philosophy, Human Rights and African Indigenous
Knowledge Systems
• Incorporation of Human Rights into Higher Education
Curriculum in Africa
• African Indigenous Knowledge Systems in Higher Education:
Prospects and Challenges
• The IKS Teaching Programmes at North-West University(South
Africa)
• The African Indigenous Knowledge Systems Signature Project
at the University of Kwazulu-Natal (South Africa)
• Conclusion and Recommendations

3. UKZN – INSPIRING GREATNESS
INTRODUCTION
• Human rights are today worldwide recognized as ideals to be
pursued by human societies
• There is an African perspective that looks at the concept of human
rights rather differently.
• The western idea was introduced in the legal systems of most non-
western cultures through colonialism.
• This Western perspective is different from the traditional
African perspective of human rights, and has limitations as well
The African understanding of human rights includes the rights of
other forms of creation.
African traditions, values and ways of knowing have always
emphasized this interrelatedness of forms of creation.

4. UKZN – INSPIRING GREATNESS
THE UBUNTU PHILOSOPHY, HUMAN RIGHTS AND
AFRICAN INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE SYSTEMS
'Ubuntu' is an African indigenous philosophy and way of knowing that
offers human beings an understanding of themselves in relation with all
other forms of God‟s creation.
According to Ubuntu philosophy there exists a common bond or
relationship between all human beings and other forms of creation.
The Zulu people of South Africa say, "Umuntu Ngumuntu Ngabantu", - a
person is a person through other persons.
John Mbiti: “I am because we are, and because we are therefore I am”.
“Ubuntu” has a universal applicability.
“Ubuntu” challenges the Eurocentric view that before colonization Africa
as a continent was a tabula rasa.
Understanding human rights and incorporating them in the higher
education curricular requires an acknowledgement of their relationship to
the African philosophy of Ubuntu.

5. UKZN – INSPIRING GREATNESS
INCORPORATING HUMAN RIGHTS INTO THE
HIGHER EDUCATION CURRICULUM IN AFRICA
Teaching human rights at any level should usually be seen in the general
context of human rights education (HRE).
At university level, the link between HRE and the human rights
movement is students and human rights academics.
The incorporation of human rights into the curriculum of African
universities gathered pace in the 1990s
The pace of university human rights teaching was given impetus in
2004 when the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed the World
Programme for Human Rights Education.
An important development that has significant implications for higher
education is the diversification of human rights teaching at African
universities - no longer confined to faculties but now diversifying to
centres of human rights e.g. University of Pretoria, Addis Ababa
University, Makerere University, and University of Fort Hare.

6. UKZN – INSPIRING GREATNESS
AFRICAN INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE SYSTEMS IN
HIGHER EDUCATION: PROSPECTS AND CHALLENGES
African indigenous knowledge Systems (AIKS) as community-based bodies of
knowledge, skills, values for sustainable livelihood;
AIKS based on the “Ubuntu” philosophy and principles;
The holistic nature of AIKS integrates theory, social practice and spirituality
marginalized by western knowledge systems.
AIKS are usually transmitted from one generation to the other orally through
folk media and social practices.
Colonialism and apartheid marginalized AIKS in the educational system and in
the search for sustainable solutions to global challenges.
Incorporation of AIKS into the education system and sustainable development
is part of the transformation process from Apartheid in South Africa (National
Curriculum Statements and National IKS Policy).

7. UKZN – INSPIRING GREATNESS
THE INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE SYSTEMS TEACHING
PROGRAMME AT THE NORTH-WEST UNIVERSITY (SOUTH
AFRICA): PROSPECTS AND CHALLENGES
Higher educational institutions in South Africa have tried to incorporate IKS in
their core business as part of their transformation process with various
successes and challenges: North-West University (2001) and University of
Kwazulu-Natal (2012).
 North-West University AIKS integration successes:
- Student positive attitudes toward AIKS Programme integration as it
inculcates their own experiences, culture and local languages;
- Students gaining multi-disciplinary knowledge and experiences;
- Improvement in student performance due to relationship between
curriculum and student own experiences;
- building strong relationships between students, researchers, academics
and local communities;
- Multi-and transdisciplinarity programme attracts students from African
different countries;

8. UKZN – INSPIRING GREATNESS
Challenges of IKS Integration: North-west
University
 Implementation difficulties due to dominance of western education in the
mindset of stakeholders.
 Shortage of IKS qualified staff to teach and supervise IKS research, and lack
of relevant teaching and learning materials.
 Lack of support from some sections of the institutional management due to
limited knowledge and awareness on the role importance of IKS in 21st
Century challenges.
The attempted solutions to meet these challenges:
Aggressive marketing and awareness campaigns of the IKS programmes
within and outside South Africa.
Development and registration of a professional four years Bachelor of
Indigenous Knowledge Systems (BIKS) which integrates both the natural
and social sciences;
Adoption of the BIKS Programme as a regional IKS programme by SADC
Ministerial Conference on IKS Policy meeting in the Seychelles 2009.

9. UKZN – INSPIRING GREATNESS
INTEGRATION OF AFRICAN INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE SYSTEMS
(AIKS) INTO RESEARCH, TEACHING AND COMMUNITY
ENGAGEMENT AT THE UNIVESITY OF KWAZULU-NATAL (UKZN)
The rationale and motivation of AIKS integration into institutional core
business:
- historical background of the institution‟s apartheid racial past;
- in-line with institutional vision and mission of becoming the premier
university of African scholarship.
AIKS as one of the strategies to give definition and form the concept of
„a truly South African scholarship‟.
Inclusion of AIKS in the institutional Strategic Plan.
Review of institutional IKS Capacity (2009)- research, teaching and
community engagement resources;
Appointment of a Research Leader to provide leadership and coordination
of AIKS integration process;
The AIKS integration process activities: stakeholder consultation for a buy-
in; identification of AIKS champions and constitution of AIKS working
group; creation of AIKS database; development of AIKS policy.

10. UKZN – INSPIRING GREATNESS
Conclusion and Recommendations
 Higher education and human rights as they exist today in Africa have been
viewed as promoting western individualism rather than the collective and
integrative values of Ubuntu.
 The incorporation of human rights in the curriculum of higher education
institutions ought to be done in such a way that it helps to promote an
understanding of the value of human rights and its role in fostering a sense of
social responsibility and addressing societal and global problems.
 Majority of Africans depend on AIKS for sustainable livelihood.
 AIKS need to be incorporated into higher education system (HES) to enhance
(HES) relevance in human capital development for sustainable development.