CeCASt Seminar

Presenter: Charles Prempeh, PhD
Research Fellow, CeCASt, KNUST

Topic: Ɔkyerɛkyerɛni and Osuani: Re-evaluating the Philosophy of Education in Ghana

Date: 30 July 2026

Venue: CeCASt Seminar Room

Time: 10:00 am

Abstract

The philosophy of education remains contested regarding its aims, methods, and conception of the human person. In Ghana, successive educational reforms have largely reflected external philosophical paradigms while neglecting indigenous intellectual traditions, resulting in an education system that privileges professional competence over ethical formation and human flourishing. This paper draws on the Akan concepts of ɔkyerɛkyerɛni and osuani to re-evaluate the philosophical foundations of education. In critical dialogue with Western philosophies of education, it argues that education is fundamentally an ethical and ontological enterprise concerned with forming persons capable of sustaining communal life and safeguarding the conditions necessary for human flourishing.