EXPLORING SUSTAINABLE CULTURAL PERSPECTIVES ON CHILDREN’S EDUCATION AND ECONOMIC CAPACITY IN AFRICA

Abstract

Other than children’s right to express views on issues that relate to them, the United Nations frameworks havelargely described children as beneficiaries. However, terrains for inclusive development recognize that, althoughthey require special protections, children just as adults are legitimate contributors to economic growth. The extentand legitimacy of their contributions however depends on policies and legal frameworks. This study is aqualitative analysis of laws that relies on an ethnographic study of the Yoruba Customary child care system. Thispaper compares ILO Rules, with the United Nation’s Convention on the Rights of Children 1989, the UN SDG2030, The African Union Agenda 2063 and Yoruba cultural perceptions on the economic and educational statusof children. Contemporary calls for development fit with Yoruba cultural thoughts on inclusive education and thebenefits of diversity in citizens’ economic roles. The study concludes that Yoruba culture widely explainsjurisprudence that are otherwise vague and controversial under statutes. Contrary to previous assumptions,culturally flavored pedagogies on the economic and educational capacities of children can enable self-sufficientcitizens.