INTRODUCTION
Sierra Leone is bounded in the northwest, north and northeast by the Republic of Guinea, in the southeast by the Republic of Liberia, and in the southwest by the Atlantic Ocean. It has an area of 27,925 square miles. The Sierra Leone colony arose as a result of the sale and concession in 1787 by the indigenous leaders of the English settlers on a plot of land intended as a home for African settlers who were girls in London and then used as a settlement for liberated African slaves. The inner territory was declared a British protectorate on August 21, 1896. Sierra Leone on July 27, 1961, gained independence and became a republic in 1971. Education is provided by both private and public schools. The current education system is 6-3-4-4 years old (this is a six-year elementary school, a three-year junior high school, a four-year high school and a four-year higher education.
EDUCATION CONCEPT
Education is often used in the sense of teaching in a classroom, laboratory, workshop or room for domestic science and authors, mainly when a teacher passes on and learns information and mental as well as manual skills by students. A broader meaning than learning is learning. That is everything that happens in school as part of a student’s life. It includes, among other things, the relationship between pupils and teachers, pupils and pupils both at school and outside. JS Mill (1931) refuted what helps to shape a person; make a person what he is, or prevent him from being what he is not part of his education. Implicitly education is lifelong and omnipresent; it is the totality of all the influences that go to make a person as he is, from birth to death. It includes the house, our neighbors and the street among others.
Education is a deliberately planned process to a certain extent, developed and conducted by the teacher in order to impose the student with certain information, skills, mind and body, as well as behaviors that are considered desirable. In part, this is the student’s own response to the environment in which he lives. Education has three focal points: the individual / person who is influenced by the influence of the teacher; the society or community to which it belongs; and the whole context of reality in which the individual and society play their part. Man is a social being; he grows as a man through the influence of a personality on a person and even for its basic physical needs, it depends on the help and cooperation of its male and female colleagues. Without society and mutual support and enrichment of the experience that it provides with civilization, it is impossible, and human life, in Hobbes, of words, is “lonely, poor, nasty, cruel and short”.
One of the fundamental facts of human existence is the tension between the past and the desire for the future, between stability and change, traditions and innovations. For an effective life, a person needs a safety circle, an area of habitual habits and relationships that form reliable relationships. This is true for society. For its effective functioning, there must be a continuity of traditions and worldview that preserves its identity as a society and protects it from the destructive consequences of change. Changes should be for life, not static, but this change, in turn, should be controlled by the basic traditions of society. This is a tradition that gives the nation its character and identity as a society. Therefore, the preservation of tradition, obviously, is crucial.
Since time immemorial, it has been recognized that the preservation of traditional education plays a vital role in the development of a child. Today’s children are adults of tomorrow; therefore, they must be trained to inherit and perpetuate the beliefs and ways of life of the particular society to which they belong. For each society there is a desire to reserve oneself not only physically, but also as a community consciously sharing certain goals, ideals and behaviors. This type of education is not necessarily formal in schools through classroom instruction, but indirectly affects the family and affects the person’s social influences and customs that the child cannot evade. In Sierra Leone, this social education included complex initiation ceremonies involving endurance feats in which young men and women must be worthy of the community. The ultimate goal was to create a person who was honest, respectful, qualified, cooperative and who could fit the social order of the day. As Aristotle argued, “the constitution of a state will suffer if education is neglected. Citizens of a state must always be formed in accordance with the constitution of the state, since it is also the state force that originally created it ”(p. I).
TRADITIONAL EDUCATION IN SOCIETY
Traditional education has both a creative and a conservative function in society; it is a powerful means of preserving the customs of society, if not culture. In the past, the nature and needs of society have played an important role in determining the nature of education. Professor MVC Jeffreys (1950) once wrote in his book Glaucon that “in a calm society, the educational system will tend to reflect social structure, while social anxiety and instability make it possible to use education as an instrument of social change” (p 7.). A similar view was shared by John Dewey (1897), who suggested that through an educational society he can formulate his own goals, can organize his own means and resources, and thus save himself with certainty and economy in the direction he wants to go. Education looks both in the past and in the future; it inevitably reflects the traditions and nature of society. Traditional education can be used to prepare for changes in society and to predict and prevent changes or the effects of changes in society.
Traditional education preserves and maintains the customs and way of life that determine the character of a society and its unity. It also helps society interpret its functions in a new way, to meet the challenges of change, look for ways or directions of development that are consistent with traditions and customs, and at the same time raise society to a more complete fulfillment of itself.
TRADITIONAL INSTITUTIONS IN SIERRA LEONE
History shows that there were no official schools in which children received education in pre-colonial Sierra Leone. The secret societies of Poro and Bondo / Sande were regarded as institutions for the education of children. They were schools of shrubs. And the education provided by these bush schools was informal. Children who have passed these secret societies are considered able to fulfill their civic responsibilities. They become adults and can marry and start life. They considered themselves as one family. In other words, both Secret Societies created a sense of camaraderie and unity among the members, regardless of family, clan, or ethnicity. It was there, given that the children who did not pass through these secret societies were not fully matured.
The secret society of Poro for boys. The spiritual leader of the Poro Society is Pa Gbonu, who is seen only by senior graduates or members. The physical heads are Pa Sama Yorgbors and Pa Somanos. They direct the activities of the institution. Senior instructors are Pa-Kashi, who usually teach and give instructions to other initiators. Pa Manchiasy serves as teachers for the initiates, while the kahems are frightening spirits. They scare women and children along with new initiators. Cancers are boys-guarantors carrying messages. Yamba - the main boys. Bomosa are senior prefects, and the Seiboms are prefects; and monitors are Gbanobi. Informal classes are held in the Secret Poro Bush. Subjects taught include creative practices, performing arts, practical agriculture, medicine, that is, using local herbs for treating various diseases), fighting, and other skills. In creative, hands-on activities, empowerment teaches how to make fishing nets, baskets, mats, and carving wood and soapstone on different objects, such as animals and people; in the performing arts, devotees teach singing, dancing and the use of Poro's musical instruments. In Practical Agriculture initiates agricultural practices. Boys are taught to endure hardships and to get used to it. Thus, they enter the farms of their teachers and elders in order to work on the benefit. However, during the harvest season, the initiators could go through these farms, accepting everything they needed and eating without interrogating the owners of the farms. Initiators are taught to respect their elders and use weapons to destroy animals. In a similar vein, the initiates teach how to use weapons in battle in defense of their communities. Teachers of other abilities are taught, including the creation of traps for fish, fishing and hunting nets and weaving. When using herbs, they begin to pay money (some are freely given) for the treatment of various diseases, as well as for protection from enemies, evil spirits and snake bites. Initiators who want to harm others using herbs could redeem & herbs / medicines. Above all initiates are learning a new language, which is spoken only by members called Ke Sornor. For example, fonka trika means that I am talking to you; fonka bonomi Meaning. Talk to me. The use of this new language makes graduates very proud and differs from non-initiative. Graduates come out with new names such as Lamp, Langba and Kolerr. The event ends.
Parents make massive preparations, including sewing for graduates. To celebrate the graduation ceremony, there are feasts, singing, dancing and songs for graduates and their parents. Those who are eligible for initiation must be circumcised and grown to the age of puberty. They must live independently during the study period, which ranges from one to seven years. Graduates are fully recognized in the general society of Poro through another ceremony called Enkori, which lasts four days.
The Bondo / Sande Society is an institution where girls are taught to women. His spiritual head is Bondigba. Physical heads are Na Gboyamas and Na Wulus. They have spiritual powers used to predict the future and catch the witches. These are senior teachers. On Sokos are service teachers. They can initiate girls even at an advanced stage of the Society. Digbasy are common teachers and remain close to the initiated. Sampas are skillful dancers and girls. They make announcements of progress and events or programs during the graduation ceremony.
Na Fets, as the name implies, does not know all the secrecy of the institution. They carry institutional tools and regalia. Carr Ayeamus are "waiters" to be started in a higher status institution. Girls accepted at the Bondo / Sande Society receive informal training. Classes are held in Kant or in the sacred house. Teachers are primarily concerned about the transfer of skills and knowledge to these adolescent girls that adult women are expected to have in order to function properly and intelligently in their community. Girls' subjects are taught, including Cooking, performing arts, fishing, husband and child care, as well as house management. In Cookery, girls are taught how to prepare food through observation and participation in the preparation of various dishes, and then they are allowed to walk without the slightest oversight. Those who do not know how to cook properly can happen again. In the performing types of girls are taught how to compose and sing songs and how to beat the drums Bondo / Sande (swords). Along with singing, girls are taught to dance, and those who dance well can join the Sampa hierarchy. Girls also learn how to fish, make fishing nets, fishing baskets, sleeping mats from bamboo and palm leaves. Then girls are taught how to help their future husbands and how to take care of children, especially older members. Similar to the graduation ceremonies of the Feather, marked by massive preparations. Both parents and prospective husbands bought new dresses, slippers, perfumes, powder and beads to make lace around the neck. On the day of the end of the final examinations, new initiates are decorated with white crowns. They come out with new names such as Bura, Janor, Rukor and Yankin. This is evidence of maturity. The initiation of girls into the Bondo / Sande Society lasts from a few months to three years.
CHALLENGES
If education has the vital function of perpetuating the traditions and values of society, adapting them to a changing environment and raising them to a richer and more fruitful expression, then the Poro and Bondo / Sande Secret Societies, as traditional agents, should enjoy the highest respect. Thanks to these secret societies, the culture of the people flows from generation to generation, and the aspirations of society focus on the intimate and convincing beliefs of young people. They stand at the point where children's energies are released into new and creative possibilities. Through these secret societies, children remember the past actions of their predecessors. They help in behavioral models of social learning. These societies are sources of inspiration, and both politicians and leaders use them to their advantage. That is, to gain or maintain power. Major and binding decisions are made in Poro Bush, of which only members can participate and participate. The secret society of Poro acts as a check against the abuse of power. In crisis situations, an important decision is made in Poro Bush. The Poro Society even acts as an arbiter in disputes between the main authorities and can promulgate general laws and regulate trade practices. He also participates in the funeral of chiefs and other important local officials (Alie, 1990).
Western education exists in the country for a long time and is now an integral part of civilized life, that there is a tendency to assume that this is the main or only way to sacrifice the skills, knowledge and social values of children. This does not apply to Sierra Leone. The importance of traditional secret societies Poro and Bondo can not be excessive due to their intensive potential in teaching children to live in society. It is fundamental that respect for individuals as individuals is the basis of traditional society. The associated politeness, sensitivity to the needs of others, cooperativity, self-discipline, moral and physical courage, hard work and high standards of achievement. They are transmitted to children in an environment in which they are part of their daily experience. Despite this, these traditional institutions as agents of education are currently facing many problems there, forcing them to stop. The practice of cutting female genital organs is a matter of concern for the international community, and in Sierra Leone, people shake their total ban. Currently, girls are allowed to be circumcised at the age of eighteen, during which time the child is perceived as mature enough to choose whether to begin in the secret Bondo / Sande society. In addition, the period of initiation is perceived too long and is disputed. In addition to children these days, it is no longer necessary to begin in these societies to be taught how to be clean, cook, raise children, engage in agriculture and instill morality and virtues in order to give a few examples. All this could be studied either in formal school education, or through it through reading. Moreover, religion, especially Christianity and Islam, western life, and also migration in cities and towns force these secret societies to be annihilated.
In addition to the activities and work of these traditional societies are not included in the curriculum and documented. Also, the grass is documented. Therefore, by stopping these traditional secret societies, Sierra Leoneans are losing their cultural heritage. However, if education has the vital function of perpetuating the traditions and values of society, adapting them to a changing environment and raising them to a richer and more fruitful expression, then these traditional secret societies, because the agents of this process should be highly respected. Через эти общества национальная культура течет из поколения в поколение, а стремления общества сосредоточены на интимных и убедительных убеждениях молодых. Эти тайные общества стоят в точке, где энергии детей выпускаются в новые и творческие возможности.
