Afrocentric Ontology for Academic Literacies Development

Background

One domain wherein first-year students’ incapacities in academic literacies exacerbate socioeconomic under-development of Africans is in the generation of new experts, scientists, and entrepreneurs. If first-year students cannot master academic literacies, attrition in higher education is increased. Therefore, powerful epistemologies which are essential for poverty eradication are contained in universities. Moreover, select Cooperate and business entities benefit from universities’ knowledge. The evidence of the blockage of powerful higher education epistemologies into local African communities is in South Africa’s youth unemployment rate which stands at 52% (De Lannoy, et al., 2020). Yet, the unendorsed youth unemployment rate is higher. It is important to note that youth unemployment in South Africa is linked to multiple social ills including crime. Mazorodze (2020, p. 1) argues that youth unemployment in South Africa’s KwaZulu Natal province “increases the odds of murder occurrences by 1.6–1.8 times”. The implications of high instances of murder in black neighbourhoods suggest that first-year scholars bring trauma inherited from violence to universities. Hence, Powdthavee (2005) claims that crime limits the social wellbeing and happiness of Africans. As a result of the harmful effects of crime, poverty, and unemployment on the wellbeing of South African youth, higher education knowledge is essential. This is because higher education knowledge is necessary to curtail crime and boost economic opportunities for vulnerable members in local communities. Inversely, without access to security, economic, and entrepreneurial knowledge, South African youth remain trapped in webs of insecurity, joblessness, and unhappiness. Thus, academic literacies as conduits of disciplinary epistemologies, are vital for guarding the economic futures and social wellbeing of African youth.