{As we all know about human life, the first socialization of each human being is a very important step for each individual. The Rwandan society before colonization, as other societies over the world, had its own manner to prepare or to educate its members, children, in order to introduce them in the society.}
The primary socialization took place within the family community which includes both members of the nuclear family and other close relatives; without ignoring the influence of other closely related families.
In practice, this primary socialization included some specific differences, according to the sex (male or female) of the child to be educated. For now, we mainly talk about the socialization of the boy.
Generally, as in other societies, we can say that at each stage of growth of the child, there were appropriate educational activities. Parents, especially mothers who are supposed to be more available to children, were using every possible technique within Rwandan culture to fully pass on their knowledge. Everything was done in anticipation of the general framework of future roles that the young man, had to play in the community as an adult.
For the transmission of wisdom and knowledge, the educator could, for example, use different literary genres, such as proverbs (Imigani migufi), stories, legends or tales (Imigani miremire), riddles (Ibisakuzo) and many others. In carrying out this educational function, we note that cultural homogeneity that has always prevailed in Rwandan society could well facilitate the task in the whole society.
To develop mental and intellectual faculties, the child was subjected to regular exercises that helped him to sharpen his powers of observation, his ability to remember and to establish a coherent relationship between various phenomena observed.
When, for example, the child returns from a trip, accompanied by his parents or his colleagues, is questioned to see if he can remember everything he saw or heard, people that he met and finally to discuss how he manages to establish a relationship between all. Once the child has well completed its report, and then his mother congratulates, kisses and gives him, as a reward, some sweets that children love. Next times the child will get used and more attention as well to observe, to coordinate everything he sees, in order to give a more reasonable relationship.
At the same educational setting, the child is accustomed, from a young age to comprehensively know the important facts of the history of his own family, traditions and above all remember well his genealogy. Thus the fact of hearing parents often repeat what they have also retained from their own parents about the life of the ancestor of the group, these children eventually learn the lessons without much troubles.
Indeed, in traditional Rwandan society, the individual had his place as both singular person and as a member of the family or community.
The individual was perceived not as an isolated atom, but as part of a whole. The identity of the individual was not declined as now, only by individual characteristics: first name, name, age, father’s name and mother.
Another area that regularly recurred in basic education of boys was that of lawsuits and other litigation settlements. The flexibility of Rwandans in the discussion and especially in the litigation has always been an enigma to anyone not initiated into the Rwandan traditional culture.
Some people, following a regular practice, became ‘specialists of the law ‘. The child, who is invited, from a young age to follow this kind of jousting between adults, will draw a double intellectual enrichment: the judicial point of view, then the view of eloquence or reasoning.
To conclude, we can say that the traditional Rwandan society, before the introduction of the modern school, had indeed its specific and well appropriate manner to prepare its members for their effective and harmonious insertion in the active life of the society.
{{The Author is {Dr. Gasana Sebastien}
Lecturer at INATEK (Institute of Agriculture, Technology and Education of Kibungo)}}
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