Civic Education for Technological Takeoff: The Child-Author Development Programme as the Reimagination of African Technological Citizenship

Abstract

This paper proposes a pioneering curriculum framework titled Civic Education for Technological Takeoff (CETT), developed under the Child-Author Development Programme (CADP). CETT reconceptualizes Civic Education through the lens of African Science Fiction and Technological Nationalism. The initiative integrates creative writing, speculative futures, and civic consciousness to prepare African children aged 10–18 for technological citizenship. Drawing from Science and Technology Studies (STS), postcolonial theory, and African Futurism, CETT positions African children as both subjects and agents of the continent's technological destiny. This paper introduces an eight-module civic curriculum designed to stimulate public participation, scientific imagination, and civic engagement in African countries. It also outlines a new academic designation – Child-Professor of STS – to recognize and incentivize deep techno-civic literacy.