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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Maeve Shearlaw

#IfAfricaWasaSchool: the continent described in playground memes

How was school for you?
How was school for you? Photograph: Alamy

There’s nothing like a few schoolyard memories to bring people together.

Yesterday, thousands of Africans took to Twitter to gently mock their countries via the hashtag #IfAfricaWasASchool, and in doing so found both scathing and irreverent ways to describe what it’s like to live on the continent today.

It’s not the first time a hashtag has prompted a viral storm of jokes and stereotypes about African countries. Last year, users rallied around #IfAfricaWasABar, #WhatWouldMagafuliDo (in reference to Tanzania’s austere new president), and #SomeoneTellCNN, as the American news organisation mischaracterised Kenya as a “hotbed of terror”.

So what would happen #IfAfricaWasaSchool? This is what we learned:

For most students, 20th century African history would focus heavily on colonialism, except in one country:

Zimbabweans would always get the hardest deal in maths:

Geography would be easier for some than others:

And as in every school, some kids would get noticed more than others:

We also learned a bit about about how the school would run. The leadership is apparently well established and hard to topple:

No one would ever bring a packed lunch:

And particular dishes could cause lunchtime riots:

Deciding what to wear everyday would be nothing short of a nightmare:

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