In recent years, the South African school curriculum has undergone significant changes aimed at dismantling the remnants of apartheid-era cultural imperialism, which systematically marginalized Afrocentric elements. This shift has sparked considerable debate regarding the necessity of decolonizing the South African education system to embrace an Afrocentric perspective. The purpose of this paper is to explore the perceptions of primary school managers, on the inclusion of Afrocentric elements in the curriculum. This study is guided by the following question: What are the perceptions of school managers on the inclusion of Afrocentric elements to decolonize the primary school curriculum?

The research is situated within a pragmatic framework of Africanization and indigenization and employs an exploratory case study design. The population comprises members of School Management Teams, including principals, deputy principals, heads of departments, grade heads, and senior educators from primary schools in South Africa. A sample of 100 participants from 10 primary schools were purposively selected.

Data was collected using semi-structured questionnaires using focus group interviews. Data was analyzed through thematic and content analysis, broken down into meaningful units, which was coded to form superordinate themes.

The key findings indicate that school managers can play a crucial role in challenging and reshaping the prevailing attitudes, values, and mindsets that perceive Eurocentrism as superior to Afrocentric curriculum and that there is a need to shift the ideologies with an emphasis on a unified Afrocentric curriculum. The study concluded that without deconstructing and reconstructing these entrenched beliefs within the curriculum and pedagogical practices, it will be difficult for educators to appreciate the advantages of a decolonized Afrocentric education system.

The study recommends that school managers intensify their efforts to promote essential Afrocentric elements within the curriculum to achieve a genuinely decolonized educational framework.

Keywords: Primary education, indigenous knowledge, Afrocentric, colonialism, decolonized curriculum, primary education change.