This New Curriculum may overlook adult erudition

A lot of good has been done and said regards the current curriculum with so many workshops, consultations and submissions having been done by, with and to the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education. Being a person interested with adult literacy and learning, I made some observations on how a youth or adult who needs to attain a full certificate at Ordinary or Advanced level certificate has to navigate through with the tasks and projects that have to commence at either form 3 or 5 depending with the level.

Adult learners especially those working are going to find it intricate to attain the full academic Ordinary or Advanced level certificates as new curriculum is concerned. If one wants to write two or any less than five subjects or even all (learning areas according to new curriculum) or whatever in the October/November examination period, one has to do tasks and projects from form three or five making it a two year program. What that simply means is you will need two years as well as to be on the bench somehow at either a formal school or independent college. If one is then a working adult, the scenarios could be so many to look at, say a gardener who would be needed at work throughout the day and attend evening learning or rather wish to read on his/her own. The situation will not work as no centre will register him/her for examination sitting without the continuous assessment mark putting a silhouette into any of his/her plans or dreams. The current curriculum seems to be just silent on any exemption of such students or arrangements or maybe I missed it somewhere.

Considering that no one really is considering such youth and adults concentrating on those in the formal learning, my interface with officials in the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education resulted in being asked to either petition the government and/or liaise with other independent colleges usually referred to as private colleges to do the petition. Knowing the vindictiveness mentality we have witnessed in many officials we have worked with regards the non-formal sector, talking sense and interrogating decisions may lead to threats of being de-registered if you run such institutions or putting yourself into limelight for superfluous scrutiny or even being denied certain information or suffering exclusion in Ministry activities, meetings or events.

Naturally a high-quality policy accommodates the disadvantaged ones and if ours has failed so soon to have outlined clear strategies, then we need to accept that we have done a big blow to the popular African proverb that says; "There is no hurry in Africa".  Honestly it should not be a felony to attempt again after failing for the first time to just have the opportunity to write without so many hurdles. Thus the new curriculum need to be very clear to those who need subsequent attempts to be counted among others and believe the saying that; "The sky is the limit". Our new curriculum must still address such remembering that most of our learned elders and leaders today went through torrid time suffering either in hiding, detention, battle field or under slavery but utilized the second chances and correspondence learning that the curriculum then had.