South Africa: Digital Divide Poses 'Biggest Challenge' - AllAfrica.com

Sue BlaineJohannesburg

EDUCATION's greatest challenge today is bridging the watershed between those born into a digital human race and those who were not, states Steven Naudé, mendelevium of Pearson Education.

Naudé said at the launch of the Pearson Online Media Centre at the University of the Rand yesterday research and experience showed traditional computer-based instruction was not very successful in dealing with the challenges of higher education in SA.

Many pupils were "digital natives" -- people who had never known a nondigital human race -- while most lectors were "digital immigrants", not born into the digital human race but fascinated by new engineering and willing to accommodate to using it.

Electronic acquisition -- where pupil and instructor usage online engineering to interact -- had failed because many lectors resorted to simply putting their social class short letters on a computing machine without reinterpreting them in any way; testing had been in multiple choice; there were high license fees for the software; and there was mediocre interaction between pupil and lecturer. All of this had led to low usage.

What was needed, and what the new mass media Centre offered, was computer-based learning that included frequent self-assessment for pupils to find where their strengths and failings lay, and work on the failings through the remedial "intervention" available.

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Lecturers could see the students' assessments, maintain records of strengths and weaknesses, and bring forth studies on all of this.

Students and academicians who used the mass media Centre would also be able to see the websites of assorted Pearson companies, such as as Penguin SA, Business Day, the Financial Mail, little concern magazine Big News and Acme television (all owned by BDFM, which is jointly owned by Pearson and Avusa), Financial Times.com and educational publishing house Maskew Glenn Glenn Miller Longman.

Fatima Dada, Maskew Miller Longman chairwoman, said the company was the biggest educational publishing house in the southern hemisphere, printing texts in 60 linguistic communications and for readers from preschool to graduate student level.

Namibia: Improving the Education System - AllAfrica.com

Nathaniel K. MbaevaWindhoek

The constitutional duty of the authorities through the Ministry of Education is to supply free and mandatory instruction up to the age of 16 (Article 20 (3)).

In pattern the authorities supplies free and mandatory instruction up to Class 10 level. Although instruction is presumed to be free throughout the school system, costs are however indirectly recovered through school fees which differ from state school to state school.

Presently authorities supplies free instruction to the followers groupings of scholars who make not fall within the bounds of this duty to give drift to Article 20 (1) of the fundamental law which says that "all people shall have got the right to education":

- Those who turned 16 while in primary schools and transferred to junior secondary schools.

- Those in classes 11 and twelve.

To fulfil this duty authorities do immense investings while the end product thereof is dismal.

Societal compulsion with a pure academic Class 12 certificate

Since the colonial era, society attaches great value to a pure academic Class 12 certification although this certification makes not authorise the holder thereof with the necessary accomplishments to for illustration come in the occupation market. Any effort to reform our system of instruction should in my sentiment first demystify this perception. Prospective employers including the authorities should not utilize a pure academic Class 12 as the basic makings for employment intents but rather set accent on accomplishments and attributes.

Anyway, Class 12 is only used for initial showing of appliers by employers. Nowadays, some employers even utilize Class 12 to test appliers for places such as as cleaners.

In the meantime, employers pass a batch of money on in-service training. Societal compulsion with a pure academic Class 12 certification is in my sentiment the major conducive factor to the mass of unskilled young person that our school system produces.

Quality Primary Education

Government focusing should be on primary education. If the foundation is solid the opportunities that future acquisition and preparation will be effectual is good. The accent should be on the attainment of literacy and numerical skills.

It is of import at this phase to prove and monitoring device learners' aptitudes and attributes. This volition enable schools to mention scholars with artistic abilities to the college of the arts, scholars with technical properties to technical preparation centres, scholars with exceeding academic abilities to high schools, etc.

The present seven old age of primary instruction is in my sentiment inadequate and should be extended to nine old age followed by three old age of secondary instruction or preparation in a specific trade depending on the learner's aptitude, property and public presentation in primary school.

The awful film editing point at Class 10 [JSC] must be abolished. School inspectors and subject advisors should supervise the public presentation of schools especially those in the distant rural countries and those in poorness stricken countries closely to guarantee that all schools are at the same degree in footing of quality.

Government should do it a point to construct more than primary schools. No cost recovery whether directly or indirectly should be permitted at this phase of schooling. Education at this phase should be free and mandatory in the existent sense of the word.

Repetition at this phase should be allowed up to the age of 18 upon which scholars volition be referred toe Community Skills Development Centres (Cosdecs) for preparation in specific accomplishments that will do them employable.

Learners who successfully complete primary school will have a certificate, the Primary School Certificate, indicating whether the scholar is capable of academic preparation or preparation in a specific trade.

Secondary

Secondary instruction should be divided into two: trade schools and academic schools and should be three old age leading to a secondary school trade certification or an academic secondary school certificate.

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Depending on his or her public presentation at primary school a scholar will either travel to a trade school or an academic school. There will be some word form of cost recovery for secondary education.

Trade Schools

Some of the existent secondary schools will go trade schools offering a assortment of courses. The private sector should step in to guarantee that the courses of study offered are in line with their expectations.

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Nigeria: Goje - Changing the Face of Education in Gombe - AllAfrica.com

Ibrahim Abdullahi OduaGombe

Education is said to be the bedrock of any development because without it there can be no manner things will travel allow alone of progressing. That is why it is popularly said that 'anyone who states that instruction is expensive should seek a spot of illiteracy' and he will see that nil can take the topographic point of instruction no substance the level. It is therefore, not out of topographic point for anyone to pass hugely in order to acquire a sound and qualitative education.

Even the Holy Place books of Islamism and Christian Religion support the hunt for cognition because it is an constituted fact that without instruction no 1 can function God. 'My people perish because they miss knowledge', the Book says. The Holy Place Qur'an too promotes the hunt for instruction which will enable the seeker the chance to detect Allah and be able to worship Him effectively the manner he should.

The foregoing and other grounds and factors have got made consecutive authorities in the state fashioned out assorted agency and instruction systems which were all aimed at making instruction readily available to all Nigerians at least to a satisfactory degree where they can read and compose in any of the three major linguistic communications widely spoken in the country. In the past, there have got got been different instruction systems starting with Universal Joint Joint Basic Education (UBE) in the 60s and 70s then came the 6-3-3-4 instruction system which have now given manner for a revised UBE system.

Apart from the Ministry of Education which is the exclusive decision maker of instruction in the state there are other federal federal federal federal agencies that complement the functions of the ministry and these include; Universal Basic Education Committee (UBEC) at the Federal Soldier degree while the states have UBEB as well other agencies concerned with instruction just as foreign agencies and other United Nations agencies and giver gencies are not left out in the command to supply instruction for all in the country.

However, in its attempt to guarantee that instruction was given the needed attending that would do it develop, authorities set up the Education Trust Fund (ETF) which was mandated to step in in the sector by aiding the execution of all the programs of instruction particularly in the proviso of substructure and capacity building, it is therefore a common topographic point all over the state to see the physical marks of the activities of the ETF.

One of such as is the multi million naira Community Education Resource Center (CERC) a joint undertaking between the ETF and Gombe State authorities which was commissioned recently by the Gombe State Governor, Alhaji Elijah Muhammad Danjuma Goje who called for public-private partnership for the effectual development of the instruction sector by sustaining the ever-increasing enrolment in the schools.

The mammoth CERC building which is to function the full North-East bomber part comprising the six states of Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Taraba and Yobe have installations for in and out of school students, scientific discipline and technical laboratories, library for audio and visual, computing machine center, cyberspace café and a telecasting screening hallway where users can loosen up and catch merriment 'all plant without drama do Jack a dull boy'. It also have a direction commission made up of seasoned educationalists and decision makers for effectual administration.

The Governor while commissioning the undertaking in Gombe lamented that in the past, investing in the instruction sector went down the drainage owed to mediocre planning on the portion of government, non-challant mental attitude of the students, instructors and members of the host communities, declaring that the tendency must be stopped if meaningful positive advancement would be made in the sector.

Governor Danjuma Goje, is an educationalist himself(s) having passed through the Teachers College assured that, in order to forestall the tendency in the state, his disposal would represent a school based direction commission charged with the duty of maintaining all physical constructions and installations in all the schools in the state, declaring that finances were recently released for a thorough audited account of all instructors in the state while the Ministry of Education on its portion would escalate its monitoring, rating and review activities to guarantee good care of facilities, quality instruction and learning.

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He further lamented that the state authorities ain 79 percentage out of the 393 secondary schools in the state while the private sector and communities have got 9 and 12 percentage respectively. He therefore enjoined NGOs, people and the private sector to squad up with the state authorities in order to turn to the enormous disparity related to access, inclusion and accomplishment in the educational sector.

On the CERC project, the Governor commended ETF for completing it, saying that it have a tremendous importance to the society, pointing out that the ETF intercession in the instruction sector have enabled authorities to inculcate information engineering into the schools' system and have implemented effectual computing machine preparation programs for the instructors and pupils in improver to building and redevelopment of classrooms, pupils hostels, workshops, labs and the proviso of furniture, books, scientific discipline equipment, computing machines and cyberspace installations worth billions of naira to the state.

He then assured that his disposal would give all the necessary support to the centre to guarantee that the society deduces the full benefit authorities would build an asphalt road, supply a 250KVA generating set and link the centre to the chief beginning of H2O supply.

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Nigeria: Nerdc Launches New Basic Education Curriculum - AllAfrica.com

Onwuka NzeshiAbuja

The Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC) have launched a new Basic Education Course Of Study (BEC) for primary and junior secondary schools in the country. High points of the new course of study include the introduction of Basic Technology, Computer Studies, Cultural and Creative Studies, 1 major Nigerian language, as well as making Gallic linguistic communication one of the core topics right from the primary school level.

Executive Secretary of the council, Professor Godswill Obioma who unveiled the course of study at a sensitization workshop in Capital Of Nigeria said the written document have already been approved by the National Council on Education and will turn to among other things, the issues of value reorientation, poorness eradication, originative thinking, entrepreneurship and life accomplishments to guarantee that a child, on completion of the Junior Secondary School Education (JSSE), will be fully equipped for life-long living and prepared to experience Senior Secondary School Education(SSSE).

The nine-year Basic Education Curriculum, Obioma said, is divided into three levels, namely, the Lower Berth Basic Education Course Of Study (Primary1-3), Center Basic Education Course Of Study (Primary 4-6) and Upper Berth Basic Education Course Of Study (JSS 1-3). Unlike the former course of study in usage in the country, the new course of study have been infused with relevant elements of the National Economic Authorization and Development Scheme (NEEDS), with a systemic connexion between primary and junior secondary school contents.

The NERDC foreman explained that the introduction of a new course of study had go necessary because of the spreads in the old course of study which have made the latter not able to ran into the demands of the scholars in a rapidly changing world. He disclosed that in restructuring the primary and junior secondary school curricula into a uninterrupted nine-year basic instruction curriculum, the NERDC made proviso for course of study alliance and version of socially marginalized, grownup scholars and particular demand learners.

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Obioma debunked innuendoes that the new course of study meant that the 6-3-3-4 educational system have been abandoned for a 9-3-4 system and that Nigerian children will now pass nine old age in primary school. According to him, Federal Republic Of Nigeria still have got primary school and junior secondary school as distinct physical things except that the new course of study have been broken into three constituents and systematically linked to guarantee nine old age of productive basic education.

The new curriculum, introduced simultaneously in primary 1 (1) and JSS1 beginning from September 2007, but the old JSS course of study will have been phased out by June 2010 while the old primary school course of study will be phased out by June 2013. In all, the new nine twelvemonth basic instruction course of study is expected to be fully operational by September 2015.

The Federal Soldier Government introduced the Universal Joint Basic Education (UBE) programme in 1999 to guarantee unchained entree and equity to instruction for the sum development of the Nigerian child. In December 2005, the National Council on Education (NCE) directed the NERDC to develop a school course of study for the execution of the effectual UBE programme and to guarantee the attainment of Education for All (EFA) as well as the Millennium Development Goals.