New adult basic education programme launched

CHANDAPIWA BAPUTAKI
Staff Writer | Friday February 19, 2010 00:00

According to the curriculum blueprint, whose expertise was sought from UNESCO's lifelong learning, the ABEP framework integrates the ongoing curricular components or sub programmes of literacy and post literacy into a comprehesive and coherent curriculum. The programme articulates general education with technical and vocational education, while combining knowledge and skills, theory and practice, scientific knowledge and popular wisdom, life and work oriented competencies.

According to the curriculum, thuto ga e golelwe programme is conceived as having an open curriculum that does not prescribe or detail contents and activities but rather provides broad criteria and guidelines to understand the foundations of the curriculum and its practical implications for teaching. It has been said to leave room for facilitators and learners interpretation and adaptation of the curriculum at local level, with the openness and flexibility in curriculum development that are essential for various reasons.

The curriculum states that while primary education is split in two levels, being the lower and upper primary, thuto ga e golelwe is organised in three levels, being level one (standard one to two), level two (standard three to four) and level three (standard five to seven). The programme, as stated in the curriculum, attempts to reach the out of school population that never went to school or that dropped out before learning to read and write autonomously or before completing primary education.

Special focus is placed on rural areas given the fact that almost half of Botswana population lives in rural areas and that these areas show a much higher concentration of poverty, unemployment, illiteracy which stands at 34.3 percent compared to 14.6 percent in urban areas and scarce educational opportunities.

The curriculum further revealed that the languages used and taught in the programme will be the most common local language as medium of instruction in the initial stages to acquire basic literacy and to further understand and develop the language by using setswana as a medium of instruction and a subject area, while introducing English as a second language.

Launching the curriculum yesterday, at an event held in Gaborone, University of Botswana's Deputy Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs Professor Frank Youngman said that for education to be sustainable it has to produce people who can contribute meaningfully to the economic development of the country as well as participate in society as active citizens.