Let’s hope this one works for our schools

THERE has been much criticism in the public domain in the last years about the impact of the outcome-based education (OBE) or what some call outcome-based curriculum (OBC).
The OBE system drew many criticisms because parents who were educated under the standards-based education (SBE) or standards-based curriculum (SBC) could actually see that their children were not performing well at the different subjects taught under the OBE system.
Mind you, many parents are well educated and they can tell if their children have learnt anything at all.
Parents know that their children are not learning when they can’t read confidently, write competently or even speak fluently.
Among those problems also was the fact that the OBE put an extra burden on teachers and schools to implement (they were simply not equipped with adequate training of their personnel nor did they have the equipment and materials).
As a result, the Government instructed the Education department to review the OBE system and to gradually abolish it and phase in the SBE or SBC.
Remember, a nation’s most important asset is its human resource.
Education is the tool to develop that resource, and that is why it should be among the top priorities for any government.
What education should also do is enable people to think critically on issues and be able to form conclusions independently.
At the moment, schools in PNG are set to undergo a reversion to the standards-based education system after trying the outcomes-based approach for the past 14 years.
It is a transition that will hopefully address the problems that schools from elementary, primary secondary level experienced while on the current system.
In the SBE system which most parents and leaders are familiar with, the teacher decides what learning objectives or outcomes that he or she intends to transfer to the students.
The teacher decides what teaching aids he will use, how he will get the ideas across (teaching methods), what additional teaching resources (textbooks, internet) available could reinforce and enhance his teaching (pedagogy – teaching and learning activities) employed in the class.
A regular contributor to The National, Dr Musawe Sinebare, best explains the OBE system with the teachers’ role changing from being a curriculum ‘filter or funnel’ to that of being a ‘traffic light’.
The traffic light directs the flow of motorised vehicle, thus minimising chaos on the road.
Similarly, the teacher directs the flow of learning by minimising chaos in the classroom.
Basically, the difference between the systems is in the method in which a teacher prepares his or her lesson and the manner in which that approved body of knowledge is transferred across to the students through the interaction between the teacher and students.
One should remember that education is not just about learning how to read and write nor having the basic literacy and numeracy skills to interact effectively in a modern society.
That should be the minimum expectation for any system.
What education should also do is enable people to think critically on issues and be able to form conclusions independently.
But this is only part of the challenge because regardless of the educational philosophy underpinning any system, the people who are tasked with implementing it must be able to do so without compromising their performance.