Africa
scores big as Prof Oborah is elected secretary General of the World Council for
Gifted and Talented Children
Glamour,
jubilation for Africa as the vocal Kenyan Prof.Oborah sets foot on pedal in
pushing for the new system of education that would see East Africa region and
the entire continent embrace talents rather than rhetoric grades for admission
in higher learning institutions. Henry Onyango talked to the vocal
professor and filed the story
It was history in the
making for the entire African continent as the president of African Gifted and
Talented and founder DALC Prof.Humphrey Oborah was elected secretary General of
the prestigious World Council of the
Gifted and Talented Children recently.
Prof Oborah’s
election had served real purpose at the time when African communities are
grappling with a modality of acquiring an efficient education system that would
incorporate talents and job experience in equal measure and eschews theories.
Prof.Humphrey Oborah,Secretary
General WCGTC
The vocal academician
has had an addition of the feather on his cap when he was elected member of the
Executive committee WCGTC. He assumed office in August this year at the
conclusion of the 2013 World Conference in Louisville,Kentucky alongside other elected members.
Some of the elected
members in the council were Julia Roberts,USA,Denise de Souza Fleith,Brazil and
Leonie Kronborg ,Australia. Those elected members will each serve a period of
four years.
The jubilated scholar
expressed his delightment with the election and promised to work together to
promote the new education system in Africa.
“The system is well designed and
calculated to avert the continent from the backlash of brain drain and lack of
specialization and is devoid of rigid policies that devour upon the fabric of
the gifted and talented in our continent. We should embrace it,” said Prof
Oborah
In most western countries, education is
now about gifts and talents contrary to African continent who are still
inflexible to counter this.
Experts argue that with the rigid
educational systems, the ability for students to create, invent and think-out
-of -the box lay wasted and ultimately killed and perhaps it is accurate that
African cemeteries are the most affluent -where all potential is buried.
The tap of talents or knowledge of talents in Africa,
Kenya included, remains one of the hot topics in societies with no real action.
Education
remains a routine in Africa where students cram or memorise tutors notes, and
reproduce them onto foolscaps during examinations.
The net result is a collection of papers in the form
of certificates which have no correlation with expectations of work
organizations or innate talents and gifts of the candidates.
In developed countries like US, UK, Canada amongst
others, students are assessed for their Gifts and Talents before admission and
by extension adults are equally assessed for their experiential knowledge
before admission.
This assessment
is focused on one’s inner talents which form careers hence the said candidates
are able to know their real careers 20-30 years in advance.
Such can be seen in sports men and women who spend 2
hours in class but 6 or more hours on a tennis court, for example, where their
talents lie.
Africa stand to benefit after the main advocate of the
programme in Kenya and entire East Africa region, Prof Oborah joins the World
Council for Gifted and Talented Children as Executive Commitee Member.
Born along the shores of Lake Victoria from a humble background, Prof.Oborah started schooling earlier than the normal age at 4years.
Born along the shores of Lake Victoria from a humble background, Prof.Oborah started schooling earlier than the normal age at 4years.
His academic records
show that he did extremely well in Primary School, which was a typical Kenyan
Rural School made of iron sheet roof and earthed walls. In such schools,
students would sit on floor and nearly everyone had no shoes. Oborah actually
wore the first shoe going to Secondary School.
His great performance in
national examinations at primary school level saw him admitted to a far
location away in another Kenyan Province (Kitui, Eastern Kenya, Matinyani
Secondary School from where he again excelled and joined A Level Studies in
Nairobi Province (Dagoretti High School) and later to join University of
Nairobi for a Bachelors Degree. He later on continued to obtain a Masters and
PhD degrees.
It
must be remembered that Prof. Oborah has been very vocal about education
revolution for almost 10 years with acute criticisms. He has managed to weather
all opposition from all those who would not like to see change.
The
time for change has now come to Africa and this would mean that the continent
would seek to get in to the status where talents, job experience will be the
main facets for admission rather than the normal school grading system that has
locked many out of the higher learning institutions.