I am in Dar Es Salam for the first African Union Conference on Curriculum, Literacy and book sector development. The conference was opened this morning by the rt Hon. Prime Minister of Tanzania. I was baffled by the protocol people, who were saying when the PM comes in, you have to stand-up and clap. I can understand that you should stand-up, but why the applause? Then comes the main reason for my blog. The keynote speaker was confronted with the issue of learner/ child centred curriculum and the need for the learners themselves, in this case youth to be present when the issues of curriculum are being discussed. I was very baffled when the Prof. described young people as peasants who did not deserve to be at the policy making table. I was furious and wanted to intervene, but the chair of the session systematically ignored my hands.

So comes my question, who is who when it comes to delivering educational services? From my training, I know that learning is a process of behaviour change which results from encounter. So comes the question, what are the facilitating factors of behaviour change. Who changes behaviour? In whose hands is it to actually change. Behaviour is learned, and can only be unlearned in many cases, therefore, the clients in the delivery of educational services are critical in the teaching and learning process. Behaviour modification MUST involve the participation of the client, even in counselling processes.

At this conference, speaker after speaker has emphasised the failure of Africa to advance its education system. Who knows whether the reason for this failure is because they have not actually taken into account the voices of the learners. According to the Rt. Hon. Meles Zenawi, it is only in Africa that we do the same things over and over again and expect different results. I hope that this conference will come-up with recommendations that will actually advance the educational system in Africa in this second decade of education.