Showcasing innovativeness through CALAs

PEOPLE are born able, but are disabled by dysfunctional education models. Education 5.0 is therefore an antidote to the evils of Education 3.0.

In my pursuit to play my part in nation building through education, I write informed from the questions about Continuous Assessment Learning Activities raised in social gatherings.

It is my sincere hope that CALA issues are being simplified, fears removed and confusion modified to convincing facts.

The CALAs should be seen as part of all the other day to day learning activities. Welcome to the column, Emerging Issues in Education.

This week the focus is on the practical Continuous Assessment Learning Activities.

Getting practical

Practical CALAs are perhaps the most challenging and demanding in terms of skill and resources required. These require the production of a tangible object, model or demonstration to a problem presented.

However, CALAs are not another form of punishment for students.

Students are not in any way expected to develop feelings of hate towards themselves or school as a result of the tasks.

CALAs are a competence based educational activity, therefore teachers who design complicated CALAs for students are deficient of the significance of the Competence Based Curriculum requirements or deliberately sabotaging the implementation of Education 5.0.

Development of practical activities

The initial role of the teacher is to develop the practical Continuous Assessment Learning Activities. The practical activity is developed from the National School

Syllabus as part of the day to day learning activities.

Most importantly, the tasks must be in congruence with the students’ cognitive structures and psycho-motor abilities.

Topics must be specific and related to a problem identified by both the teacher and students. The implication is that in practical tasks,students can be given choices of CALAs to do in case they are not competent in the activity presented.

Materials for practical activities

The materials needed to produce a practical CALA task in the form of a model must be found in the local environment.

Demanding students to produce models with imported materials defeats the significance of the community, research and innovation — the pillars of Education 5.0.

Natural materials that are found in the environment include clay, wood, reeds, sisal, and grass. Man-made materials include wire, metal, paper, plastic materials and glass.

Who makes the model?

The models are supposed to be made by the students, they are not supposed to be bought. Some parents have been seen in industrial areas paying for welders and carpenters to produce the models for the students.

Such practices are against equipping the students with the life skills needed for self-sufficiency and self-reliance. Let the students use any material as found in their environment with no extra financial costs.

Skills gained by students

Specific skills to be gained by students should be outlined in CALA guides. The teacher provides students with the background of the problem to be solved.

The parameters of the CALA need to be clear and applicable to all students. This involves setting time frames that require all students to cover steps or points.

Failure to set clear and fair parameters can result in marking that is unfair and inconsistent.

It must be appreciated that through CALAs,students can acquire and apply the knowledge and skills to solve situations they encounter in everyday life. This is well in line with the African Traditional Education philosophy of Ubuntu which addresses relevance by equipping individuals with practical, social as well as intellectual skills that addresses the needs of its recipients.

Let us work together in enabling our students to be problem solvers by supporting them in their school activities.