What is the value of DALC?

Message from The Founder of DALC Education, Prof. Dr. Humphrey P.O. Oborah

In the year 2001, I was sitting alone in Russell Square in the United Kingdom and wondered what I would take back home. Being a teacher, I thought of books, gift pens and other academic items before realising that these would only benefit very few people.

As the thought processes drifted, I became more objective and began to think of starting an institution which could be a school or college. I soon realised that schools and colleges in Kenya are grouped into public and private but the common goal for all is glory in examinations. All schools in Kenya and the rest of Africa are very focussed on examinations at end of term or end of semester.

More disturbing was the admission process. I remembered so many people in my class that never made it to university because they never got good or minimum grades. I noted that some of them were so intelligent but factors beyond their control made them fail the written examinations. Some failed because their parents perished in a road accident 2 months before the examinations and could not concentrate on revisions and the examinations. Some were in and out of class due to lack of fees. Some were sick and had to take the exams from hospital beds.

I knew that these people would have wished to explain their situations to universities during admissions with evidences of consistent and very good academic backgrounds from Primary to Secondary School being always within the top ten group. But the universities and colleges in Africa have fixed or rigid admission systems that cares less about your misfortunes.”Just let us have your minimum grades and do not waste our time with useless stories” would be the obvious answer to such people.

Later on such people, would look for jobs and because of their natural intelligence, they would perform very well on the jobs and soon get promotions to become managers or section heads. Several years of performance would see them rise even further to become heads of large organizations. They would represent their organizations in international seminars among the so-called learned and would be elected chairman or distinguished official for organizations.

So such very experienced persons would one day wish to add something to their achievement, a bachelors degree. They would approach the universities for admission to explain that they have all along been intelligent and now proven with their achievement. Of course the universities would listen to none of it and remind them of their rules that end up with “where are your grades?”

These are just some of the scenarios that inspired me to start DALC Education. I knew there were enough colleges in Kenya and Africa. There would be no reason for me to start another college just to enable students cram or memorise tutors notes and recall the same onto foolscaps in the hope of getting papers. I did not wish to continue the culture of “let me get the papers by all means then my uncle can push for me that job”.

So I started the long journey of making something new and different and take with me back home. A college, a school, and education system that is different and would give the people the true meaning of education: gaining knowledge and skills to start something new and improve on what is existing. To crown it all I coined a slogan to summarise my agenda: A Certificate is just paper.... Its Content is the Value!

Of course I knew there would be resistance and all manner of manipulations to stop my agenda because most people in Africa are deeply rooted in old and traditional myths of education.

DALC is the implementation platform for the new education paradigm in Africa. We undertake Gift and Talent Testing while also recognising work experience and qualifications during admission process.

In this regard the institution has invested and collaborated heavily in processes that would aid Gift and Talent Testing and production of Academic Portfolios for those with work experience. Such Academic Portfolios would produce Academic Credit Points that are used to earn exemptions for those with work experience during admissions.

For Gift and Talent Testing, the institution has partnered with The African Council for Gifted and Talented (ACfGT) as well as Africa Centre for Anthropometric Research, Education, Testing and Management (ACARETM). This has resulted in the purchase of the first 3D Machine for assessment and production of “brain diametrics” which are important in “Intelligence Determination” hence “Gift and Talent Identification” and consequent “Career Forecasting”.

Our teaching methodology is a Learner-led process using the 60-30-30 Teaching Delivery Model that engages the participants, not only to have greater mental recall but also to be investigative and research-oriented. A class in DALC is about showcasing solutions to daily problems or weaknesses in organizations or society.

With the recent launch of The DALC TV and Radio coupled with Research and Publications, the institution is set for a new unmatched agenda in Africa and will obviously be unrivalled if not the jealousy talk in answering the question “what is education today and how will it be tomorrow?”

The institution undertakes a radical shift from the traditional education systems where people wait for examinations at the end of a semester or term. In this traditional format, candidates memorize facts and hope to recall them onto foolscaps in examinations which end up as being a reproduction of tutors notes onto the foolscaps, leaving little or null knowledge application to connect the classroom and the working organizations.

Of course those who cannot cram or memorize would hide answer scripts or find a way of sitting next to those who have hidden answers. They would eventually “pass” the exams and have grades. Within weeks they hardly remember a thing but have papers in the form of certificates to show that they are qualified.

On the contrary, our examinations are fully practical and based on knowledge application in real organizations. In week 1 of admission to DALC, you will be connected to a real organization where you will be biased to finding problems or weaknesses with an objective of designing solutions and implementation.

For this reason, taking a course at DALC will never be same nor compared with doing a course in the traditional colleges or universities. Those who would like to compare us with the traditional institutions will therefore always miss the point and begin to think that we are doing something wrong or do not conform with what they have always known and would like to continue knowing.

However, education is not about what we have always known; it is about what we are about to know and how it will impact on our future. What we are about to know is new and will never fit in thoughts of imagination of the ignorant and idle.