The Divergence between Integrated Program for Out of School Adolescents (IPOSA) and Complementary Basic Education in Tanzania (COBET): A Review.

Sempeho Ibahati Siafu; Michael Ng’umbi

Sempeho Ibahati Siafu Institute of Adult Education, Dar es Salaam-Tanzania
Michael Ng’umbi Institute of Adult Education, Dar es Salaam-Tanzania

Keywords: IPOSA, COBET, Out-of-School, ESDP, Open Schooling, Adult Literacy, Young-mothers, adolescents

Abstract

Basic education as viewed from the EFA goals is a human right both for in-school children and out of school children, youths as well as adults. Tanzania has been responding to the education needs for the out of school youths and adults through a number of education initiatives including the Integrated Program for Out of School Adolescents (IPOSA) and Complementary Basic Education in Tanzania (COBET). The paper provides a divergence between these two education initiatives as models to create knowledge regarding initiatives intending to complement formal schooling by mainstreaming learners back into the formal schooling pathways and those initiatives whose intention is to equip learners with necessary livelihood competences. At the macro level, there are two main Government initiatives namely IPOSA and COBET which serves more than 3 million out of school children and youths in the country. This paper is written as a response to the many questions from education stakeholders regarding the differences between IPOSA and COBET programs. The approach used involved critical literature review, past experiences as well as actual field practices encountered during day-to-day implementation of the programs. The observation made shows that the two out of school initiatives differs in terms of their philosophy, methodology, target population, frameworks, flexibility, curriculum design, curriculum content and syllabus, assessment frameworks, aim or purpose of establishment, pilot arrangements as well as background.