Relationship between National Goals of Education and Educational Objectives

Information for the Trainer
An effective education system is guided by set goals and objectives. The success of such a system relies on the interrelationship between the National goals of education, secondary level objectives, general and specific objectives of a subject.

National goals of education are the general principles and statements which spell out the aspiration of a nation to be realised through education. They give directions to a set of detailed intentions for the present and the future. From the National goals of education, objectives for the different levels are drawn. The level objectives are used to determine the desired knowledge, skills and attitude that should be acquired at the end of the course.

The general objectives of Life Skills Education are derived from the Secondary level objectives. These objectives are relevant and therefore achievable within the subject. Specific objectives are derived from the general objectives. They give guidance on how knowledge, skills and attitudes pertaining to the content are to be achieved. The specific objectives are quite explicit, operational, time bound and quantifiable.

It is these specific objectives that guides the teacher on the depth and breadth of content coverage. It is therefore important that teachers familiarise themselves with the National goals, level objectives, the general objectives and the specific objectives for Life Skills Education in each topic since they are inter-related.