How Quest Forward Helps My Child’s Post-Secondary School Goals

I enrolled my son, Joshua, in a Quest Forward Learning secondary school because I want him to be prepared and equipped to make the right decision for him and his life. I want him to be a value creator. And I want him to make informed decisions about his post-secondary school education.

Today young people across the nation are craving to join universities because everybody else wants to do so too. For many students, the push to pursue higher education through a university or college is drilled into them by families, teachers, and leaders from a young age. The message being sent is that college is a guaranteed path to better financial prosperity.

But simply attending a university is not a complete solution for a successful future.

The recently published Worldwide Educating for the Future Index 2019: From Policy to Practice stated that “education systems urgently need to prepare students for the challenges that await them in them in future work and society.” The report cites the need for developing critical thinking skills and future-orientated skills. I want my son and all children to develop the capabilities and skills to succeed in the future, whether they pursue college or not.

Secondary school students gather around a desk. The students are in discussion. One student is standing and gesturing over their project.
With Quest Forward Learning, students practice how to collaborate with others or drive projects individually, which are both skills that are needed in a career.

Each student follows a different path to success. As a parent who has significant experience as an educator, I must help people get rid of the university-is-for-all mindset since people live in the universe, not in the university.

The learning, development, and growth that takes place in secondary school is just as vital in the life of a young person as knowledge. I truly believe that Quest Forward Learning offers youth across Tanzania a high-quality secondary education, and the opportunity to gain the mindset, habits, and skills to create value for their families, their villages, and our country.

Quest Forward Learning helps with the foundation of my son’s future. With the diverse skills acquired from Quest Forward Learning, students can gain unique benefits, such as:

  • Hands-on learning experiences
    Quest Forward Learning is based around quest, project-based activities that students complete individually and as group projects. Creating is core to a quest, and each quest concludes with students making a work product called an artifact. By making an artifact, students see the purpose of the quest as preparation for creating something interesting and useful.
  • Self-driven projects and real-world relevance
    The nature of Quest Forward Learning is that it helps learners work independently on engaging projects and provides the opportunities to experience what they are learning in class in the real world.
  • Career guidance, placement support, and explorations
    I am excited that Opportunity Education is developing a comprehensive student success program called the Pathways Program, to work hand-in-hand with Quest Forward Learning. The Pathways Program will provide students in secondary school with counseling and guidance support, including career discernment and workforce readiness skills, helping them to decide on which life pathway to pursue: college, apprenticeship/career, or vocational training school. I believe that parents are happy knowing that the Opportunity Education is doing all that for their child to ensure sustainable success.
  • Critical thinking
    Quest Forward Learning students become independent, critical thinkers who are competent in the subject matter, rather than memorizing for examination’s sake. They will gain the mindset that will help them do what they passionately love to do instead of what has traditionally been expected of them.

This will be possible since the mode of learning allows them to achieve their goals. For many of these reasons, my son is a learner at a Quest Forward school and I am proud he is there to gain the mindset, habits, and skills he needs to become a value creator, which he has always wanted to become.

Two secondary school students collaborate on a project. One holds a marker and is writing on paper that has been cut out into a design.
With Quest Forward Learning, students work on projects that promote critical-thinking skills and competency in subject matters.

After his Form 4 graduation, he has chosen to join vocational training college studying industrial electronics and computer engineering literacy since the base has already been set by Quest Forward Learning methodologies. While some of his classmates will go on to success in college, I know that my son will thrive in his vocational choice and be undergirded by the excellent foundation he received from Quest Forward Learning.

This is what he is passionate about, and it will give him the freedom he needs after graduation since he will be able to work as a solo consultant and later create his firm providing service to the community around.

As a parent and educator, I believe secondary school today should help students prepare for a successful life and give them the skills they need to find a purposeful role in society. Quest Forward Learning meets this educational need for the 21st century.


Read more about the methodology behind Quest Forward Learning here.