In spite of various affirmative actions, access to post-secondary educational opportunities continues to favour the most privileged, usually resulting in regional and gender imbalance in student enrolment to higher institutions of learning (UBOS, 2014). These gaps suggest that despite efforts to widen access, the benefits of tertiary education have yet to fully reach those who have been previously excluded.
The Higher Education Access Certificate Programme is a short intensive course designed to assist students who may not meet the assumed knowledge requirements of a course or who may not be confident with their preparation for university/tertiary studies. The programme assumes that the candidate has some basic knowledge of the subjects at the advanced level education and for which he/she is being bridged. Subjects taught in the programme do not carry any credit towards degree/diploma programmes but successful completion provides entry into the desired programmes at Universities and other Tertiary Institutions. Apart from subject-specific interventions the HEAC programme will focus on building academic skills, such as reading comprehension, writing, or communication in an academic language, in order to prepare students more broadly for academic success at both the secondary and tertiary levels.