Does the Attorney General have the authority to find that a defendant forfeited a challenge to his own educational instruction?

Preliminarily, we decline the Attorney General's invitation to find defendant forfeited this challenge by acquiescing in the proposed instruction and failing to request the instruction he now contends was required. We will address the instructional error because it affects defendant's substantial rights (People v. Flood, supra, 18 Cal.4th at p. 482, fn. 7; 1259) and to forestall defendant's claim of constitutionally inadequate representation (People v. Mattson (1990) 50 Cal.3d 826, 854).