Collaboration with the Ministry of Education on continuous professional development as a means for sustainable teacher development

• In Event: Roundtable Session (Wednesday III)
  In Refereed Round-Table Session: Sustainable and holistic teacher professional development in crisis contexts: challenges and solutions

Proposal

The Educate Girls, End Poverty (EGEP) programme is funded by UK Aid as part of the Girls' Education Challenge Fund (the GEC). The global outcomes for the GEC are learning, transition and sustainability. EGEP is being implemented across nine regions of Somaliland, Puntland and South Central Somalia. EGEP is being conducted by a consortium led by Relief International with two other international NGOs. The project is targeting 227 primary and secondary schools in a fragile context that includes poor, urban and remote rural areas, and IDP camps. Demand and supply- side barriers faced by girls are being tackled through community-led interventions in partnership with the respective Ministries of Education (MoE). Teaching and learning is a key focus, and during the first phase of the program (2013 - 2017), the in-service teacher training component was provided directly by the various Teacher Training Institutes. The format was based on a national model developed in the 1990s, and, whilst results, as reflected in learning outcomes, were encouraging, the opportunity to return to the drawing board at the start of the second phase (2017 - 2020) was embraced by all partners.

Building on lessons learnt during the first phase, feedback from, students, teachers, teacher training institute, and MoE staff, and good practice in the Education Sector, a continuous professional development (CPD) approach combining face-to-face trainings and in-classroom support through coaches was developed and is currently being implemented. Rather than taking a project-based approach, EGEP took the decision to work in full partnership with the teacher training institutes and the MoEs. This included co-creating the CPD model and content. Equally, in terms of staffing, coaches are hired and managed by the teacher training institutes, whilst EGEP supports the technical capacity building. In terms of quality assurance, technical review and learning and adaptation of the approach, this is undertaken jointly technical MoE, teacher training institute and EGEP staff who are called ‘Key Resource Persons’.

This presentation will discuss the approach EGEP took in terms of co-creation and co-managing the CPD with the teacher training institutes and MoEs (as opposed to a project-based approach). It will present findings so far, especially in terms of teacher performance, as well as the challenges and successes to-date across the different contexts within Somalia and Somaliland, and how EGEP is responding.

Author

• Amy Parker, Relief International