IU IEPALA-R.B.-UCM, ISET and UAN produce excellent teacher trainers for Mozambique and Angola

Primary education in Mozambique and Angola does not satisfy the need for access to quality basic education. This is due to a lack of teachers in general and well qualified teachers in particular. In addition, the teachers are not trained to deal with the often complex and difficult realities of their pupils and their families.

The “IU IEPALA-R.B.-UCM, ISET and UAN produce excellent teacher trainers for Mozambique and Angola” project aims to address these deficiencies and train new, well qualified primary school teachers as well as upgrade the capacity of primary school teachers already in service.

To get higher education institutions more engaged in improving results in primary schools, the IEPALA University Institute in Madrid will set up an institutional network with the Institute for Technological Education in Mozambique and the University of Agostinho Neto in Angola. They will jointly design and deliver a training programme for primary school teacher trainers, who in turn will be capable of addressing the wide variety of issues in primary schools and in communities including admission rates, attendance, drop-out rates, academic standards and gender considerations.

Training teacher trainers

To achieve these goals, the project partners will first strengthen the skills of 40 teacher trainers in Mozambique and Angola. This will be done in the form of a three-year Bachelor degree. The study programme will include theoretical modules on key topics such as educational psychology, sociology, methodology and role models for teachers. It will train teacher instructors to take into account the conditions and life of the people living in the rural areas. They will be able to train the teachers of the future to help support development in accordance with the local conditions. The instructors will also be trained in using modern methods of communication and equipment, as well as learning to share new and modern knowledge and thoughts with the people around them.

The project partners will also jointly develop five action-research modules that will be included in the curriculum of this programme and that will be used as the main tools for identifying and solving problems in primary schools. Then, a pilot distance learning module will be developed, aimed at linking the trainers to their supervisors during the action-research period and helping them study background material for the problems they encounter.

Enhancing curricula and carrying out research

In the next phase of the project, the partners will carry out research on what is needed to further improve the teacher training curriculum to strengthen the link between higher education and primary schools’ needs. On the basis of this reserach and the situation in primary education on the ground in Mozambique and Angola, the partners will jointly develop the improved curriculum for training the primary school teacher trainers. This will be done in three working seminars in close cooperation with teacher trainers from the partner institution in Mozambique. The changes in curriculum will be designed so that they strengthen the link between higher education and primary schools’ needs.

Finally, the project partners will jointly identify, plan, implement and evaluate three action-research projects at each institution related to the promotion of quality primary education. The projects will involve implementing 15 action-research courses in 40 primary schools in Mozambique and implementing three action-research seminars in Angola. In addition, annual meetings between the three partner institutions will be held to share experiences, ideas and plan actions.

Improved primary school teaching practices

The project will contribute to strengthening the capacity of the Institute for Technological Education in Mozambique and will pave the way for equal capacity in Angola, to produce excellent trainers of primary school teachers through cooperation between three HEIs. It will also bring strategic expertise in the education sectors of Mozambique and Angola, through the development of quality higher education of teacher trainers.

The project will also contribute to further regional integration on this priority issue and to action plans and programmes of these countries in relation to Millennium Development Goals (achieving universal primary education), to Education For All (EFA), to TTISSA (Teacher Training in sub-Saharan Africa), launched by UNESCO as a high-priority initiative for 2006-2015, and to government policies on poverty reduction through increased access to quality education.

Improving skills will not only result in better teachers, but also offer better career prospects for both trainers and trainees, mostly composed of young people from rural areas who are looking to establish a good career for themselves and with aspirations also to contribute to the development of their countries. Most significantly, around 20,000 pupils from the 40 primary schools targeted by the project will benefit from the improved primary schools teaching practices. For rural and peri-urban communites more and better qualified primary school teachers means better basic education for children and adults, and also a path out of poverty in the longer term.

Grant: EUR 496.503,00

Project duration: From 11/09/2008 to 10/12/2011

EU funding:

Total budget: EUR 587.577,00

Project contact:

Carlos Rodriguez,

IEPALA University Institute

Tel: 00 34 91 408 4112

E-mail: carlos.rodriguez@iepala.es

Website: www.iepala.es

Project website: IEPALA

Factsheet(s):

EN IEPALA.pdf

Carlos Rodriguez Primo

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