A Platform For Educational Progress and Innovation in the Developing World
Showing posts with label Education NGO's. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Education NGO's. Show all posts
Incentives Matter, But How They Are Measured Matters More
MIT Poverty Action Lab-Madagascar Education Development Trials
I have been reading into the MIT Poverty Action Lab's work since seeing their test results published in the book Economic Gangsters. In looking specifically at their randomized trials in the educational setting, I was drawn to recent work done in Madagascar, which looked at the effects of both a "top down" and a "bottom up" approach to school interventions. Madagascar is filled with the same issues as most of the developing world in terms of lack of truly progressive educational policy and a stagnant public education system riddled with huge systemic problems. The details are as followed for the "intervention:"
Researchers, in collaboration with The Ministry of Education in Madagascar, ran a randomized experiment in 3,774 primary schools in 30 public school districts. These districts represented all geographic areas in the country, but were focused on schools with the higher rates of grade repetition.
All district administrators in treatment districts received operational tools and training that included forms for supervision visits to schools, and procurement sheets for school supplies and grants (district-level intervention). In some of these schools, the subdistrict head was also trained and provided with tools to supervise school visits, as well as information on the performance and resource level at each school (subdistrict-level intervention).
Lastly, several districts also introduced a school level intervention which involved parental monitoring through school meetings. Field workers distributed a ‘report card’ to schools, which included the previous year’s dropout rate, exam pass rate, and repetition rate. Two community meetings were then held, and the first meeting resulted in an action plan based on the report card. One example of the goals specified in the action plans was to increase the school exam pass rate by 5 percentage points by the end of the academic year. Common tasks specified for teachers included lesson planning and student evaluation every few weeks. The parent’s association was expected to monitor the student evaluation reports which the teachers were supposed to communicate to them. These tools allowed parents to coordinate on taking actions to monitor service quality and exercise social pressure on the teachers.
What is so interesting about the results is that the top-down approach, which is the traditional development approach of dealing with school reform, did practically nothing to actually improve the conditions on the ground. What showed large results were the "bottom up" trials, in which parental monitoring, field workers, and community meetings following specific action plans. Here are the details from the MIT site:
Impact from Bottom-Up Approach: The interventions at the school level led to significantly improved teacher behavior. Teachers were on average 0.26 standard deviations more likely to create daily and weekly lesson plans and to have discussed them with their director. Test scores were 0.1 standard deviations higher than those in the comparison group two years after the implementation of the program. Additionally, student attendance increased by 4.3 percentage points compared to the comparison group average of 87%, though teacher attendance and communication with parents did not improve.
Oxfam Tanzania
The Schools Project
I was able to meet with Justin Morgan, the Assistant Country Director for Oxfam Tanzania. Oxfam is a worldwide development organization that works in various facets of poverty alleviation, including educational development programs. I had the opportunity to talk about the state of educational development in the country of Tanzania, as well as Oxfam's programs in the country that are working to raise both the quality of teachers and the overall rate of literacy in the East African nation. We discussed some very interesting themes in terms of the rural/urban educational divide in the country, the regional implications for their work, as well as broader themes in long-term educational planning and policy change at the national level. Here is a quick video clip that details some of their work in the country with teacher training.
Could you give me a quick background of the education programs you are supporting here in Tanzania? What is the ultimate goal of your work here in the country?
Sure. Our education program is currently focused on teacher training initiatives-doing, including performing actual teacher trainings such as in service training for teachers here in Tanzania. The focus is around child centered learning, having the children become the focus of the activity in the classroom, as opposed to the traditional lecture-focused model of teaching. The goals of this kind of training are increased student engagement and student-based solution and problem solving, which works to build critical thinking. This initiative has been building in success and momentum. However, there is a huge difference in terms of rural and urban areas in the success of our initiatives. If the children are second generation educated, the parents play a far more active role and are more pushy in getting better quality education, which is typically more the case in the urban, more developed areas of the country. In these urban areas, there is a lot more demand for quality from the parents. In the rural areas, the parents are just not as vocal in support. In rural settings, a minimum of 2 teachers per school are trained at the time in our teacher training programs. If they pull out these 2 teachers, this might be half the teachers in a small school, and thus, the chances for true sustainability and future skills transfers to the other teachers is minimized. In urban settings, there are many more teachers, and there is more pressure from the other teachers when some are taken out for training to bring back the information learned to the school; they are more likely to perform as a result.. There is simply more pressure to change at the urban setting than the rural setting.
What are the trends in the country in terms of educational progress on the macro level?
In the last 5-6 years, the educational system has been politicized a lot, which has brought an increasing pressure to perform statistically for the donor countries and agencies. There has been huge shifts in pass rates lately, which have gone up dramatically. What the teacher pass rates are and what is really going on in the education sector are two different things. The pass rates are hugely inflated. The reality is much more grim.
What can be done about this? Who are your trainers and what is their level of training?
The teacher trainers are recent graduates from teacher schools, who have completed a full service of training, which is two years, as opposed to the government's 6 months of training which has been the norm. In the program, there are teacher mentors as well, who are experienced teachers, who also form their own networks within the community. The teacher trainers are facilitated in their work through teacher resource centers that we have set up, where they have teacher aids, and teacher materials on all areas. This especially motivates new teachers, as those new teachers who are placed in the rural areas and who want to continue their studies, and self-improve, are able to do this. This just raises the level of morale. This is incentivizing the postings in the rural areas. Teachers are not highly respected here in general; in the rural setting, they are respected more so, as they are generally literate, which could be a rarity in rural communities.
What other programs are you running in the education sector in Tanzania?
The second big focus of our programs is in getting parents, communities and the students engaged in the education system. Again, there is a huge difference in engagement in the rural and urban areas. The quality of the implementation of these paradigm shifts are hard to gauge. In general, the urban partners, the urban parents and community members who we work with in engagement are more motivated and are more proactive in their work with us. There are a higher caliber of staff in the urban areas, and do a better job overall. The rural partners are not nearly as effective in becoming truly engaged in the educational process and creating a platform for change in this focus.
The last part of the work is advocacy. We work to try to influence the government policy, especially at the national level, through an education network, named Tannet, which is a national advocacy group in education.
Can you tell me a bit about the issue of teacher motivation and teacher incentives in Tanzania? As we know, without the proper incentives, the caliber and quality of teachers will suffer, which has been the case in many developing world countries. What is being done about this issue here in Tanzania?
The fact that teaching, especially in the rural areas, is a formal piece of employment is the only real incentive for most of the teachers here in the country. Teaching is a job, it is a paycheck, however, the incentives aren't often any greater than this. In the profession, in general, there is a relative amount of freedom as well, which is an added incentive, but the monetary and pay for performance rewards are certainly lacking.
What are the critical needs right now in working with teacher quality?
Again, the most critical need in the system is with the overall quality of teaching. In terms of quantity, the country has done extremely well, but the quality is not there. 14000-15000 teachers were passed through the new teacher training system last year with only 6 months of training before being placed into schools. In the rural schools, there is nothing else around in the setting for the teachers to want to be there. There is no electricity, water, or other entertainment, and for the teachers, they will not be motivated in these areas, especially coming from the training academies, which are in the urban areas. Teachers have to be more and more comfortable in their jobs to be more productive, and they need to feel the sense of achievement. The older teachers, who have had a proper training, feel much more of this commitment than the younger teachers who have been given such limited amounts of training before deployment. Also, another big problem is with the national school curriculum. The curriculum needs to be consistent for progress to truly take place, and this has not been the case here in Tanzania. It is constantly changing to appease donors and the government itself. Why is this? People make money out of the process. Actual implementation does not make money. They are constantly looking to improve, and do not stay and deliver enough before changing again, running towards the next quick fix. There needs to be much more consistency. In looking at the kids themselves, there needs to be more incentives for kids to stay in school through secondary. The statistics of advancement from primary to secondary are number-wise not very good. More consistency in this helps the quality at the end result. In Norway, every teacher needs a masters degree. If the entire cycle is helped, if there is more continuity with students from primary to secondary to university who can then come back into education, the whole system will benefit. This takes time.
Realistically, is this happening??
Yes. I see the hope in the changes between first generation and second generation educated in the country. This change is making me hopeful in the fact that there has been progress. There has been a positive shift. Literacy rates have gone up. Budget wise, the government has sustained a huge percentage going to education.
Has Oxfam done any work with educational technology in the country?
At this point, no. No matter what happens with technology, it comes back to the kids and self-learning. The basics need to be met before moving too fast into the future. We need to build a solid foundation first.
Where do you see your programs in 5 years? 10 Years?
Education work needs to be more in advocacy with the government, to adopt more approaches and to do less actual service delivery; this need to be left to the government. Involvement within the service delivery will be more with focused on infrastructure, things such as more toilets for girls, teacher accommodation, these types of things. What we need to look at more in the future is in active citizenship. We can look at what convinces and what motivates people, the people making the decisions in government. What are the motivations for these people? Where are they working from? -Rather than short term objectives, looking at how change happens here, how does the society shift here at this level, understanding how these things naturally change, building understanding, and linking this into our work. I see this as the direction that we are moving in.
Give me an example of this?
Sure. Such as one MP looking at a neighboring MP who is providing better quality services in their region, and having others come look at what they are doing and the see the results that they are getting. This is indigenous, positive, structural change. A lot is incremental change. Also, technology is changing things very fast. The biggest shift here over the last 20 years are in womens rights. This is because of TV and radio. If you see something on TV, is can cause social change. Technology is a change agent. Rather than forcing the technology upon people, just having the understanding that it can help and will progress in its own fashion is critical. The majority of Africans will access their internet through phones, not through laptops. We need to work with this. We have been using phones extensively to monitor our work and provide funding and banking services, for instance. This can be easily brought into the educational sector.
BridgeIT Tanzania
I have been extremely interested in the BridgeIT program since learning about it last year in Nepal, and trying to get funding to start a pilot program in one of the Magic Yeti's library locations in Khumjung, Nepal. The funding ultimately did not come through, but my interest in the program remained. I had the opportunity to meet with Mr. Joseph Morrorgoro, who is spearheading the effort, at his organization's office in Dar Es Salaam, to speak about the program. First, a quick video about BridgeIT and some background information taken from the organization's website:
From the BridgeIT information profile:
“In September 2007, the International Youth Foundation and the Tanzania Ministry of Education and Vocational Training launched BridgeIT Tanzania, in close partnership with the Forum for African Women Educationalists, Nokia, Nokia Siemens Networks, and the Pearson Foundation. BridgeIT's goal is to significantly increase the quality of teacher instruction and achievement among primary school boys and girls in math, science, and life skills through the innovative use of cell phones and digital technology. The BridgeIT project in Tanzania is a replication of a successful project in the Phillipines known as text2teach,. Locally, BridgeIT Tanzania is known as Elimu kwa Teknolija, or ET, which means “Education Through Technology.” This two year program is supported through a grant from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
How it works:
Teachers order video content through their cellular phone, which is downloaded directly to the classroom, where students and teachers view the videos. The project allows remote schools and communities to access a vast range of educational video content to enhance the learning content that children receive through textbooks and classroom resources.”
Can you please give me a quick background of the program, the needs you are trying to meet, and the program's inception, to begin with?
BridgeIT is a program which uses mobile phone technology to support teachers and students in math and science. What we do is two parts-the first part is the content production of the education videos, which are produced in line with the Tanzania national curriculum. After they are produced, they need to be delivered to the teachers, which is where the technology is used. There is a main server where the videos are uploaded, and then the teachers can access the videos through using the Nokia N95 phone. When the videos are downloaded onto the phone, it is then connected by AV cable to the screen in the classroom. The teacher will use the science and math videos as a teaching aid. They are video clips. They do not cover the whole lesson (45 minutes) but are only 3-7 minutes depending on the topic and the content. The teacher will obviously need to teach using other materials as well as the screens. At a particular stage in the lesson, the teacher can access the videos. There are three kinds of videos-adopted videos from the US, which were translated from English to Swahili-these were produced by the Pearson Foundation; there are also locally made videos, which are both real time and animation-these are produced on site here in the office for the students. This is an NGO under the supervision of the Ministry of Education.
How was the need for a program like this initially discovered? What is the need you are trying to fill?
Professor Penina (a professor at the University of Dar Es Salaam) is the who is the one who came up with the idea, who presented the idea and started the proposal. She was trying to fill the need of better teacher training in the rural areas, and the lack of quality resources, especially in the rural areas of the country which have been historically under served.
Who are some of the key partners working on the project with you here in Tanzania?
USAID is the main funder, and has provided money for video production, teacher training, teacher guides, materials, and teacher manuals.
Vodacom: has provided free mobile networks to the teachers-the downloads are done free of charge on their mobile network
Nokia: they provide the N95 phones and the software, which is the Nokia Education Delivery Software, developed by Nokia to run the phone and the educational software
Ministry of Education: apart from being the key stakeholder in the project, their staff are fully engaged in the video production process both from the ministry and the TIE-Institute of Education workers who are also helping with the video production.
Specialized people in curriculum development guide the project-they are from within the Ministry of Education.
Where is the central server for the program located?
The server is located at Vodacom's headquarters here in Dar, due to the need for technical training and supervising. The plan is to shift it from here to the Ministry of Education in the near future, to provide more ownership over the program, once more Ministry of Education technical workers can be trained in the maintenance of the machinery.
How big has the roll-out been to this point? How is the program distributed throughout the country?
There are currently about 150 schools in 17 districts, covering about 1% of all public primary schools. The program has been spread evenly around the country, from the east side, the south, central, and also the north side, in both urban and rural areas, but most of the schools in the rural areas, because the problem of quality education is more severe in the rural areas.
How do you deal with the unstable power situation in the rural areas?
Solar power and generators are being used. A lot of the schools are on the grid, however. Power supply is not provided by BridgeIT to run the local programs. The community needs to be engaged to support the program, and if power is lacking, they are responsible for finding a way to overcome this gap before the program can be introduced. Some of the schools installed solar, and some communities came together and bought small generators for the school.
You mentioned Math and Science, which I have heard a lot about being critically lacking areas, especially for females in the country. What about the other subjects, such as English or Social Studies, that could also benefit from the technology?
There is a desire to grow the program. Teachers and students have been asking as to why the videos are not in all the areas. Everything must start with a point, but the plan is to extend the program to other subjects and other schools. The focus now is on the primary level. There is also new program called TZ21st. BridgeIT is in 5 and 6 grades; this other program is working with grades 1-4, however, the model is different in TZ21st they are using laptops and projectors instead.
How are the videos integrated into the lesson plans and the curriculum of the local teachers?
The curriculum is designed with certain “breaks” in the lessons where the videos are integrated into the lesson plans.
How are the local teachers trained in using the technology?
Teachers, in the pre-production stage, have to come down and first come up with a list of the topics as to what they think the videos should be produced. The topics are what are lacking in the current schools. The teachers look and propose what needs to be covered in the topics, as the experts. They know how the topics should be taught. The teachers present their ideas and suggest what materials are needed in the lesson plans to give a clear understanding. The ideas are given to the video producers and math them to the production. The N95 has options such as forwarding, pausing, rewinding, so the videos can be manipulated and described in the class.
What is the biggest risk or challenge in deploying the technology? The biggest benefit?
The biggest challenge is the cost of the program. The video production cost is very high. Also, another challenge is the skills of video production that are lacking in the country. We need professionals in this area, and there are not many in the country. Also, technology is always changing, it is dynamic by nature; for instance, we have been using the N95, which is no longer in the market, which means that now we will need to change the phones, which creates a big cost problem. There have also been a few cases where some of the materials have been stolen, but the school management committee, including the head teacher and the students all have a part to play in making sure this does not become a problem. During the introduction of the program, we had to work hard to manage the expectations. We had to educate the communities, the school management, that the equipment is there to support the kids for their learning, to create a sense of ownership over the materials for the community. All stakeholders, from the national level to the local level, has been engaged in the project, which has helped tremendously in the implementation of the project.
Where do you see the project in 5/10 years?
There has been an action plan introduced at the school and district level. At the latter, the district leader has the duty to expand the project to new schools. The main office has asked them to come up with a written plan under which they are responsible. The district education officers are thus challenged with the expansion at the district level. At the local level, there was a discussion with the school committees who have to come up with action plans to show how the project would be sustainable, where they would take care of the equipment, and where possible, contribute to the program in the school. The community should expand the program from one to two or three classrooms.
Do you think the program could be replicated in other countries in the region?
Absolutely. Yes, Nigeria and Kenya have also started the program. People from Nigeria were here, and they were observing the project and were very excited with the project. Also, Kenya has been planning the project. During the E-Africa learning conference, BridgeIT was presented, and there was a lot of buzz in the program.
UNESCO Tanzania
Literacy/Education Development Interview-UNESCO Literacy for All Campaign
The Schools Project
Ms. Jensen-Director, UNESCO Tanzania
I had the pleasure of meeting and talking about educational development both in Tanzania and the broader African region with the head of UNESCO in Tanzania, Ms. Vibeke Jensen. Ms. Jensen is the Representative and Director of UNESCO for the Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius, Seychelles, and the United Republic of Tanzania. UNESCO is the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, and they have launched the Education for All initiative worldwide, along with other educational support programs.
What is the main objective for UNESCO's educational and literacy work in the country? How does the Education for All platform address these needs?
In the current situation, UNESCO has very limited amounts of funding and is focused mainly on the normative and policy advisory aspects of education. UNESCO has just signed off on a four year plan for the country with UNICEF and WFP, key UN partners, but we are not really on the ground, such as UNICEF. We work primarily with the Ministry of Education to develop three main areas. The first is developing and guiding education management systems with the Ministry, to create and collaborate good quality data for policy and planning decisions, as well as overall and information gathering. The second focus is with quality of education. The country has a very high school enrollment rate, at about 95%, but the quality is not really there. (As seen in so many areas of the developing world. The figures are often doctored to appease foreign donors, but the critical element of quality in the educational process, a challenge in developed nations, is simply missing in most circumstances here in Tanzania, as I have just witnessed in Mozambique, and in most of Sub-Saharan Africa, as the harsh reality). There is a very low pass rate and a high drop out rate going into secondary school from the primary level. This is a huge problem. In particular, for females, who we are targeting in our efforts, science and math education are particular areas where they have struggled. (Why is this?) There is a lot of stereotyping in these two areas, socially, as “strong” and “male” oriented fields. This is a social thing here in Tanzania. Thus, girls simply perform much worse than boys in these areas. This has a lot to do with their futures as well, their development of higher level problem solving, innovation, thinking outside the box, etc. UNESCO has been procuring for a number of schools on a trial basis science kits to be used in the schools where they don't have labs in place, to help teachers to be able to demonstrate and make things more hands on for the students. There is also a huge shortage of science and math teachers here. UNESCO has been working with the institute of education on curriculum development and things like this, and is training teachers in using the science kits, and works with teachers on issues like educaiton for sustainable development and new teaching approaches that are inclusive to all children.
Has UNESCO done any work with local language literacy? (The national language of Swahili is spoken by many, but not all the population, leading to the problems found in many areas of the developing world, in which the language of instruction is not the mother tongue, creating a dissonance, and a critical learning disadvantage, as a result).
Local languages should be taught for the first number of primary school years, according to UNESCO, and we support mother tongue development in this arena. However, this remains a sensitive issue in this country. Nyerere (the founding President of the nation) was a staunch supporter of Swahili being the national language, in order to unify the nation. It has even recently been chosen as one of the African Union's four main languages. However, there are adverse affects with this, and the public school system does not support any other local languages.
In addition, threatened languages, as many of the smaller, tribal tongues have become, are a concern here with the culture sector; there has been support in oral storytelling in local languages for this reason, to safeguard them, but this is very little in the grand scheme of thing. Mother tongue research has shown that not using the mother tongue disproportionately affects girls development, as they are less prone to be out and about in the community and thus, more negatively affected by the lack of programs in this area.
What resources are currently most needed by the schools system in Tanzania overall?
Books, mainly textbooks. The government has an official policy of having one book for every 3 students, but the numbers are nowhere near this. What other ways of teaching and learning are there if this basic need for books is not being met? This is the biggest challenge. The teachers and the teacher training system is also a huge issue. Teachers are very unaccountable. Many do not turn up. In some cases there is no teacher housing in the rural areas, so teachers do not show up if they are assigned there by the government. Very often, this is a huge problem here in Tanzania, teacher accommodation. This is also linked to conditions and salary, working conditions, but also the teacher trainers are there because they have no other choices, not because they actually want to be doing this. The newest government exams were a catastrophe this year for the system. The teachers are recruited from the lowest levels of the national exams, at the C and D levels, so they have no other choices. People don't become teachers because they want to , but because that's the only job available. The initial pre-service teacher training is ok, but then there is no ongoing content support or in service training. How do we deal with promotions and transfers, how fair and transparent are these, is there a connection between hard work and a promotion?
What are the possibilities for reforming the teacher training in this country? How realistic are these possibilities?
Reform needs to first look at who is being recruited. How are they being motivated? How is this motivation linked to promotions? How do we make sure promotions are linked to professional development? All of these need to be addressed and coordinated.
Is there the will to reform? Tanzania knows that education is important, so there is good will in the area, and they have done a lot and they do have intentions, but they are not allocating enough to education yet. The institutional setup at the Ministry is very low and the capacity is very low, and things, in general, happen very slowly. There is little in the way of strong human resources to implement the strong changes that are needed. There are also issues because of the decentralization of power to the local levels, and thus, the Ministry has become more of a technical entity, and it is not totally clear who is running things, with regards to the implementation of new initiatives and in who is totally responsible for what. Decentralized systems are good, but all of the sudden money goes missing and is not spent on what it was intended to be spent on at the local level. There are also too many people giving easy donor money here in the country, this has been a problem in the past. Although the partners do put conditions on things, the quality has not been there in a lot of ways in education.
There has been a huge focus on enrollment in these countries, however, the quality is not there. Nothing meaningful is going on in the classrooms. There are no materials, etc. The numbers are there to please the donors, but the quality is not. The enrollment is actually leveling off here, because of the lack of quality, people are becoming discouraged, the parents and students. It is worse to fail at school and leave the education system labeled a failure than to never have gone in the first place. Communities may be poor, but they can choose quickly if it is worth it to send their kids to school. A backlash will ensue.
What are the alternatives at the rural level? What kind of vocational programs can be implemented?
Folk Development Colleges, which had been implemented on the Scandinavian models of educating rural populations there in the 1800's, were set up here in the 1960's and 70's with the help of Scandinavian governments. They were meant for rural youth, working on farms, to teach academic and social skills in their communities, such as life skills and personality skills; this has played a big roll in democracy in Scandanavia. They were set up with the same intentions to serve the rural populations who have not been served with basic vocational skills such as painting, mechanics, sewing, crafts, etc; they have also recently added on some technical training. The problems have been that you have to pay to get in to these and there is not a diploma given, which has been a reason why they have not been used. We would like to revamp these schools and revise their objectives and to make them more relevant to alternative education in the rural areas. The network already exists, but it needs to be improved.
Has UNESCO done any work in supporting ICT in education in Tanzania?
ICT has been supported through community radios-these have been useful in the social mobilization level, especially on Pemba (an outlying island north of Zanzibar), which was supported to increase the enrollment of girls in school, and which has been quite successful. This is a locally established radio program in which locals are trained to do the radio programs and given ideas about the content. In the past elections they were used to reach out to women with the information needed. In terms of other technology applications, they have been limited. The biggest fear is a lack of implementation with computers and ICT systems. We have seen so much waste with computers that have been donated and never used; this is one of the biggest shames.
(My own commentary...)
The themes seen again and again start to paint a very stark picture of the challenges facing international educational development. These themes have strong universal characteristics throughout the global south, and threaten to nullify any future progress if unique approaches are not intertwined with the radical solutions demanded. Unless the status quo, which has not worked for the vast majority of the citizens of the developing world, is to remain, systematic changes need to be addressed. However, these challenges are both numerous and extremely daunting. Only the strongest systemic will created by the strongest systemic leadership will garner enough momentum to overcome generations of sub-par implementation in the educational field of so many nations. Lofty goals and haughty plans, combined with dazzling governmental statistics often combine to completely fail everyone but the continued perpetuation of the dependence of aid. A radical approach, combining the best aspects of what has been tested and what has succeeded in other regions of the world; there is no need to reinvent the wheel here; educational technology and the will to implement it to truly address the critical digial divide issue; high quality teacher training supported at the highest levels of a progressive government, willing to truly focus its resources, and, even more critically, its attention and praise, on these public servants; accountability in pay and promotion, a strict code of ethics for teachers and administrators, stern oversight, and finality with both achievement and reprimand; and the critical resources, such as books both in the local languages and national languages, and stationary supplies, to ensure that all have access to the basic tools of societal advancement. Innovation and simplicity. Accountability and leadership. Progression and quality.
Tanzania Beyond Tomorrow
Literacy/Education Development Interview -Tanzania Beyond Tomorrow Program, Ministry of Education, Tanzania
The Schools Project
In my quest to look for innovation in both international educational delivery and its international educational technology, my gaze soon fell upon Tanzania; while in Cape Town, I heard through the grapevine at UCT that there was a big educational technology conference taking place in Dar Es Salaam in June, and though I knew I would not make it here in time, I knew that some of the residual effects would still be lingering by the time I finally did make it back to Tanzania. In conducting my background research, my interest fell upon two projects, both spearheaded by a joint government-private partnership that has taken effect in most multilateral dealings. These two are the BridgeIT Project, a collaboration with the Nokia Educational Delivery System, and the Tanzania Beyond Tomorrow Platform, which sets out the strategic goals for the nation's educational system moving into the 21st and beyond. I was able to spend a couple of hours at the Ministry of Education in Dar Es Salaam with Mr. Muxweila Kalinga, who has been tasked with spearheading the Ministry of Education's educational technology drive to both modernize teaching approaches and classroom facilities, and thus, close the digital divide for this fast-growing East African nation, which aims to be a middle income country through its Vision 2025 Project, a large focus of which lies on the education sector. We were able to talk both about ICT initiatives in the schools, and the vast challenge that lies in their coordination and implementation at the national level.
Could you please give me a quick background of the program, ie: the needs it is trying to meet, and how it was started, and its relevant technological focuses?
The Tanzania Beyond Tomorrow Project was started as a project for secondary education with the main aim of using ICT (Information Technology) to alleviate the problem of the shortage of teachers in science, math, and, to a lesser degree, English. Over the years it has been shown that the performance in these areas is very low compared with the arts and humanities. The problem was compounded by the mushrooming population of the secondary schools when universal access was granted for all in Tanzania. The country went from 1800 schools in 2006 to doubling to 3600 schools all of the sudden. It is easy to construct buildings and equip them with materials, but in training teachers, this is much more difficult. Neither do you find already trained teachers to staff the schools when you quickly double the national enrollment. The existing shortage was tremendously amplified by the upsurge in schools. ICT appeared to be one of the viable solutions to this huge problem, especially when taking into account the modern technology available that works with distance teaching and bringing learning even to remote areas with no electricity using other means. So, the project was prompted by the shortage of teachers, but also not without forgetting the central role of the Ministry to get the Tanzanian society to close the digital divide. The teacher shortage was just a temporary challenge, but the digital divide need is there regardless.
And the actual platform that has been created under the name Tanzania Beyond Tomorrow. What does this actually encompass and set out to do in closing this digital divide?
So now, there are many secondary schools with many partners in developing ICT programs, so in different schools and colleges there are different initiatives scattered all over. This has created a big problem and discrepancies in the scattered, uncoordinated initiatives that have taken hold. These ICT initiatives all need to be recognized and connected through the Ministry of Education. Some people, for instance, would come and offer support for a specific school, without a specific solution in mind. Now, under this platform that coordinates the activities on a national level, the Ministry is able to offer a specific solution. This solution will follow three steps: First, to take stock of what we have. Two, to create a level ground where different partners and prospective donors could find a way to assist in the best possible way, and third, to create conducive solutions for developers to operate in partnership with the government and other institutions.
Where do the teachers fit into this plan?
Teachers here are trained at teacher colleges and universities. They must have the capacity to coordinate and facilitate ICT for the learners. Pre-primary, primary, secondary, teacher education, and adult and non-formal education all have to be addressed with the solutions here. The focus should be on all levels of education, starting with the basic education.
Can you touch on some of the specific programs and initiatives falling under the TBT platform?
The program is embracing many different projects that already exist, and is working to streamline them under the umbrella of TBT. Some of the programs are:
Ncomputing-(yet to engage)-in this new project, a central computer in the classroom will be used to run more than 5 computer moniters that are deployed for the students; this cuts the cost of technology and computer deployment and creates more ease with streamlining the lessons.
NoPC Project-currently being piloted in the secondary schools, with the private partner beingAirtel. This is a London based program that has recently expanded from 10 to 50 schools. And has been working with teacher colleges which will be attached to secondary schools so both levels of training can be addressed at the same time. The focus is to try the technology of noPC, which is using one PC to operate like a server to run multiple moniters in a classroom. So, in a class of 25 students, instead of needing 25 computers, you only need 5 computers instead. The basic structure is 5 moniters to one PC.
BridgeIT-working with Nokia, Pearson, and the International Youth Foundation to deliver educational videos via Nokia handsets and the Vodacom mobile phone network to both urban and rural school classrooms. (I will be speaking with the IYF this week on the rollout of this specific program).
YesICan- Mp3 Programs for adult rural education and special needs education, in its pilot phase.
These are just the programs being coordinated within the ministry. There are also other private initiatives taking place as well, such as
Powering Potential (NY Based)- which is developing 17watt computing systems here in Tanzania, which being low-power computing initiatives, can use solar equipment to run the computing systems
off the grid in the rural areas of the nation.
Tell me about how you are helping to manage all of these different initiatives.
So, this TBT is a coordinating initiative that can match international donors and school, as well as the ICT solutions with the issues that exist. Once the donors become familiar with a specific program, their offers for collaboration will be much more effective. There has been a small laboratory established by the Ministry to look at 4 scenarios that shape the situation in the country:
1-no power grid, no internet
2-power, no internet
3-both provided, internet and power
4-full access to technology
In situation 4, with full access to technology, how has the content been developed to meet the needs? We can compare the situation to some of the OLPC initiatives and the Sugar Software approaches being launched in countries such as Rwanda to really match the software being developed with the needs of the school systems at the national and more local levels.
E-content development here has been very difficult. The funding has been too limited to start building the capacity of the curriculum developers to collaborate effectively with the solution developers. Both are critical to be effective. The IT experts need to work with the curriculum teams to create a package to use for the roll out; however, this is just about to begin. Cisco, Intel, and others are interested in this, however, the funds are lacking, which has been difficult for the roll out. Other companies such as EduComp from India and Accenture from the states are partners as well, but the funding right now is the issue in the actual launch. In this facet, BridgeIT is the most promising now, as the content has already been developed and the solution is turnkey. Using a mobile phone and linking to a TV monitor is an excellent idea. In the bush, there are people watching television with generators and a lot of them have mobile phones. So, there is a lot of familiarity with the technology, and thus, a lot of potential with this program. People share a comfort with the technology, so its implementation can be much smoother. The is a strategic advantage.
Where do you see these programs in 5 years? 10 Years?
In 10 years, TBT Project will have to change, when you consider the technology is always changing. Teacher training and competence will hopefully be solved. The focus will have to shift to in-service training to keep the teachers as updated as possible and to keep pace with what is changing. The training center and data centers will be crucial to this. In the first 5 years these two centers will need to be established to train support staff like the technicians needed to oversee the ICT networks, and the teachers who can be specialized in developing e-Content. At least every teacher will have a laptop, or some access to connectivity. The Digital Divide needs to be narrowed. The knowledge and skills need to be in place to implement the new technologies that are being developed-this platform will be used to adapt new technology. The fear is a big problem as well, a big challenge. Technology has created a phobia as well. Training the new generation to be comfortable with the new technologies will be critical. The challenge is creating comfort with technology for both teachers, students, and members of the government to see the advantages og using technology to progress. The solution developers are out there working on the solutions-if they feel comfortable coming in, seeing the government as a tool for collaboration, it will create a much more efficient network for the nation to progress. Solution developers can then target the most needy populations with their designs. When Intel or Cisco comes in, the doors need to be opened to work with them. They can then design appropriate technologies or adapt current technologies to meet the needs. There is a lot of opportunities that should be in the place of challenges. Challenges should excite us so that they can be met with solutions.
The wheel does not need to be reinvented!
What resources are currently most needed to close the digital divide here in Tanzania?
Financial resources are the most needed; with funds, everything can be procured. There are currently 34 government teacher training colleges that are all connected through a shared Intra/Internet. The hub is in Morogoro currently; the private sector is also involved with this. Teacher training is focused on using ICT in their teaching. As far as teacher training is concerned, if the teacher is not familiar with technology, they cannot be involved with all of the initiatives being proposed. If a teacher is not trained in technology, they will never be a partner. The teachers are being given basic training to run things such as NoPC, but it is still a big need that requires a systematic plan to actually have the confidence to participate in research and development with these programs as well. The teachers should be a big partner in this.
Aga Khan Educational Foundation, Pemba
Literacy/Education Development -The Aga Khan Development Network, Pemba, Mozambique
The Schools Project
I was able to meet with Marcelo Silberano, the regional director for The Aga Khan Development Network, to discuss his organization's work in educational development in the Cabo Delgado Province of Mozambique, one of the most remote and least developed areas of the country, bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, and Niassa Province to the west. The Aga Khan Network has done outstanding work in developing all of the social sectors of development in many parts of the global south; here in Mozambique, they are working closely with the state and with other NGO's to provide many critical services. Below is a transcript of the frank and interesting conversation I had with Mr. Silberano about the state of the local school systems, Aga Khans education programs, and the issue of school leadership at the local level. Mr. Silberano has been involved in both regional and national educational policy in Mozambique for over a decade, and we spoke in his office in Pemba, the provincial capital.
Could you please tell me about your work with literacy and education in the Cabo Delgado district of Mozambique? What kind of programs are you running? What is the intended audience? What is your desired result?
The Aga Khan Development Network has a very critical education component to its work here in Mozambique. First, we are running a school improvement program. This is targeting basic and primary schools through a focus on teacher training and creating networks of school councils to empower local communities, through creating partnerships in the school communities through a school management team. This is basically creating more accountability at the local level for the public schools, and more partners to work with to enact positive changes in the administration of the schools. Aga Khan is working at all levels of education here in Cabo Delgado. First, at the primary level, from grades one to seven; also, with work in early childhood education from the ages of 3-5 years old. At this age range, we are working to establish small preschools and in training local educators for these preschools. These are primarily volunteers who work with the thee schools already founded and running in the province. This also entails setting up local school management teams to work with managing the schools. We are working to train the educators, to promote the development of materials, reading stories, toys, as well as training local artisans to develop the curriculum at the local schools. There are already 11 schools where this is taking place. The idea is to use local materials and to utilize local resources in teaching and to use local materials for the constructions. There are 72 schools in the entire network of Aga Khan in Cabo Delgado who are currently receiving training and development in this area. We are also working in curriculum development with our partner schools. Also, in addition to the programs targeting the youth, adult literacy education programs are also being implemented. In this capacity, Aga Khan is working to train adult educator teachers through a teacher trainer program. Another program by Aga Khan in the sector is the Bridge to the Future program, in which an agrarian school has been started in one of the rural areas of Cabo Deldago. The goal of this school is to work in hands-on vocational training in agriculture. They are starting with the basic levels of agriculture and agricultural development-management, developing teacher training and curriculum development which is being started this year; there is also new infrastructure, such as a new computer lab and also a library on site. In addition to these features, they have constructed an aviary for 1000 chickens, as well as a corral for goats.
Aga Khan has also been working with a local scholarship program, which started in 2005, and has given 238 scholarships for the different educational areas such as agriculture, education, health, accounting, for teaching. (How is the selection process run for these scholarships?) They are chosen through a long process which identifies the needs of the Province, and then matches the human resources with the needs, which now the most critical seem to be IT and tourism, which are the 2 biggest new areas that are needing human resources. They put up postings with the results in the schools, which also helps to advertise the programs and the scholarships available for the locals. The prospective students are then required to sit for an exam, either a government exam or an ADK exam to pass, then there is a social criteria which must be passed, where such historically underserved populations such as women, rural, and disadvantaged students are given special consideration. After this step, there is a selection team that must interview the students to verify all of the other steps before the schoalrships can be finalized, and then they are selected. ADK pays the fees, accommodation, food, and also hosts internships for the students, studying in different provinces around the country. The ultimate goal of the scholarship program is for the students to be trained and to come back to Cabo Delgado and work and be employed here in the local area. This is a challenge, as there are very little jobs here to fill, despite the needs in IT and tourism.
(How are the students being considered for scholarships looked after at the school level, in terms of special guidance?)
In each school or university, there is one mentor chosen who will work closely with the students, and design different activities to be involved with for the students, to develop them in different areas such as life skills and social actitivies. This mentoring program is called Emerging Leaders, which helps to identify scholarship recipients as well as nurture students already chosen. This is done also to raise the profile of making a difference in the community, and to make for an experience that is more than just the studies for the students. They will often work to clean the hospitals, they have been raising funds for local orphanages, they are planting trees in the local community for an environment day. The goals being to try to broaden the horizons of these Emerging Leaders.
(What is the biggest challenge in this scholarship program and in working with these Emerging Leaders?)
The biggest challenge is raising funds for scholarships for these students. The\ scholaship programs last 3-4 years, and there must be money committed for the entire process which is essential to ensure continuity for the students involved.
(What about distance education, opportunities for students outside of the Pemba area?)
We are trying to develop a program to give access to our programs for students who are far from the schools. In some remote areas, the schools will finish in grade 5 and the students must complete an alternative curriculum in which they have some learning materials and must go to the local primary schools and work with teachers with some adapted materials. This program requires teachers who can conduct outreach once a week or twice a week to explain adapted curriculum in this area. This curriculum gives basic skills, and they are trying to develop this new curriculum in the more remote regions of Cabo Delgado presently.
Many of the citizens of the country, particularly in outlying areas, are not speaking the national tongue of Portuguese; what efforts are being made to support local language literacy as well as second language literacy?
The foundation does not work with local languages, because in the districts that they work, they are working in partnership with the government, which is only hosting the Portuguese language. In some schools, such as some bilingual schools, local languages are being used, but ADK is not working in this area, as they are not found in the 5 districts with ADK programs.
How are teachers retained, paid, trained, and motivated to progress in their work? What are the incentives for doing a good job in the classroom?
In terms of the teacher training and teacher motivations, incentives for teachers is always a problem. Even the basic working conditions for the teachers, in terms of making them motivated with limited materials, is the biggest issue. ADK tries to train as well as help to complete the materials that are available to the teachers in the province; however, providing incentives to the teachers directly is very complicated, and comes down to the government. ADK can only try to compliment what the government is doing in this area, and currently, there are little incentives for the teachers. However, if improvements are made in this area of incentives and increased compensation, and there are not good monitoring systems in place to ensure that actual improvements are being made for things such as teacher pay for performance, it would be impossible to implement with such a weak system of oversight.
My specific areas for study include educational technology and local language literacy programs. Have you done any work in these two areas, or do you know of other organizations doing work in these two areas?
Here, there is little other technology programs; in the Bilibiza school (the new agrarian school), there is a computer lab which will train both the teachers and the students to use the computers and in informatics. There is some limited internet connection there, but they are trying to raise more funds for a better internet connection in the location. However, there are limitations to bringing in the internet to a remote location- the teachers and administrators need to be trained in basic computing skills in this location. (What would the ideal role of technology be in this new location?) Ideally, the teachers would be able to send exercises via the intranet; we are trying to develop an E-Learning platform, and are asking the teachers what areas they could use technology in in the classroom through an intranet. It seems that the request is for a big quantity of materials that can be digitized and used in the lesson planning process, but this is still a way in the future.
What resources are currently most needed by both your organization and by the schools system in Mozambique overall?
The first resource is not materials. It is in having a good school director, a good management team in place. This is one of the biggest issues here in Mozambique. Having a good director is not the only thing that matters, but this will make a huge difference in a school. In schools with basic needs being met, without a good leader, the performance is not good. With schools in which are missing a lot of things, but which have a good school manager, there at least is direction and a basic functioning in the school. For example, ADK conducted a study in Cabo Delgado and found that the biggest issue facing the schools is that the teachers are simply not showing up. Even if they are in the school they are not in the classroom. Even if they are in the classroom, the time spent actually teaching is very small. This is the biggest issue. If there is a good management, that can oversee the lessons and oversee the teachers, instead of allowing teachers to do whatever they want, this will make a tremendous difference in the school system here in Mozambique. Human resources are the most important resources. Supervision is critical, in terms of meeting with the teachers, lesson planning, and time structure. Teachers often can not show up for a week, and everything is ok when they return, no questions asked. ADK determines if a school is a good investment based on the leadership, as well as a good school council, which can also control the school leadership as well as the community and can also serve to to assess the community needs and make that connection possible. A good school council, a good headmaster, will help to solve the other problems and issues on the ground.
How can the quality of the leadership be improved?
It is not only training, this is only one thing; to specifically train for one issue is one thing, in terms of school management, vision, mission, objectives, targets, etc for the school and for the leadership to have a plan to meet these targets, but if the incentives are not there, in terms of not only salary and money, but also in recognition by the government that the headmaster is effective, then the process will falter. Such incentives as a radio or a bicycle at the end of the year, and also recognition in front of other people, in terms of big meetings and prizes, can work in the sense of the system not having the money for increasing general salaries for teachers or headmasters. Small loans and roofing materials for a house, etc, for outstanding teachers or school leaders. Small things that are needed in the different rural communities, that do not require a lot of money, should be used. The recognition that can be given by leaders is also very key in this culture. Intrinsic motivation must be used, as there is a lack of external funding to help to change the mentality of the people.
How else can the quality of leaders be more ensured, to create a lasting culture of progress in the school system?
We also need to look at how we choose our headmasters. There must be prerequisites and qualities that are being looked at, there must be more involvement of the communities, to find people who have true leadership capacity, not just incumbent teachers or family members of leaders. Giving the power to the local leadership to make decisions at the school level, giving them autonomy, is also very important. The system here is very bureaucratic; there is not power currently for headmasters to take the measures to really discipline teachers who are not doing their jobs. The teachers who go to work and do not go, at the end of the month, get paid the same amount. The headmasters must have more local power and autonomy to permit the schools to run in the right direction. If someone is in the position, without the power, then they will be completely ineffective. Power must be passed down to the local level.
Mozambique is still very poor; books and materials must be provided to the schools at the basic level, to make the schools better, but the human element is the most important. And in the human element, the headmasters are the most important.
Peace Corps Pemba, Teacher Trainers
Literacy/Education Development Interview – Peace Corps Teacher Trainers, Pemba
The Schools Project
I had the opportunity to again utilize one of the great local development networks in Africa, and my alma matter, The Peace Corps, to speak with a couple of volunteers working in the local educational development sector, as teacher trainers at a local institute. Drawing from my previous research, teacher training has been a serious issue here in Mozambique, and the lack of both training and incentives for teachers at both the primary and secondary levels has had a significantly negative impact on the national school system. Therefor, it was a great opportunity to talk with two volunteers who have spent the last 16 months of their service in teacher training and teacher development. Again, due to Peace Corps privacy regulations, I will not name the volunteers for this research, but below is a transcript of our conversation.
Could you give me a quick background of your work here in Pemba?
We are teacher trainers at the Alberto J Schipende Teacher Training Intitute here in Pemba. Basically, we are working with primary school and secondary school teachers who are in a one year training program to be English teachers at government schools in Mozambique. The prospective teachers are from all over the country. The reason this is done to break down some of the tribalism issues that are going on in the country, and to increase the nationalism of the school system over the historically regionally dominated mindsets.
What are some of the current governmental initiatives to help increase the quality of teachers in the public school system?
The government is currently trying to increase the numbers of teachers in the system as there is such a shortage to go around, which has resulted in so many huge class sizes (due to the very high birth rate, as well). The teacher training program used to be 2-3 years in duration, but it has been shortened to 1 year to increase the turnover and the number of teachers being put into the system to help to compensate. However, this has created many issues with teacher quality, as such, and there have been changes again recently. These training institutes are all over the country, in all of the regional capitals, and some have shifted back to the 2 year program to create better quality teachers.
Please tell me about some of the challenges being faced both by you in your capacities, as well as by the school system in general here in Mozambique.
The younger generation of the country is trying to step up and do better with things in this country, they have shown a lot of initiative, but the system is very entrenched, very corrupt and there is very little accountability. In regards to teacher attendance, teachers can miss school for weeks on end with no consequence; there are no checks or balances. Once you have a government position, you get paid whether you are there or not. Teachers will show up on campus drunk, and there is also sexual misconduct with students that is a big problem. Culturally, sex at a young age is not taboo, and is thus permissible in the schools, though technically illegal. A girl will want to pass her class and not have money to bribe a teacher, so she uses sex. This is the reality in the schools here. Anyone is a position of power will use the position to their advantage pretty much across the board. Also, on a social level, something that we have noticed quite a lot of with our trainees is that when they see someone who is struggling or doing worse than themselves, it makes them feel better about themselves; there is a lot of egoism involved with the teachers.
At the institute, superficial measures are being taken to combat this. After the last election, there was an anti-corruption campaign, but this seems to be a superficial fix, going through the motions to look like they are doing something about corruption. As such, teachers will get in trouble for messing around with girls, but was not fired, just transferred or lightly disciplined. Two other colleagues were caught cheating with students but were not kicked out, but the students were kicked out. The culture is widely accepted and not necessary seen as a bad thing, just a what teachers do thing.
What is the background requirement to become a teacher here in Mozambique?
The required background used to be just completing the 10th grade, now it is completing 12th grade. This is for the primary schools; normally, for the secondary schools, they have to have two years of college, but if their English levels are high enough, teachers can go to the secondary level without college schooling, but this will depend on connections and the locations where the teachers are placed.
What is the biggest challenge encountered in your work? The biggest success?
The biggest challenge is the lack of a curriculum. Last year, we had to invent everything we taught. There was a curriculum, but it was extremely vague (from the National Government in Maputo). In the school, there is a serious lack of direction; the leadership has meetings, but the teacher trainers are not going to class, not showing up, not giving leadership to their students, and this is creating a vicious cycle. The biggest success has been with some of the students from last year coming back and showing their gratitude for their positions.
Have you worked at all with local-language literacy in the regional tongues? Is this addressed by the schools?
They teach Bantu (family of local languages) local language classes at the training school, but these classes are very limited. This is a big problem, because many of the kids do not speak Portuguese, and the teachers cannot communicate with them.
What can be done to improve the training of teachers here, or to build upon successes?
There needs to be consequences set and followed through on in the educational system. They need to crack down on teachers who don't show up. There needs to be consequences. A lot of the teachers are smart and capable, but they can get away with not showing up, and they do.
Have you done any work in the area of educational technology, in terms of its incorporation into teacher training?
The students here have a technology class, where they learn informatics basics, but they do not have enough computers, there is no internet, and little actual practice taking place. In terms of using the internet to increase lesson planning, this is just not a reality. To use the internet costs money which teachers are not willing to spend. Students have to make their own copies of class notes. Incorporating multimedia is a long way off. There are resources at the school, but they have not been upkept. The computers have been ruined by viruses, for instance.
What resources are currently most needed by both your organization and by the schools system in Mozambique overall?
More technology would go a long way. The internet would be extremely useful, and the printers and computers are always down, so basic technical training and support would be very beneficial to the school. Reliability with these would make a huge difference for the teachers and students at the school. At the lower levels, the thing needed most is textbooks. They are non-existant in the country for many students. In primary school the kids get them, but beyond that, they are very hard to get.
What is the ideal teacher? What qualities do they have, both inside and out of the classroom?
Teachers who care about more than just their salary, who are interested in the development of the country, and teachers who don't take advantage of their students, to understand that taking bribes and sex are wrong and destructive. General respect is seriously lacking in terms of basic relationships. People who are of a higher level in society (teachers are held in a lot of respect and become egotistical) treat others badly, in general.
Ihla-SEMAN
Literacy/Education Development Interview - SEMAN- Ilha de Mozambique
The Schools Project
I had an opportunity to sit with Vasco, who has implemented and run all of Project SEMAN's projects here in Mozambique. SEMAN aims to enchance computer skills and computer literacy for teachers and the general population of the island, as well as running preschool programs for island natives and citizens. It was great to hear about the challenges of implementing a computer training and pre-school literacy program on the ground in rural Mozambique.
Could you give me a quick background of your organization. Its founding/conception, what need you are trying to fill, and why the need has gone unmet up until this point?
In 2008, SEMAN was started on the island by an Italian, where the organization has its roots. It was founded to support financially a local project that included preschool education and a womens project producing small enterprise skills to sell items in Europe. This project is still in its infancy and hasn't seen much success.
The goal of the SEMAN project now is to provide infomatics and internet courses for teachers and students on the island in the center's computer lab (about 20 machines with internet access)However, due to the ending of Italian funding due to the European economic crisis, the project funding is in serious doubt at this point.
SEMAN is aiming to train all the teachers of the island in informatics, which is basic computing. SEMAN also has one internet class for the people who have already completed the informatics classes. The internet class is teaching the basics as well. SEMAN contacts the schools to get the teachers enrolled-(there are currently 64 teachers enrolled; the classes are free for all to attend). The hope is that the teachers will be able to search online to research for their classes, and use the informatics classes to build upon computer literacy.
How can this project be implemented in other areas of Mozambique? What will it take for others to bring this concept to other, remote areas?
SEMAN is trying to get grants to bring the services to more people on the mainland, but are waiting on the funding. They are looking for more money to duplicate the projects elsewhere, preferably in the south of the country. The idea is to teach people from all provinces here on the island and for them to bring those skills back to their provinces after they have completed the courses, and to provide skills transfer in this way.
Teachers play an absolutely crucial role in this area. How are teachers retained, paid, trained, and motivated to progress in their work? What are the incentives for doing a good job in the classroom?
In the schools, it is very tough to implement oversight with in terms of the teachers using what they have gained in SEMAN's projects. This has proved impossible. At this point, SEMAN needs to focus on providing the resource for the teachers, but it cannot control what happens at the school level.
Where do you see your programs in 5 years? 10 Years?
The future is very uncertain at this point; if there is no more financing given from donors, especially from SEMAN Italy, which is running low on funds due to the crisis, the future is unknown. The space is leased for 3 years at this point; the computers have all come from Italy as well, but the budget is very small. SEMAN is also selling internet access in-house through their wireless systems to raise funds on the island and to help make the project more sustainable.
What resources are currently most needed by both your organization and by the schools system in Mozambique overall?
Financial resources are most needed!
What role could technology play, ideally, in the classrooms of the island? Would this be feasible in Ilhe and in Mozambique in general, in your view?
In the last month, I had a firsthand experience with the reality on the island. Students coming in from the secondary school not being able to read or to write, and are now being put in front of the computer; the problem is coming from the school level. Here, most of the people are simply not concerned with using technology in their lives, realisitically. They are fisherman, craftsmen, who have no interest. If the project can begin at the preschool level, with training at that age, then you get results; otherwise, this is very hard, as the school system is simply failing most of the students. The official language here is Portuguese, but the local kids do not speak Portuguese with their families; then they go to the classroom with 40-50 kids, and there is a teacher speaking a language they don't know. It is very common that you meet kids with 6-7 years of school who do not know how to read or speak in Portuguese. If the youngest kids can be exposed to a quality education and are given a strong base, using technology and computing would be feasible. However, we are wondering whether it is realistic to have these informativcs courses, as they kids do not have the basics to support them. Additionally, it seems like the teachers don't have resources or interest to translate these computer skills to their students. They are interested in learning about things such as Powerpoint, but they know that they will never have a projector to use these tools in the classroom.
It will take a long time and be a long process. The majority of teachers have one year of teacher training at the most. They are just not well informed about proper teaching and implementation of technology and proper literacy approaches in the classroom. Some of the teachers do not even know how to read and write in Portuguese! This is the biggest systemic challenge facing the schools, the lack of teacher training and the perpetuation of poor teachers and students as a result.
What other exposure have you had to the school systems and teachers on the island?
We have also tried with the primary schools on the island to create a project of reading for the youngest children in Portuguese, to give them exposure to good children's books from Portugal and to develop cognitive skills such as anticipation, predictions, etc. SEMAN proposed a program for the schools with 300 kids, one hour per week, but out of the three schools they partnered with, one school never showed up, and the two others came one time and never came back. Ultimately, the program did not work. They wanted to have the program here at the office and not at the school, but the kids and the teachers had to come to the space, which turned out to be too hard.
Ihla, Mozambique: Projecto Oceano
Literacy/Education Development Interview – Azlera: Projecto Oceano- Ilha de Mozambique
The Schools Project
I had the pleasure of sitting with James, a volunteer running a great youth education program on the island called Projecto Oceano. I was quite impressed by both the focus and the operation of this organization, probably more so than in any other project I have visited. Below is a transcript of the interview I had with James, who has been on-island for 3 months, and will be here for 9 total as part of his commitment to the organization.
- Could you give me a quick background of your organization. Its founding/conception, what need you are trying to fill, and why the need has gone unmet up until this point?
The project was founded in 2002 by two friends a French woman and Mexican man, who traveled here and
really loved the location. He had already founded AZLera, an NGO focused on education and
environmental issues after working in Wall Street for some time. The project's main aim is to give
some kids the same opportunity that he was given in life. The ultimate goal of the project is to get
8 students into university either in Mozambique or overseas, whatever is feasible. The program is
also working to prepare them to study in a different country or at the higher level here in
Mozambique; there are good scholarship programs that Oceano is trying to utilize either in
Mozambique, Portugal, or Brazil which will hopefully help with the cost of some of the educations.
In 2002, these two people came and saw the dire educational situation on the ground and saw an
opportunity to do something about it. Simple enough. After meeting in Madagascar, they had traveled
through Africa looking for a good place for an education project and settled on Ilha de Moz. The
program was around on the island for 4-5 years with no foreign volunteers-there was a few locals who
took over when both left to continue work in America and China. They formed the base, the foundation of the project. Then, 4-5 years ago, AZLera sent out a foreign volunteer from England who was here for 6 months, who saw that there was a need for a foreign volunteer on site to coordinate and manage the operations. James is subsequently the 3rd extended volunteer to be on site managing the project. The volunteers do not get paid, but they take care of accommodation, food, project expenses, and educational expenses for the volunteers, who are selected through a range of interviews and background questions. Local language skills are obviously critical for an effective volunteer.
really loved the location. He had already founded AZLera, an NGO focused on education and
environmental issues after working in Wall Street for some time. The project's main aim is to give
some kids the same opportunity that he was given in life. The ultimate goal of the project is to get
8 students into university either in Mozambique or overseas, whatever is feasible. The program is
also working to prepare them to study in a different country or at the higher level here in
Mozambique; there are good scholarship programs that Oceano is trying to utilize either in
Mozambique, Portugal, or Brazil which will hopefully help with the cost of some of the educations.
In 2002, these two people came and saw the dire educational situation on the ground and saw an
opportunity to do something about it. Simple enough. After meeting in Madagascar, they had traveled
through Africa looking for a good place for an education project and settled on Ilha de Moz. The
program was around on the island for 4-5 years with no foreign volunteers-there was a few locals who
took over when both left to continue work in America and China. They formed the base, the foundation of the project. Then, 4-5 years ago, AZLera sent out a foreign volunteer from England who was here for 6 months, who saw that there was a need for a foreign volunteer on site to coordinate and manage the operations. James is subsequently the 3rd extended volunteer to be on site managing the project. The volunteers do not get paid, but they take care of accommodation, food, project expenses, and educational expenses for the volunteers, who are selected through a range of interviews and background questions. Local language skills are obviously critical for an effective volunteer.
- First, what are your thoughts on the overall education sector in the country and in this community?
Basically, the educational sector and system are not very well run. Our newsletter has published several articles about what is going on with the schools. There is a serious lack of maturity with the kids which translates into the classrooms, and leads to very little teacher control of the classrooms. There is a lot of cheating going on in the classrooms and a lot of absenteeism by teachers, and thus, a lack of leadership. That is why this organization works with punctuation and time management, as this is not given in the school system; they need to get used to how time runs in the “real world” or at the university level. (The kids get a fine from their salary every time that they are late as well as added incentive.)
- What projects/programs are being specifically implemented by your programs here in Mozambique to combat the educational issues facing the local community?
The organization works in the areas of IT, Social Debate, Capoeira, newsletters, study groups, and language classes.
The IT classes are structured with 3 levels, taught by the scholarship students (of which there are the 8 core members of the organization who are being focused on from the community). They teach other students from the community, first, basic windows classes; then, a mathematical LOGO program which spurs the kids to thinking about logistics; and the 3rd level is word, excel, and powerpoint. Again, these classes are all taught by the 8 core members, first located and induced in 2002. These 8 get a small salary every month and have a contract which needs to be fulfilled in order to get their salary. These 8 scholarship students also have to do 21 hours of supervised study every month to get their salary as well.
Next, we run social debates, which are led by one of the scholarship students. They are held 2 times a month and have mandatory attendance by the 8 project members. In addition, we try to get more kids involved from the schools and from the community as well. The project members decide on the topics, such as HIV and domestic violence. Oceana aims to develop critical thinking, the ability to structure thoughts logically as opposed to yelling, and knowledge sharing through these debates. Oceana is also starting current affairs classes to introduce the kids from the island to world news-there will be an hour a week of supervised reading of materials for the 8 project members and then the kids will need to present the information back to a larger audience. (This is also a great opportunity for teaching English vocabulary and grammar skills!)
Next, the Caporiera classes: these are held every night of the week and anyone on the island can come to practice; this is aiming to broaden the projects exposure on the island and bring a funner aspect in. A local students, one of the project members, is the teacher of the classes.
The project holds a daily Open Study Group. From 2-8pm, students can come and use their pens, chairs, computers, and text books to study. Oceana aims to have the center utilized as much as possible, and to create a solid learning environment as an alternative to the kids just listlessly hanging out after school.
Oceans holds language classes; English, Spanish and French classes are all held for one hour per week in the evening. These are open to all students; however, the students must commit, and cannot miss more than 3 lessons in a row or they are not invited back. The classes are run by one of the scholarship students, and the aim of the attendance rulesis to professionalize the project and create a more seamless educational environment.
Oceana produces a monthly newspaper. One of the 8 students must head this every month, with at least 3 articles written. Every Friday, there is a newspaper meeting, in which articles are suggested and approved and structured. The students are given 2 weeks to write the articles, they are then peer edited and checked for research and published at the end of the month through Microsoft Publisher. This also helps to improve computer skills. Additional aims are to help in writing structure and idea formation. This newsletter is sent to all the schools (300 copies are printed per month). This also increases the profile of the project on the island and serves as an advertisement for the what is happening with the project.
All of the areas are run by the 8 core members-James needs to oversee them, but it is up to them to organize everything-this is the idea behind the sustainability of the project. The biggest issues are the punctuality and keeping the decorum in the room, especially during the study group.
- How can this project be implemented in other areas of Mozambique? What will it take for others to bring this concept to other, remote areas?
This could work in other areas. The biggest reason for this is that the focus is small-just the 8 students. The goal is manageable and achievable; setting the scope small helps and makes it attainable; trying to reach too many is a recipe for not working. The danger comes with huge goals which get lost in translation. It will only work if the 8 core members are passing on the system to the younger students.
- What exposure do you have with teachers and the formal education sector here? What role can they play in closing the digital divide for their students?
James has the English curriculum so he can focus on preparation for exams and the modules that the kids are expected to learn in the class; the idea of Oceana is to give them something extra and to tie it in to the curriculum-the alignment is critical. Otherwise there is very little engagement with the schools teachers or administration.
- Teachers play an absolutely crucial role in this area. Is there any drive to get teachers more involved with the project?
It would be nice to tie the project in closer with the schools, but at this point, corruption is so endemic in the schools that it is very challenging to get a fair focus on what is going on. At this point, there is enough contact with the school, and the schedule is filled.
- Who are the most essential partners that you work with in the local setting?
At this point, the project is quite self-sufficient. There are the 8 main project members, plus the original teacher who set up the project for the first 4 years of its inception. Oceana also has an informal arrangement with SAMAN to arrange some computer training and exchange students and ideas. They are also going to try to implement career sessions who can come in to do a presentation on local careers; the problem is that the people who are volunteering to come in are expats. Oceana want locals instead. They also do CV sessions individually with the students to help with their career planning.
- Where do you see your programs in 5 years? 10 Years?
Oceana is coming to the end of the original generation of core members. We are hoping, realisitically, for 4-5 of them to go to college and leave the island. We are thus looking for a new group of 14-15 year olds who can come to take on the responsibility in the future. They would like to expand the program in the future, but the practicalities are showing that it will remain the same size. Also, if made bigger, the focus will change and possibly get lost. Before getting any bigger, there will have to be locals to delegate responsibility to.
- What resources are currently most needed by both your organization and by the schools system in Mozambique overall?
Textbooks, computers, and basics such as pens, paper, and notebooks. The issue is using these materials responsibly. If there were more computers at the center they could have bigger classes; now there are 2 kids on each computer during classes. A big need would be with a projector; however, these are constantly stolen on the island.
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