Training untrained teachers

The majority of community school teachers are not formally trained. Some teachers have only completed grade nine. The majority complete grade twelve, but do not meet the requirements for college. Various NGOs and development agencies have developed training packages and manuals to build basic teaching skills in untrained teachers. In the confusing world of acronyms, some of these training programmes include SPARK, SPRINT, REX, CHANGES, QUESTT, AIMES, and GEMS. I would share what the acronyms stand for, but I barely know myself. Most programmes produced are in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, but it seems every international agency promotes its own package.

Some of the programmes focus on increasing literacy levels and others try to integrate gender, HIV/AIDS, life skills, health and nutrition programmes, etc. into basic school curriculum. There is also an interactive radio instruction programme where the teacher tunes into a radio programme that provides the lesson plan and content for a class. Aside from turning on the radio and keeping the class in order, the teacher does very little (actually, the teacher probably does a lot seeing that some classes have over 100 kids). With the plethora of materials, it is a difficult choice to decide which to promote. Then again, the community school teacher uses the materials, which are available to him or her and not all programmes have been equally promoted. Not surprisingly, schools within a three-hour drive radius from Lusaka benefit the most. Although each district or at least each province in Zambia has a teacher resource centre, individual teachers have very little access to the resources.

As a supporting organisation to community schools, one of our roles is to link and facilitate teacher training programmes to reach teachers on ground level. At a stakeholders’ meeting today, the Ministry of Education with funding from USAID announced that it will put together a comprehensive training tool kit specifically geared to build the skills of community teachers who may never formally upgrade their qualifications. I was encouraged when various ministry people recognized that manuals were being produced, only to be abandoned and then reproduced with a different name. Under an initiative called CHANGES2, the Ministry of Education will somehow work with partners and community stakeholders to bring together the various training programmes into a Community School Toolkit.

Aside from being somewhat sceptical whether this toolkit will be anymore usable than any previous programmes, it was a cool meeting be a part of where people including some working for the ministry were critical about previous initiatives. If I had my way, I would stop making manuals with only words in them. Or, stop doing training in the form of manuals. In most schools I’ve visited so far, those manuals just hold open doors, collect dust, or worse get used as toilet paper.

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In other news, my housemate cut my hair! I am somewhat afraid as to what I will look like tomorrow…

Allowances.

At the conclusion of a Ministry of Education meeting I attended today (sponsored by a Flemish organisation), each person is given a transportation and sitting allowance - 50 000 Kwacha (a little over 10 US$). It’s not a lot of money, but I am having trouble wrapping my mind around the fact that people at any kind of formal gathering expect this money. According to an NGO worker, some people will not attend a meeting/workshop that does not have an allowance. So in effect, the organisers must offer compensation to those who attend and I guess guarantee some kind of attendance.

It was obvious that people stayed to the end of the meeting for the money and I should not be surprised at the number of people blatantly napping. I had a hard time deciding if I take this money. My thinking process in the end was if I don’t take the money it will probably just go into someone else’s pocket. I could give the money to my organisation (which technically provided my transportation), but no one else does that and again it would probably just go into a pocket. I took the money, although now I’m not sure what to do with it.

Community Schools.

The Ministry of Education defines a community school as a community based learning institution that meets the educational needs of children not reached by government or private schools. These children may not be able to attend government schools due to cost, distance, or other factors excluding them from the system. In urban areas, it is common to see community schools situated near a government school allowing those who cannot afford school or uniform fees to attend school. Rural community schools exist where a school would otherwise not be present. Community schools are by no means an absolute solution to education gaps, but meet needs as identified by the local communities.

Aside from cost and distance, other issues of poverty, family dynamics, and effects of HIV/AIDS contribute to additional challenges. Many children face the responsibility of caring for family members, bringing in money, working in the fields, etc. The compounding factor of distance in rural areas where children walk upward to 15 km each way makes attending school almost becomes an impossibility. The government system does not have the flexibility or the resources to meet the needs of learners who do not attend school regularly and may begin school at a later age. Outside of the Ministry of Education structure, community schools can help meet the MDG of universal primary education and help children reach functional literacy.

The Zambian government seems to acknowledge the contributions made by community schools, but feels there has been an “explosion” in the community schools movement needs to be regulated so that minimum standards including student to teacher/desk/book/latrine ratio are met. Currently the Ministry of Education is in the consultation process with various community school stakeholders to create a framework that allows community schools to exist formally along side government schools. It is too early to tell how the government plans to involve itself with community schools.

Photo: A community school being built. New three classroom concrete building on left, old school on right, and grass wall of latrine beside me.