Teacher Outreach
Arusha Project
Supporting underqualified, grassroots Teachers in Tanzania
What are we all about?
In Tanzania, it is estimated that 60% of all Teachers are underqualified...
The 'Teacher outreach program' is designed to support and upskill underqualified, grassroots teachers working in disadvantaged schools across Arusha. Getting children into school is one thing, however being provided with a quality education is another, and unfortunately, the lack of quality education is one of the key contributing factors to children being unable to continue with their education.
Every child deserves a fair chance at an education, and a fair chance at a future
Project Snapshot
The Teacher Outreach program, for the initial year of operation, will consist of three core program pillars, which directly respond to the most pressing challenges facing underqualified teachers working in grassroots schools across Tanzania. These three core program pillars include; regular ‘professional development workshops/seminars’, ongoing access to required resources that will be delivered to schools through the use of a ‘mobile library’, and finally, a ‘collaboration’ initiative, formally known as ‘professional learning communities’.
What are the 3 main initiatives?
We are working alongside both qualified Teachers in Australia and Tanzania, to develop a program which is culturally relevant and targets the most crucial areas of need.
Workshop/Seminars
The first core program pillar is monthly workshops, which will be delivered by a range of both Australian, Tanzanian and international educators, on specific topics related to Tanzanian education. These workshops will be delivered as either half or full day professional development seminars, where under-qualified teachers will have ongoing access to training on various topics in relation to early childhood education.
The Mobile Resource
Center
With the use of a vehicle, the Mobile Resource Center will deliver storybooks, teaching textbooks, classroom resources, computers, and more, on a bi-weekly basis to local grassroots schools. The mobile resource centre essentially acts as a mobile library service, which can access both regional and remote schools in the Arusha/Kilimanjaro area.
Collaboration
The final pillar of the program is designed to promote a collaborative work culture between local teachers, in an effort to re-connect isolated teachers who often work solo.
Following each workshop/seminar, teachers break off into a dedicated ‘teaching team’, where they collaboratively assess their current students results, identify key challenges for both themselves and their students in the classroom, set SMART Goals, and work together in creating solutions and action plans to mitigate these challenges and overall improve student results. Every PLC meeting has a ‘learner centered focus’ and teachers follow a set of ‘guiding principles’ which govern the PLC program.
Current milestones
We are currently in 'Phase One' of the Arusha Project. We are beginning the Arusha project with the early years, as children are able to absorb most during these years, and without proper early education, future prospects can be greatly altered
Education in Tanzania
Tanzania has made great progress both economically and within the education system, achieving nearly universal primary education in 2007. Unfortunately since 2007, the number of students in Primary Education has declined significantly, with an estimated 2 million children, between the ages of 7-13, out of school. The quality of education is low, due to a number of factors including unqualified teachers, lack of resources, inadequate learning spaces, socio-economic factors, and health factors. According to the 2014 examinations, only 8% of grade two pupils could read properly... To make some of these challenges even more difficult, there is little information about disability in children, and trauma, making children in these vulnerable circumstances even less likely to attend school and succeed.
