Transforming Education in Sub-Saharan Africa
Happy World Teacher’s Day from all at STEPi! In honour of World Teacher’s Day, we wanted to discuss the impact and needs of teachers, specifically those in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The COVID-19 crisis accelerated the vulnerabilities among teachers across the world. The UNESCO Institute for Statistics reports that teachers didn’t receive enough support to transition from face to face classrooms to virtual classrooms during the COVID-19 crisis. Currently in Africa, teachers are still struggling with normalising face to face teaching methods which is causing problems in the education sector. We are aware that when teachers are not appropriately supported they become demotivated, their instructional leadership and classroom management skills hampered, which leads to negative teaching outcomes such as absenteeism and poor teaching practice.
When the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) of 2030 agenda was announced, a strong promise and commitment for “Leaving No One Behind” was made and it especially focused on the most vulnerable groups. While the Sustainable Development Goals highly embark on SDG4, “delivering quality and inclusive education” as the backbone for the rest of the goals, education should be prioritised to ensure the achievement of the 2030 agenda. We know that teachers are the driving force for education and without their commitment the education agenda is affected. While the world is under immense pressure to recover from the negative impact of COVID-19, we should not forget that the younger generation requires support through a realistic and holistic teaching practice. A practice that requires them to be critical thinkers, problem solvers, business makers, and civic leaders and this practice needs to be taught by teachers. A teacher will teach what they know but if we want teachers to teach children and youth in a realistic manner, they need to be consistently trained. Teachers require professional development through instructional and pedagogical leadership. This will lower the unemployment burden and the high criminal rate among youth, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The extent of the problem in Sub-Saharan Africa
Between 2019 and 2020, UNESCO Institute for Statistics shows that there was a 50% increase in teachers. However, to enhance Universal Primary and Secondary Education and achieve the SDG by 2030, 69 million more teachers are still needed. In this education crisis, the global South, especially Sub-Saharan Africa, is most affected where the lack of teachers in both primary and secondary school is excessive. More than three quarters of countries in Sub-Saharan Africa lack sufficient and qualified teachers to teach holistic and quality education. There are only 65% (primary) and 51% (secondary) of qualified teachers respectively in Sub-Saharan Africa.
An example of this problem in Sub-Saharan Africa is the current situation in Uganda. Uganda has the youngest population while hosting the highest rate of refugees throughout Africa. Research shows that teachers in Uganda have poor pedagogical skills which affects how they teach. Teachers also battle low instructional capacities, poor access to instructional materials and a high pupil to teacher ratio with very little training for the teachers. This leads to demotivated teachers and learners.
Without addressing teaching challenges that stem from low quality teachers and limited supply, the participation of Africa in the 2030 agenda becomes less likely.
The urgency of practical teacher training
Practically training teachers in instructional development, they are reminded of the behavioural practices and etiquettes in teaching. Teachers can easily identify learners with special needs and support incidental learning for these children. Instructional practice in the classroom highly engages the learner, and strengthens peer-peer and learner-teacher relationships because learners work in teams while teachers consistently support them. A teacher who exhibits a diverse pedagogical awareness easily motivates learners, and integrates energising and mindful activities into their lesson plans to unlock potential for all learners to fully participate within their individual capabilities.
Utopia Foundation, a nonprofit organisation located in Traverse City, Michigan, responded to the education crisis brought on by COVID-19 by investing in teacher training to support the two year education loss that children experienced. Through STEPi, a Utopia programme, culturally relevant teaching resources have been developed. These include intentional reading storybooks for learners and activity books for teachers. These learning resources and guides stimulate instructional teacher leadership, build a good working relationship between teachers and students, and improve cognitive responses for learners. Read the STEPi books and activity books here.
In early May 2022, Utopia Foundation hosted a teacher training at Uganda Lodge Development School through Redearth Education Center under the leadership of Micheal Byaruhanga, one of its Community Engagement Coordinators in Uganda. This training enabled 16 teachers to acquire practical instructional training. Teachers became learners during the course of their training which enhanced their understanding of the need to focus on individual learners and allowed teachers to learn creative tactics about engaging a diverse class. Teachers practically reformed easily accessible, low-cost resources to create instruction materials to enhance incidental learning.
To improve learners’ and teachers’ participation and productivity, teacher training should be tailored to the current education skills match. It should be problem-based and should offer a creative approach to empower students with diverse skill sets both in and out of school.
Written by Zaharah Namanda
Executive Director
Utopia Foundation