The Quality Educators for All (Quality-Ed) project seeks to improve the quality of education in Mali by improving the professional competences of teachers through a new training programme with a strong research component.
The training programme, which started in May this year, builds on the Quality-Ed activities implemented during the pilot phase of the project (from 2008 to April 2012).
These include a needs assessment/feasibility study and the development of a competence profile for primary school teachers, coupled with strong advocacy which saw the government adopt the new profile.
The main objective of the training is to upgrade the skills of nearly 3 000 teachers within the next three years, leading to their certification and integration into the public service. The training will target under qualified teachers in Segou, a rural province of Mali.
A Taskforce to guide the research component of the project was set up recently and held its first meeting in Brussels, on 9 and 10 July 2012.
The Taskforce comprises representatives of EI and Oxfam Novib, researchers and project partners from Mali, including EI’s affiliate the Syndicat National de l’Education et de la culture UNTM (SNEC-UNTM), representatives of the education for all coalition and the Ministry of Education.
Following the July meeting, the Taskforce is now developing a strong research, monitoring and evaluation framework for the project.
This will include a baseline study on teacher qualifications, certification and employment, school completion and learning outcomes (including social outcomes and life-skills). Action research will also help deepen the teacher trainees’ understanding of education issues and improve their pedagogical and content knowledge.
The Quality Educators for All project is a joint initiative of EI and Oxfam Novib, which aims to support public authorities to provide quality education by improving the quality of teachers.
To find out more about Quality-Ed, listen to the videos below:
Maouloud Ben Kattra, SNEC/Mali