STiR is very pleased to have been able to host our first in-person training institutes in Uganda since March 2020. From 4-7 May, in partnership with the Ministry of Education and Sports, we welcomed Deputy Principals Outreach from our partner Core Primary Teachers’ College, as well as national and regional Chairpersons from the Association for Secondary School Headteachers of Uganda (ASSHU), to a training session to launch our latest learning improvement cycle.
We are delighted to have had 100% attendance from the officials for these institutes, which prepared them to spearhead the implementation of our programme in their respective regions across primary and secondary schools. We were also thrilled to welcome representatives from the Teacher/Instructor Education and Training (TIET) department, the Secondary Education Department and the National Curriculum Development Centre (NCDC) to support us with the training. All of the guest speakers emphasised the importance for educationalists to become lifelong learners if we are to build the foundations of lifelong learning in children.
Among the recommendations made were to share best practices across regions, create awareness of the importance of role models and developing a culture of peer learning and improvement across the education system. They also highlighted the need to improve openness to new programmes among some teachers and headteachers. Mary Gutente, Senior Education Officer from the Secondary Education department, said: “If officials inspire others and role-model the foundations of lifelong learning, school leaders can strengthen the development of teachers, as well as improve student outcomes. We need to take this knowledge and skills to support teacher motivation and encourage headteachers to support the improvement of classroom teaching and learning.”
We’re especially grateful to the Ministry of Education and Sports for providing the venues for these training sessions, as well as encouraging schools to provide the transport for delegates to attend. This is an important step towards the long-term sustainability of our work in Uganda despite the challenges faced by the education system during Covid-19. Over the next few weeks, we will be providing further training for school leaders and district officials across our 39 districts, ahead of the planned relaunch of network meetings in June.