What is education good practice?

To be considered for the Education Good Practice Awards, submissions (programmes, projects, policies, strategies or significant interventions) must demontrate that they have made a positive difference to the status and condition of primary school children, their teachers, or the education system of a country. These must be in respect of one or more of the six action areas for Commonwealth education as identified by ministers at the 15th Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers (15CCEM) in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 2003.

Examples

Good examples of these are the nine finalists that were shortlisted for the 2006 awards.

1.  Educational Innovations carried forward by the School Unit after acceptance in the Educational priority Zone of the Ministry of Culture and Education of the Republic of Cyprus 

18th Agio-Lemesos Primary School,  CYPRUS 

The Agio-Lemesos Primary School is situated in a deprived and underdeveloped area, with a population which consists of Greek Cypriot refugees, Turkish Cypriots, Roma and economic immigrants with limited education exposure.  The school’s Education Good Practice is aimed at promoting  equal opportunities and quality in education  whilst respecting the ethnic and cultural backgrounds of students, fostering inclusion and fighting racism.

2.  The Scholarship Trust Fund for Girls 

Department of State for Education, THE GAMBIA 

The Department of State for Education of Gambia introduced a Scholarship Trust Fund to boost school enrolment, retention and performance rates of girls  from rural communities, .  This Education Good Practice has resulted in an increase in the Gross Enrolment Rate for Gambian girls moving  from 61% to 71% between 2000 and 2005.

3. Training Untrained Teachers in Ghana 

Ministry of Education and Sports, GHANA 

Recognising that meeting the demand for trained teachers continues to be a great challenge, the Ministry of Education and Sports of Ghana utilised distance education as a cost effective and efficient way of training untrained teachers  enabling a large number to be trained within a reasonable period of time.  To date 58% of the untrained teachers in Ghana have benefited from this Good Practice.

4. Advancing Lessons from Udaan – Addressing Challenges faced by Vulnerable Children 

CARE India,  INDIA

UDAAN is a residential primary education initiative comprising  accelerated learning  for drop-out and never enrolled girls.  It is being implemented in a remote region of Uttar Pradesh. The Good Practice is  a social learning package which emphasises gender equity and diversity and is now being introduced in the formal school system.

5.  Eliminating Gender Disparities in Secondary Education…and Resource Centres 

Alif Laila Book Bus Society, PAKISTAN

 Alif Laila is a unique prototype programme consisting of a children’s library complex and project based learning centres.  This Good Practice  tackles gender disparity within the public education system through provision of free access to quality education in computers, electronics and art and craft for girls.

6. The Seychelles School Improvement Programme 

Ministry of Education and Youth, SEYCHELLES 

The School Improvement Programme is a whole-school approach to change which was launched in all 23 primary schools in the Seychelles in 1995.  This Good Practice transformed the ethos and culture of the school by establishing conditions for qualitative improvements to teaching and learning. Today, education leaders, teachers, parents and pupils acknowledge the positive changes to education which it has brought about.

7.  Early Childhood Development Enrichment Centre Pilot project 

Centre for Early Childhood Development, SOUTH AFRICA

The ECD Enrichment Centre Pilot Project is a Good Practice developed as an intersectoral, education service delivery model that supports families and communities in 5 disadvantaged areas around Cape Town and improves the quality of care and education of the child aged 0-6 years.

8. Orphans, Educators, Practitioners and Guardian Aids Project 

The Art Therapy Centre – Lefika laphodisa, SOUTH AFRICA

The ATC facilitates art therapy projects with orphans of HIV/AIDS, their educators and care practitioners.  This Good Practice creates emotionally containing environments where the children are able to learn and can become functional members of society.

9. Supporting Education in Difficult Circumstances 

Generation of  leaders Discovered Peer Education Development Agency, SOUTH AFRICA

The GoLD Peer Education model is a three-year peer education programme in which adolescent peer educators demonstrate leadership potential.  This Good Practice provides a structured framework and sustained opportunity to address HIV/AIDS at the level and needs of the adolescent.