Baseline Study Created to Aid Professional Development of Teachers in Africa

The Commonwealth Secretariat has taken the lead in organising a workshop to design a baseline study for Teacher Resource Centres (TRCs) in eastern and southern Africa. It is funded by the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA). The study will bring country teams and agency representatives together to address an urgent need for teachers to take responsibility for their own professional development, in order to bring about  the 'professionalisation' of the teaching force. 

As a member of ADEA, the Commonwealth Secretariat is the lead agency for the Working Group on the Teaching Profession. A recent review meeting of the working group in Zanzibar (July 1998) recommended an increased focus on providing  professional support to teachers. Specifically, they called for a review of the current role and functions of TRCs in order to initiate strategies that will make them more active and effective in the area of teachers' professional development.

Participants at the Zambia workshop will work on the design of the Baseline Study framework, develop some of the instruments which will be used to carry out the study, prepare plans and strategies and decide on a reporting format. Each participating country will carry out its own study with the support of its education ministry and a local development partner. The overall study will be co-ordinated by the Commonwealth Secretariat.
 
The study design workshop will be facilitated by Dr Cream Wright, Deputy Director/Head, Education Department and Dr Henry Kaluba, Chief Programme Officer in the Department. Participants will include education officers responsible for TRCs, as well as Teacher Management Support Country Working Group members from Botswana, Malawi, Kenya, Namibia, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and  Zimbabwe. There will also be donor agency representatives from the British Council; DANIDA; DFID; FINNIDA; NEDA; NORAD; UNESCO and USAID. Other international agencies attending the meeting are: the Commonwealth of Learning, CfBT and the Nordic Consulting Group. The Workshop will be held from 4 to 6 December and will be opened by the Hon Brigadier-General Godfrey Miyanda, Minister for Education, Zambia.

Notes to Editors:
The Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA) is a consortium of African Ministers of Education and partner donor agencies, dedicated to addressing the problems of educational development on the continent. In its capacity as lead agency of the Working Group, the Commonwealth Secretariat has worked closely with African Ministries of Education and donor agencies to tackle problems of school management, training of school heads and inspectors.

98/85 4 December, 1998