DAR ES SALAAM-The establishment and sustainability of industrial development in African countries depend much on competent and quality science and mathematics teachers from all levels of education.
This was said by Prof. Elifas Bisanda, the Vice Chancellor of the Opening University of Tanzania and UNESCO Chair of Teacher Education and Curriculum during the official opening of the Zoom-based dissemination workshop organized by the Open University of Tanzania on 31st October 2023 for teachers and other stakeholders of the CL4STEM Project that has partners in Tanzania, Nigeria, India and Bhutan under the sponsorship of IDRC. "In a move to improve science and mathematics teachers, we have identified some challenges to both teachers and students. One of them is psychological whereas science and mathematics subjects are perceived to be hard. You may come across a teacher intimidating students that these subjects are difficult and you will not pass, it is a misconception." Said Prof. Bisanda.
Given this fact, NECTA's low performance over the years in subjects like Mathematics and others, the Connecting Learning for Teachers Capacity Building in STEM i.e. CL4STEM Project intended to build capacity for science and mathematics teachers as a way of improving the teaching methods to achieve better student results.On the other hand, Mr. Richard Makota, the representative of the President's Office, Regional Administration and Local Government congratulated the OUT for this initiative and promised its continued support in these aspects of capacity building of these secondary school teachers that work under its ministry.
Further, a representative of the District Education Officers (DEOs) of the six Councils that participated in this project, Mwl. Mussa Ally, DEO of Dar es Salaam city council, appreciated the project and commended the involvement of the teachers in the project, which has helped to improve their capacity to teach science and mathematics subjects.Also, a representative of the Heads of 18 secondary schools that participated in this project, Mwl. Kazumari Jamaldin from Naliendele Secondary School in Mtwara expressed his appreciation for the project on how it assisted in improving the teaching methods of the teachers involved, and in turn, improved students’ performance in these science and mathematics subjects.
Presenting the project design, implementation, results and its scaling-up, Dr Edephonce Nfuka who is also the CL4STEM project leader, reveals that, the project has come out with various skills that enabled teachers to be competent in the use of technology and locally available resources to innovatively improve teaching and learning while ensuring equity and inclusiveness in the process of teaching.
Dr. Nfuka noted "We have pondered the theory of change that promotes higher order thinking with inclusion and equity and imparted it to teachers for them to change towards positive perceptions of students' ability in science and mathematics. Teachers and eventually students can perform well when subjected to efficient and effective learner-centred and competency-oriented teaching and learning methods such as technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) and Universal Design Learning (UDL) that enable to address misconceptions, multiple means of representation, expression and action, and engagement as well as promoting effective teaching and learning in the context of technology and pedagogical integration in education."
The workshop was also flanked with the issuing of Certificates to 68 teachers who participated and completed the CL4STEM project related to teacher professional development (TPD) that involved studying online the developed learning modules and implementing gained knowledge, skills, and altitude in their classrooms for six months.
This issuing of certificates was done digitally by Prof. Ikwaba, acting Dean of the faculty of Science, Technology and Environment Studies together with Dr Namamba, Director of Rukwa Regional Centre and Dr Nfuka, the project leader who is also Coordinator UNESCO chair for teacher education and curriculum and Director of Consultancy and outreach services.
At the end of the workshop, a vote of thanks was given by Mwl. Angelina Ngassa of Kalenga Secondary School, Iringa on behalf of teachers who participated in this project and the other workshop participants. Mwl. Angelina thanked the workshop organizers for a fruitful workshop that included the new experience of doing break-out sessions online over ZOOM. She also expressed appreciation to the project team at OUT, the partners in Nigeria, Bhutan and India, and the funder, IDRC Canada who have been part and parcel to accomplish this project. This also applies to the involved teachers’ heads of schools, DEOs, DEDs and government as a whole that allowed them to participate in this project-oriented TPD. Angelina said.
"We indeed appreciate some emphasized aspects of this project such as the effective use of hands-on learning, locally available materials, multiple media including ICT such as videos and animations, and case studies and connecting them with real-life situations in the Teaching and learning process.
These aspects encouraged a learner-centred approach, higher-order thinking with inclusion and equity, active participation and country competence-based curriculum drive for more effective curriculum implementation and its positive impact."Mwl. Angelina ended by highlighting that despite the challenges faced by these teachers such as inadequate access to devices and internet connectivity, and some overcrowded classrooms, the project was indicated to be a successful intervention.
Thus further collaboration among OUT, relevant ministries and education institutions is vital for scaling it up with the advantage that now the issue of access devices has been minimised by the government's recent issuing of TABLETS to all basic education teachers in the country that shows how the government is putting in place enabling infrastructure for initiatives such as CL4STEM and its scaling up to strive and contribute in improving further quality education.
Finally, the workshop was closed by Prof. Paul Ikwaba, the Acting Dean Faculty of Science, Technology and Environment Studies who thanked all stakeholders for their active participation in this workshop of CL4STEM project findings dissemination with the hope that this will be practised further and in collaboration with the government scaled up for improving further quality of education specifically in science and mathematics. He also thanked all involved government institutions such as MoEST and PO-RALG as well as partners: IBBL in Nigeria, TISS in India and SCE in Bhutan for the collaboration made during the life of the project and IDRC for funding it.