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Title: 
Empowering Community School In-service Teachers through Education (ECSITE)
Location: 
Central and Copperbelt provinces
Timing: 
2013 - 2016
Budget: 
Planned 2013 - 2016: €1,000,000
Donor: 
European Union and Belgian Development Cooperation (DGD)
Focus: 
In-service Teacher Training, Community Schools
Challenge: 

Early 2012, VVOB Zambia in partnership with the Zambia Open Community Schools (ZOCS) and the Ministry of Education, Science, Vocational Training and Early Education (MESVTEE) applied for a EU grant in Zambia. Our joint proposal ECSITE got allocated a major grant.

ECSITE will be funded by the European Union - through their Zambia office - over a period of three years. It is consistent with and reinforces the VVOB programme in Zambia, which is supported by the Belgian Development Cooperation (DGD). The project will kick off on the 1st of January 2013.

Goal: 

The ECSITE project aims at raising the standards of teaching in community schools by improving the quality of teachers and access to teaching and learning materials in community schools in two provinces of Zambia.

Partners: 

Strategic partner

Ministry of Education, Science, Vocational Training and Early Education (MESVTEE)

Operational partners

  • Zambian Open Community Schools (ZOCS)
  • Directorate of Teacher Education Specialised Services
  • 10 Teacher Resource Centres in Central and Copperbelt Provinces
Approach: 

ECSITE addresses the challenges of teacher education quality in community schools through COSTEP, the framework of MESVTEE for professionalisation of teachers targeting community schools. The project will empower 500 teachers and head teachers in 250 community schools over three years. It will provide teaching and learning resources to 58 teacher resource centres, reaching 750 additional community school teachers. Others directly targeted include administrators and parents from areas around these schools. A total of 1000 parents will be trained in school management and administration skills.

This effort is expected to improve the learning opportunities of more than 80,000 vulnerable boys and girls across Central and Copperbelt provinces of Zambia. These children live in areas that are not served by government or private schools. The partners in ECSITE believe that orphans and vulnerable children in community schools should have access to the same quality education as their more fortunate counterparts in regular government and private schools.