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Title: 
Reforming Uganda’s support supervision system
Location: 
Country-wide
Timing: 
2016
Budget: 
€ 49,968
Donor: 
Belgium (BTC)
Sector: 
Lower secondary education; business, technical and vocational education and training (BTVET)
Focus: 
Professional development of teachers (PRESET)
Challenge: 

The Government of Uganda has placed education very high on its agenda for decades. Major policy initiatives such as universal primary and secondary education, and ‘Skilling Uganda’ are testimonies to this commitment. But in practice, the education sector is constrained by many challenges. A corps of qualified and motivated teachers is one of the most important factors to ensuring policies live up to their promise of providing quality education for all.

Uganda counts nine public teacher training institutes (TTI) that operate under the mandate of the Teachers and Instructors Education and Training (TIET) department of the Ministry of Education, Science, Technology and Sports. The TTIs fall under two awarding universities: Makerere University and Kyambogo University.

To ensure these TTIs properly prepare Uganda’s student teachers for their future profession, there is a system of (external) support supervision of the TTIs by the awarding universities and TIET. However, that system does not function optimally and is in need of reform.

Goal: 

Provide an improved student-centered teaching and practice-oriented learning environment in four selected teacher training colleges, properly supported by strengthened support supervision and visitation services from the central level.

Partners: 
  • Ministry of Education, Science, Technology and Sports (MOESTS)
  • Teachers and Instructors Education and Training (TIET) department
  • Makerere University
  • Kyambogo University 
  • National Teachers’ Colleges of Muni and Kaliro
  • National Instructors’ College of Abilonino
  • Health Tutors College of Mulago
Approach: 

As part of a larger project to improve the training of BTVET teachers and instructors, health tutors and secondary teachers in Uganda, BTC invested in reforming the support supervision system for TTIs. An improved support supervision system strengthens the quality of the pre-service training that these professionals enjoy.

VVOB was selected to provide specialist expertise to:

  • Design a sustainable support supervision system supported by realistic financial, monitoring, and communication mechanisms and by harmonised user-friendly tools.
  • Write a concept note (advocacy paper) presenting the advantages of the proposed support supervision reformed system, the challenges to be overcome (i.e. need for policy reforms, need to train and retool stakeholders, etc.), the strategy to obtain its official recognition by and integration in the national education system, and the recommendations for the way forward. 
  • Write a user-friendly Support Supervision Manual and present it for approval to the Teachers & Instructors Education and Training (TIET) department and to the M&E Working Group.