Dubai Cares will fund the 'intensive' training of about 17,000 teachers in Uganda to improve the standard of education
On World Teachers’ Day, Dubai Cares, part of Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives, has launched a three-year programme aimed at enhancing the skills of 17,000 teachers across 66 districts in Uganda.
‘Teacher Changemaker’ aims to increase teacher motivation, improve teaching practice, and enhance student learning in addition to rebuilding the teaching profession and improving learning levels for students in Uganda, the charity said.
The Dh4.5 million project, will indirectly benefit over 988,000 students across Uganda and enhance their learning outcomes in the long-term.
Two hundred and fifty million children of primary school age around the world cannot read or write, with the shortage of qualified teachers being a major contributing factor. About 25 per cent of Ugandan teachers are absent on any given day, and less than 50 per cent of their time is spent on teaching. Based on research, Dubai cares said, Ugandan teachers lack the right support system to improve quality of teaching in classrooms, hence, they feel demotivated.
“At Dubai Cares, we believe that improved teacher motivation leads to more effective teaching practice, which in turn, results in better learning outcomes among students," said Tariq Al Gurg, chief executive officer at Dubai Cares.
"With the launch of the ‘Teacher Changemaker’ program, we aim to bring back the intrinsic motivation of teaching to Uganda by building a mass teacher-led movement for change from within the existing system. Supporting motivated, skillful and influential practitioners will certainly create motivated and influential future leaders.”