Post on 01-Jan-2017
University-School Linkage for EnhancingQuality of General Education; Outreach
Program
Haileselassie G/MariamVice President for Research and DevelopmentAksum University
December 2, 2012
OBJECTIVES
Describe that Quality of school education is an Agenda ofTODAY!!Share AkU’s Experiences to Sister Universities and otherstakeholders
To explore ways for expanding scale and impact of AksumUniversity (with special reference to outreach) for improvingquality of school education in the NationCreate a mutual learning circumstances in the area ofenhancing QE
Contents
n Why do we have to support schools?
n Understanding school gaps
n AkU’s efforts to enhance quality in education
n Some final Remarks
GTP targets
n Intake capacity of higher education undergraduate 467, 445 n TVET 1,127, 330 n Primary school gross enrolment ratio 100% n Secondary school enrolment 75% n Meet the MDG targets of education in 2015 n Mandated to contribute overall GTP
Provide support to primary and secondary education andprovide support and cooperate with preparatory andtechnical and vocational schools as may be appropriate
Research and Research Directions
The focus of research in any institution shall be on promoting therelevance and quality of education and on the country'sdevelopment issues focusing on transfer of technology.
Responsibilities of Institutions
Also,
Quality of education in schools affects student performancein Universities
Universities get feedbacks to supply quality teachers to schools
Modelling an innovative example of how universities can effectively support local schools
UNDERSTANDING OVERALL STATUS OFEDUCATION
We tried to understand the status of education
n National exam analysisn Research and short participatory assessmentsn Giving tests to teachers n Participation and Organization of different
Educational workshops and forums - Zonal, Regional and Nationaln Analysis of students performance (Our students)
In National exams of 2010, Grade 10
n Curiosity is needed: Only 45% joined preparatory school n Also, highly qualified students (>3) were only 5.5% and Tigrai
ranked 4th n On the other hand Tigrai is better than all regions with
extremely low scorers (<1)
University Entrance Exam
National exam
Tigrai has few females scoring >50% in 2001National University Entrance Exam (3rd to thelast)
Performance of students joining Universities inMaths and English
English and Maths results in Universityentrance exams
n Student from all regions joined AkU with: - English, all >50% ( 33-47%) - Maths, all <50% (44-47%) Thus, there is very low performance of students in
Maths and English in preparatory schools.
AkU’s Previous experiences
• Contents: • Challenging contents of the text books in each grade
level • Virtual lab (simulation) for high and preparatory school
teachers • Science kit demonstration (5-8 teachers), to function their
own science kits • Pedagogy (common course for all teachers)
Conducting training
Pre and post training tests (5-8 all subjects)
Outcome of pre and post training tests (9-12 all subjects)
Outcome of pre and post training tests (Natural Sciences)
Pre and post training test
n The pre and post training results show that thereis Very High Gap in Mastering the subject Matter
n Training has a significant effect on teachers
performance
We have learned from:
n Experiences of the schools themselves: To improvequality of education in central zone
n Abiyi Addi Teachers’ Training College n Adwa Teachers Colleges Teachers’ Training College n Zonal Experience:Progresses in implementation of the 6 school education
Quality improvement Packages (By zone administration,interest of zone to realize quality of education)
WHAT DID WE DO SO FAR?
n Established a Zonal Panel n Developed comprehensive QE enhancement
Supportive plan - Based on Gaps in the six packagesn Regional Panel - Zones divided among 3 Universities - Colleges focus on PE n Outreach programn Wukro Maray Integrated support –Extension of
outreachn Other Activities depending on the Plan
How did we go about knowing the schools’ problems?
n Assessment on bottlenecks that deters thesuccessful implementation of the Six QualityAssurance Packages.
n Teachers Development Programn School improvement programn ICT expansion and improvement Programn Curriculum improvement programn Civics and Ethical Education improvement programn Educational managers improvement program n What was the result?
1. About TDP
n Generally huge gap in:o Subject matter mastery (theory and practical)o English Languageo Teaching staffs in (Drawing, ICT)o Standardized and harmonized performance
evaluation toolso Recognition of competent and dedicated staffso Lack of competence in planning, evaluation and
monitoring
Measures
Comprehensive training to school science teachers andlab assistants
Teacher development is system development instead of aone-time service
Curriculum driven means purpose driven and not arbitrarycapacity building
School teacher development serves as a feedback forteacher education in university
StrategiesFocus on science subjects ü National educational plan (70/30)ü Current performance in science is lowü Children should grow loving maths and science n Focus on Supportive courses ü Supportive courses are key to understand major courses
2. School Improvement program
Main gaps
• Scarcity of teaching and reading resources• Low sense of accountability of teachers to be evaluated
based on student performance• Low self-esteem of students• Low community participation (specifically in secondary
and preparatory schools)• Shortage of chemicals
Measures takenq Donation: q Preparation and distribution of lab-manuals, ICT, library
manuals,q Virtual lab installation and trainingq Lab-set-upq Active participation in Regional Fundraising events for school
improvementsq Building a school in collaboration with Metropolitan college of
Denver (USA)
• blackboard and white-board,• Science-kit• Books….more relevant to schools, withDenver, • Chemicals…
3. ICT expansion and improvement
• Some schools lack electric power to follow courses taughtvia plasma
• Considering plasma as separate and sufficient teaching
mode and regret to support students • Low ICT infrastructure and computer knowledge
§
Measures taken
§ Training and virtual lab-installation (Schools,TVET and TTC)
§ Internet access to secondary schools § Donation of computers and printers conjointly
with IFESH Ethiopia
4. Curriculum improvement program.
• Schoolteachers do not follow student centered teachingmethodology
• Lack of Implementing continuous assessments• Weak reading habit• Bulky contents of books that cannot be covered within
one semester• Lack of text and reference materials
Measures taken n “Solving one hundred difficult ESLCE questions for grade
twelve examinees”, n The introduction and implementation of summer outreach
program, n Identifying challenging chapters in secondary schools (first
phase accomplished) n Review of school text books (curriculum: English,
Pedagogy, Chemistry, Physics, Biology and Maths)
5. Civics and ethical education improvement program
n Lack of students motivation n Copying
• Copying became school culture (Teachers and studentsdo not condemn it copying)
• Ethics teachers lack ethics by themselves and do notqualify to shape citizens
Measures:
n Outreach for talented students---Peer effect n Tutorial sessions, n Practical demonstration for secondary school
students eq. physics and chemistry n Training for female students on the possibilities
of improving their results in their school.
6. Improving school organization and management
• Lack of full engagement of school management in leading
the schools • Less focus to scaling out of best practice • Lack of integrity and commitment (especially school
directors) • High communication gap from the region down to Woreda
education office heads and directors (No harmonizedpractice to use guidelines, rules and regulations, trainings)
• Weak leadership style
OUTREACH PROGRAM
n Gelfand Charitable Trust………….Mr. Mark Gelfand n Dictum: ‘In Every Child there is a scientist’ …………..AkU
Preparation
n Participants: 420 n Tigrai, Afar, Gambella, n Grades: 7-12n Curriculum developedn Manual (Teaching Materials developed and
disseminated)n Training: STEMn Guided tour
Project participants
n Tigrai:v Three zones: Western, N. Western and Central
Zonesv Selection of participating schools: Primarily made
BoEv Selection of talented students: BoE and Schools § Gambella: BoE, Gambella National Regional State § Afar: BoE, Afar National Regional state
Initial workshop: Curriculum approvaln Other: Selection, preparation of students, parents…
Grade 7-8
Ø Total number of students enrolled :120Ø Contact hour in each field: 30 hrs.Ø Total contact hour in the four fields: 120 hrs.Ø Mode of training : Circuit training
Grade 9-10
Ø Total Number of students enrolled:150 Ø Total contact hour in selected field:75 hours plus
25 hrs in mathematics and 25 hours of computerapplications
Ø Mode of training : specialization
Grade 11-12
Ø Total Number of students enrolled:150
Ø Total contact hour in selected field:75 hours plus 25 hrs in mathematics and 25 hours of computer applications
Ø Mode of training : specialization
Physics
Computer lab session-Practice
Guided tour to nearby historical sites
Workshop
Students with their university teachers and management
Best Practices
n Majority of the participating students were too zealous inassuming a leading role in the program.
n Thus, most outstanding students can be used as the focalpersons of students’ network at school level.
n High commitment among staff and co-teachers fromsecondary schools in executing the envisaged objectivesof the project.
n To this end some instructors spent even their extra hourshelping the students in the laboratories.
n Students developed sense of peer support
n The strength of the outreach project lies in the diversity ofthe perspectives participants brought from across Tigray,Afar and Gambela Regional States.
n Hence, it would be an excellent experience for AksumUniversity to invite students from other regional states andthis practice should be mainstreamed in the outreachprogram executed by other similar higher institutions.
n Expansion to weekend outreach program
Weekend Outreach Program!!
How did we select Wukro Maray?
n Continuously low performing of the school(Rank:41/42); Zonal Workshop in Enticho
n Immediate measures: n ESLCE- acceleration session for prospects
national examines, n Deployment of problem assessing team n Comprehensive action plan developed
Survey and Plan
v A group of teachers: CNCS, CSSL,CBE were recruited to undertake abaseline survey.
v An action plan was developed on thebasis of the survey.
Components of the action plan
1. Lab Technicians deploymentn A total of 6 Lab-technicians from Biology, Physics and
Chemistry were assigned to install all lab instruments inthe school.
n During installation process school science teachers andlab technicians were involved from the beginning to theend of the whole program.
Before
During
After
2. ICT technicians deployment
n There are more than 60 computers. n However, majority of the computers were not
functional owing to technical problems. n 5 ICT technicians were sent to the school and
more than 50 computers were made operational.
3. Virtual Lab-technicians deployment n A virtual-lab training team of the
university was given the task of trainingand installing the programs in theschool.
n All the science and ICT teachers of theschool were given intensive trainingson the application of virtual-lab in basicscience subjects includingmathematics.
Conference
n During the conference guidance and counselingand gender experts from Aksum University wereassigned to share their expertise to theparticipant students
AkU band took part and played a major role to sensitizestudents and school staffs.
Next Steps…Wukro Maray
n Comprehensive support to the school n Agreed rank of WMSS…1st n Acceleration session on selected difficult chapters
for grades 10 and 12 national exam examines;
Next….
n HDP training for school teachers- Continuous assessment- Student centered teaching methodology- 1 to 5 networking n Training of trainers in Computer n Replicating activities accomplished at Wukro Maray
Secondary School, within our mandate areas
Final remarks
n University- school linkage is a promising mutually usefulapproach for enhancing quality of school and higher education
n Systematic documentation and communication needed for useof lessons for scaling up and Scale out (Address DiverseSources of inputs)
n Strong collaboration among stakeholders (educationmanagement offices, universities, schools and donors) crucial
n We have to start expanding the application of the presentapproach in the Nation
Excellence Through Perseverance!!
www.aku.edu.et