A fellow’s success story – Ms Mary Malunde Watugulu: Tanzania implements national standards for the qualification of adult educators

The Tanzanian Ministry of Education, Science and Technology’s Institute of Adult Education (IAE) approved and implemented a set of national standards for the qualification of adult educators, following work undertaken by a former CONFINTEA Fellow at the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL).

Ms Mary Malunde Watugulu, former assistant lecturer and now deputy director at the IAE, participated in the CONFINTEA Fellowship programme at UIL in 2012. With the support of UIL experts, she drafted a set of ‘Standards for the Qualification of Adult Education Facilitators’, which formed the basis of the national standards approved and implemented by the IAE.

The national standards aim to ensure a consistent and systematic approach to the qualification of adult educators. They led to the piloting of the IAE’s certificate programme for adult educators at its Dar Es Salaam, Morogoro and Mwanza campuses. The programme may eventually be offered via open and distance learning (ODL) in six learning centres, in six different regions of Tanzania.

By combining ODL and on-campus modes, the programme will widen access and increase participation. The IAE plans to increase the number of centres offering the programme.

‘My participation in the CONFINTEA Fellowship Programme deepened my knowledge in adult education,’ Ms Watugulu said. ‘I have also been able to share this knowledge with my colleagues, especially as concerns the training of trainers for adult education programmes.’

Between 2011 and 2017, UIL welcomed 38 CONFINTEA Fellows (19 men and 19 women, 31 of them government officials and seven NGO representatives) from 32 countries. The last cycle was organized in November 2017 (http://uil.unesco.org/unesco/confintea-fellowships/list).