Lusaka, 5 December 2015

Regional Workshop to Develop Policy Guidelines for Teachers for the SADC Region was held in Lusaka, Zambia, from 2 to 5 December 2015 by the UNESCO Harare Office. A regional teacher policy framework is going to be established in SADC region. IICBA participated in the workshop and will keep facilitating the policy establishment.

The workshop was organized to respond to the Regional Conference on Teachers held in Maputo in August 2015, in which requests were raised on developing a regional framework for teacher training and to advocate on the need for a comprehensive teacher policy framework in the SADC region. In response, the current workshop had three aims: to have a clear understanding on how to develop a national Teacher Policy; discuss ways and means to consolidate SADC member country policies into a regional Teachers’ Policy and plan of action; to form a Regional Task Team to develop regional standards for Teacher Education.

IICBA Programme Specialist Mr. Mame Omar Diop participated in the workshop to present about UNESCO and IICBA’s initiatives to improve issues related to teachers. Such includes UNESCO ILO recommendations on working conditions of teachers, TTISSA, CapEFA, UNESCO-CFIT, and the secretariat of the Teachers Task Force for EFA. He then talked about the key issues of teachers to be addressed in Sub-Saharan Africa, and the general process to draft a policy for teachers.

Diagnostic studies indicate that Sub-Saharan Africa face two keys issues which are the quality and quantity of teachers. Addressing these challenges requires a holistic process which includes pre-service, in-service, and continuous professional development, recruitment and training, and the deployment of teachers. Engagement with countries shows that all of them are keen to develop more comprehensive Teacher Policies, and would like to receive technical assistance within the process.

UNESCO IICBA, mandated to support Member States in Africa with Teacher Education and its related issues, intervenes in areas including Teacher Policy Development, School Leadership and Management, TEI Management, ICT use in education, ECCE, women leadership and gender issues in teacher policy, curriculum and qualification frameworks for teacher education, and research on related topics. With its specialities, IICBA will keep involve in the developmental process of Teacher Policy for SADC. A Guide to Teacher Policy Development in the African context is soon to be published and shared with the SADC countries as supplementary material.