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USAID Awards IFESH Grant for Teachers Project
In March 2009, USAID-Ghana awarded IFESH a grant to implement the USAID-Ghana Community Teachers Project to recruit, train and place 260 uncertified Ghanaian community teachers into rural primary schools over a period of two years. In coordination with Ghanaian educational authorities, we will accomplish this by recruiting two experienced volunteer educators from the United States with advanced degrees and backgrounds in teacher development, educational capacity building, or teaching English. In Ghana, we will identify five retired educators with advanced degrees, and fifteen community based tutors who are retired teachers. The U.S. volunteer educators and the retired Ghanaian educators will provide extensive training for the community based tutors. These fifteen community based tutors will then train the 260 uncertified community teachers in nine modules covering topics such as classroom management, multi-grade teaching, interactive learning, learner-centered methodologies, gender equity, HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention, educational services for orphaned and vulnerable children, guidance and counseling, and educational psychology and sociology.
The expected result is to improve the quality of, and access to, quality basic education in Ghana. At the end of this project, at least 260 uncertified teachers will be trained, thereby improving the quality of instruction provided to 4,300 primary students in rural and underserved areas. Of these 260, at least 50 percent will receive sufficient training to become eligible to gain admission into a teacher training college or participate in the Open and Distance Learning Program with the ultimate goal of receiving a Diploma in Basic Education, becoming a professional teacher and pursuing a teaching career. Additional expected results include increased abilities in reading and math for primary school aged children.
