Empowering African Nations Since 1981
International Educators for Africa
Primary school enrollments in African countries are among the lowest in the world. Education in most of Africa is adversely affected by limited funds and lack of adequate numbers of teachers, classrooms, and learning materials. Through our International Educators for Africa (IEFA) program, more than 1,000 American volunteer educators have been assigned to 14 countries, directly impacting more than 180,000 teachers who have, in turn, impacted the lives of millions of students since 1992.
We assign volunteers to work within African countries' local educational systems to assist in strengthening the quality of primary and secondary teaching methodologies within teacher training institutions, research institutes, universities, vocational training institutions and high schools, as well as to work within education ministries to support education planning and reform.
Health is an important component of the program and our volunteers focus on minimizing the impact of HIV/AIDS through introducing African teachers to HIV/AIDS curriculum.
Through sponsoring reading projects and strengthening parent associations, we increase parental involvement in education while helping school systems to become more accountable and responsive to the needs of the community and in accordance with their government policy.
The IEFA program is funded by the United States Agency for International Development under its American Educators for Africa program that focuses on increasing access to quality basic education in Africa through scholarships, textbooks, establishing teacher resource centers, collaboration with local NGOs and teacher-training projects. Additional support is provided by the World Cocoa Foundation, Mars, Inc. and other private sector entities.
Our volunteer educators work towards the development of learning modules that support the learning strategies in specific countries and communities linked to education reform, such as the promotion of teacher awareness in behavior change, child-centered learning, preventive health and girls' education.
Each year, we assign approximately 50 American volunteer educators to educational institutions throughout seven sub-Saharan African countries to assist in improving the quality of teaching and learning, and to influence behavioral change for sustainable educational reform. Our volunteer educators assist in pedagogical design, curriculum development, English as a Second Language, pre and in-service workshops, educational administrative management, improving and developing library resource centers, assisting in the development of training modules and advising the Ministry of Education on reviewing and improving their educational policy to meet their government's strategic goals.
Country Assignment Priority Areas
Deadline to Apply: February 28th
To be eligible for IFESH volunteer programs, you must:
1. Be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident.
2. Be a college graduate (advanced degree preferred).
3. Have three years of experience as a teacher, professor, or administrator, and meet the medical, legal, and security requirements.
In addition to a completed application, applicants must submit:
A cover letter, a resume, three professional or academic letters of recommendation, copies of college transcripts and a one to two-page typed essay. The essay should include your reasons for applying to volunteer, qualifications and experience for participation, and career objectives.
Assignments are filled based on requests from host countries and institutions for volunteers with specific skills. Complete the application and supporting materials as fully as possible to give yourself the best chance for consideration.
If you would like to participate in the program, click here to download an application. Once you have completely filled out the application, you may e-mail it along with a cover letter to volunteer@ifesh.org.
You must have Adobe Acrobat Reader (version 7.0 or higher) on your system to download the volunteer application.
Free Download
You may submit the application online by clicking the "submit by e-mail" button at the bottom of the application or you may download the completed application and e-mail it as an attachment to volunteer@ifesh.org.
If you experience technical difficulties while completing the application online, please fax the application to (480) 443-1824 or send by mail to:
IFESH Volunteer Programs
5040 East Shea Boulevard, Suite 260
Scottsdale, Arizona 85254-4687
