COL expands teacher development in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The Commonwealth of Learning (COL) @COL4D and its partners will present the results of the project titled “COL-AFTRA Beyond Numbers Project: Scaling Quality Teacher Development in Sub-Saharan Africa through ODL” during a ministerial and plenary session at the AFTRA 12th Conference and 14th Roundtable, taking place in Lubango, Angola, from 6 to 9 May 2025.
The brochure for these sessions is available here: commonwealthoflearning.info/COL-AFTRA-Brochure
COL has launched the COL-AFTRA Beyond Numbers Project – a groundbreaking initiative using open and distance learning (ODL) to scale teacher training in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The project, implemented in collaboration with the Africa Federation of Teacher Regulatory Authorities (AFTRA), aims to address the region’s urgent need for qualified educators while promoting gender equality and inclusive learning.
With SSA requiring 15 million new teachers by 2030 to meet Sustainable Development Goal 4 (UNESCO, 2023), traditional training methods are insufficient. Current statistics indicate that only 65 per cent of primary and 60 per cent of secondary school teachers are qualified (World Bank, 2025). The project leverages ODL and digital tools to bridge this gap and deliver flexible, scalable teacher training programmes.
Between January and February 2025, teacher regulatory bodies from Botswana, Nigeria, Seychelles and South Africa will develop digital literacy modules and ODL frameworks for teacher training, incorporating COLCommons micro-credentials. Partner institutions, including Botswana Open University and the University of Abuja, will localise continuous professional development courses stemming from COL's open educational resources repositories.
Approximately 200 teachers and officials will contribute to implementation and evaluation, with at least 500 teachers trained via ODL by April 2025. Running until June 2025, the initiative could continue with additional funding, fostering regional collaboration to enhance teacher quality and expand access to education through digital innovation. As mentioned above, the project’s results will be presented at the AFTRA 12th Conference in Angola in May 2025.
COL Project Coordinating team and delegates:
· Dr Evode Mukama; Dr Betty Ogange; and Dr Tony Mays
AFTRA Project Coordinating team and delegates:
· Professor Steve Nwokeocha; and Dr Gabriel Job
Partner delegates at the conference
· Botswana Teaching Professional Council: Dr Lekopanye Tladi
· Teachers Regulatory Council of Nigeria: Dr Mary Abah
· Teachers Council of Seychelles: Mrs Rosianna Jules
· South African Council of Teachers: Ms Tuzana Sophethe
#COL4D #AFTRA2025 #TeacherDevelopment #AfricaEducation #ODL #OpenDistanceLearning #EducationForAll #SustainableDevelopmentGoals #SDG4 #TeacherTraining #DigitalLiteracy #GenderEquality #InclusiveEducation
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COL launches final evaluation of Partnership for ODFL in the Pacific project.
The Commonwealth of Learning (COL) @COL4D, with support from the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) @MFATNZ and in collaboration with the Pacific Centre for Flexible and Open Learning for Development (PACFOLD) at the University of the South Pacific (USP) @UniSouthPacific, has launched the final evaluation of the Partnership for Open, Distance and Flexible Learning in the Pacific project. Since November 2020, this activity has sought to increase access to learning and to build the capacities of teachers and officials in offering and managing open, distance and flexible learning (ODFL) across nine Pacific Island countries that are members of the Commonwealth.
The evaluation will assess the project’s efficiency, effectiveness, relevance, and sustainability, particularly to gender equality and resilient development outcomes. In addition to examining the project’s overall impact, the evaluation will generate insights into how well it has strengthened national education and training systems in adopting ODFL, particularly in response to external shocks such as Covid-19-related disruptions.
MFAT’s support has been instrumental in sustaining the partnership model that underpins this project. The evaluation will also assess the effectiveness of this approach in fostering institutional ownership and long-term sustainability.
Findings from the evaluation will inform future strategies to expand access to ODFL in the Pacific and strengthen policy frameworks for its adoption. Proposals for conducting the evaluation are due by 10 March 2025.
Further details are available at www.col.org/request-for-proposal.
#COL4D #MFATNZ #ODFL #ODFLPacific #OpenLearning #DistanceEducation #PacificEducation #FlexibleLearning #EducationForAll #PacificProject #LearningInnovation
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In partnership with #COL4D and supported by the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade #MFATNZ, Tonga Women In ICT #twict, has been transforming lives through digital education programmes in #Tonga. These programmes are designed to provide leadership and entrepreneurship training to many learners – private sector professionals, TVET graduates, small business owners, and students of all ages.
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