1

Teacher Training for Rwanda’s New Basic Education Curriculum

Final Report

Prepared by UNICEF Rwanda March 30, 2017

Grant No. AID-696-IO-15-00002

2

Table of Contents Table of Contents 2

List of Tables 3

Acronyms 4

1. Executive Summary 5

2. Background 5

3. Programme Overview 7

4. Results 8

Outcome 1 8

a) Output 1.1 8

b) Output 1.2 9

Outcome 2 11

a) Output 2.1 11

b) Output 2.1 13

5. Capacity Building and Sustainability 14

6. Lessons Learned 15

7. Way Forward 15

8. Human Interest Story 17

Annex 1: Indicator Table 18

3

List of Tables

Table 1: Results Framework .......................................................................................................... 7 Table 2: Summary In-Service, Pre-Service, and Administrators and Official Trained ................ 11 Table 3: Curriculum Materials and Intended Audiences ............................................................. 11 Table 4: Number of Materials Distributed ................................................................................... 13 Table 5: Number of ICT Resources Distributed .......................................................................... 14 Table 6: Overall Results, by Indicator ......................................................................................... 18

4

Acronyms

CBC Competency-Based Curriculum

COSTA Corner Stone Africa

CPD Continuous Professional Development

DCC District Continuous Professional Development Committee

DEO District Education Officer

DFID UK Department for International Development

DMAST District Master Subject Teacher

DOS Director of Study

EDPRS II Economic Poverty Reduction Strategy II

ESSP Education Sector Strategic Plan

GoR Government of Rwanda

JADF Joint Action Development Forum

MINEDUC Ministry of Education

NGO Non-Governmental Organization

NST National Subject Trainer

NT National Trainer

REB Rwanda Education Board

SBI School-Based In-Service

SEO Sector Education Officer

SSL School Subject Leader

TPD TWG Teacher Professional Development Technical Working Group

TTC Teacher Training College

UNICEF United Nations Children's Fund

URCE University of Rwanda College of Education

USAID United States Agency for International Development

5

1. Executive Summary USAID and UNICEF’s partnership (Teacher Training for the New Curriculum activity, Grant No. AID-696-IO-15-00002, July 2015-December 2016) supported Rwanda Ministry of Education's (MINEDUC)/ Rwanda Education Board's (REB) efforts to implement the government’s new competency-based curriculum. With USAID support, 183,106 curriculum and training materials were developed and disseminated, and over 11,000 teachers, administrators and officials, and other education officials were trained. As a result of this activity, education stakeholders better understand the philosophy of competency-based education as well as their role to support its implementation, and teachers have increased their skills to implement competency-based pedagogy in their classes. The competency-based approach is expected to increase the quality of education. In addition, 416 sector education officials were provided with ICT and trained to support monitoring of the new curriculum, which is expected to promote learning and monitoring into the future.

2. Background In April 2015, the MINEDUC completed the review of its national curriculum, revising it from being knowledge-based to being competency-based in order to support the development of a knowledge and skills-based economy in line with Vision 2020, Economic Poverty Reduction Strategy 2 (EDPRS II), and Education Sector Strategic Plan (ESSP). The review was led by the REB, with support from the UNICEF Rwanda Country Office (hereinafter referred to as UNICEF), the UK Department for International Development (DFID) and other development partners in the education sector.

A participant reviews the new curriculum during an event in Kigali ©UNICEF Rwanda/2015

6

The new competency-based curriculum (CBC) aims to increase students’ skills and learning outcomes by:

● Making learning in Rwanda more centered around mastering of key competencies;

● Making learning more child-centered;

● Ensuring that there is greater harmony between curriculum, assessment, teaching and learning processes, quality assurance processes and teaching learning materials; and

● Equipping students with the knowledge, skills and attitudes needed for a knowledge-based economy that can propel Rwanda to compete on the global market.

The dissemination and implementation of the new curriculum commenced in January 2016. In January 2016, curriculum for Pre-Primary, Primary 1 and 4 and Secondary 1 and 4 was rolled out. Primary and Secondary grades 2 and 5 will be implemented in January 2017, and Primary and Secondary grades 3 and 6 will be implemented in January 2018. REB developed an initial plan for the curriculum rollout that identified nine broad areas of work:

1. Curriculum implementation management system 2. Communication of the curriculum 3. Orientation on the curriculum for all education stakeholders 4. Developing teacher capacity 5. Developing and procuring teaching and learning materials and resources 6. Developing the National Assessment Framework 7. Reviewing Assessment Standards 8. Development of pre-primary and lower primary assessments of literacy and numeracy 9. Quality assurance and use of results

The UNICEF-USAID partnership was primarily aimed at supporting MINEDUC/REB with developing the capacity of system actors, including teachers to implement the new curriculum (areas 3 and 4).

Children participate in a review exercise during the launch of the curriculum © UNICEF Rwanda/2015

7

3. Programme Overview The aim of this partnership was to support the training of in-service and pre-service primary school teachers and teacher educators on the philosophy and pedagogy for the competency-based curriculum, aiming to improve quality of instruction and learning outcomes for Rwanda children in primary grades. The overall objectives of the teacher training programme were as follows: Objective 1: Ensure that all teachers and teacher educators have the pedagogical and subject specific skills to deliver the new curriculum. Objective 2: Ensure that all pre-service teachers have the competences to deliver the new curriculum, including the pedagogical, technological and content knowledge domains. Objective 3: Ensure that all teachers receive continuous support through follow up training, feedback mechanisms and monitoring, and promotion of reflective practice. The goal of the teacher training programme was to equip teachers with the competencies and support systems necessary to introduce the new curriculum. USAID’s contribution to this programme focused on the in-service teachers, pre-service students, teacher educators, and school leaders with direct influence on learning outcomes for children in primary grades, particularly training for lower primary teachers. In line with MINEDUC’s rollout plan, the activities conducted with USAID support provided teachers, pre-service students, teacher educators, and school leaders, particularly at the levels of Primary 1 and 4, a general understanding of the principles of the competency-based approach to teaching and the content of the new curriculum, as well as the pedagogical and subject-specific skills needed to implement the curriculum. The USAID-supported activities contributed to the Results Framework, as presented below: Table 1: Results Framework

Project Goal: Increased opportunities for Rwandan children to succeed in the schooling and the modern workplace

Project Purpose: Improved learning outcomes for children in primary grades

Outcome 1: Increased quality of instruction

8

Output 1.1: Strengthened systems for pre-service teacher training for primary school teachers

Output 1.2: Strengthened systems for in-service teacher professional development

Outcome 2: Increased access to high quality, relevant teaching and learning materials

Output 2.1: Increased number of teaching and learning materials (TLM) produced, disseminated, and utilized

Output 2.2: Increased use of information and communication technology (ICT) for enhanced learning and monitoring

4. Results Outcome 1

a) Output 1.1 Orientation Trainings Education stakeholders, including pre-primary, primary, and secondary teachers nationwide, received orientation training through a cascade model (September 2015-January 2016). The purpose of the orientation training was for key education stakeholders to generally understand the content of the new curriculum, the changes required to implement it and their role in its implementation. USAID support directly contributed to the training of lower-primary teachers and education stakeholders.

An orientation training on the competency based curriculum in progress in the Northern region © UNICEF Rwanda/2015

9

In August 2015, 26 National Subject Trainers (NSTs) were selected by REB from among partner organizations to work with REB subject specialists to draft training materials for phase one of training on the CBC. The Training of Trainers for NSTs centered on the rationale for the curriculum paradigm shift and plans to support effective implementation of the CBC. In addition, in September 2015, MINEDUC/REB officials and development partners participated in a two-day orientation training on the philosophy and objectives of the curriculum and the way forward. As a result of USAID support, 208 education officials and partners directly working at the lower-primary levels were oriented. At the district level, 30 DEOs, 416 SEOs, TTC Tutors as well as other education partners were trained on the general content of the curriculum, with specific training on the roles and responsibilities of the district officials in implementing the new curriculum, in training teachers, and in overseeing Continuous Professional Development (CPD).

b) Output 1.2 Phase 1 Subject-Specific Trainings Building on the orientation trainings, in October 2015, more detailed subject-specific trainings were conducted to familiarize teachers with the content of the new curriculum in their subject, the pedagogical approaches that support the new curriculum, and the methods to apply the competency-based curriculum and assessment approach to their subject(s). The 26 NSTs were trained on subject-specific components of the CBC to enable them support effective implementation of the CBC through the cascade model. The NSTs were also trained on facilitation skills to enable them effectively facilitate trainings for DMASTs. NSTs remain REB’s core team of trainers on the curriculum, at the national level, who continue to facilitate further trainings on the curriculum. With USAID funding, the NSTs implemented a cascade-type training in which 1,500 lower-primary DMASTs, including 42 TTC Tutors, were trained. DMASTs were identified as strong subject teachers and selected based on their pedagogical skills and their leadership abilities by the District CPD Committee. NSTs trained the DMASTs on the general principles of CBC and introduced them to main features differentiating the CBC from the skills-based curriculum. The DMAST training also prepared them to facilitate school-

10

based trainings for SSLs who have been identified as strong teachers in their subject area in each school. The DMASTs trained 10,410 lower-primary SSLs. These trainings were subject-specific and were aimed at familiarizing teachers with the content of the new curriculum in their respective subjects, pedagogical approaches that support the new curriculum, and methods to apply the CBC and assessment approach to their subjects. The training resource pack was aligned with MINEDUC/REB’s curriculum framework, teacher guidance document, pre-primary teacher guide, inclusive education teacher guidance, syllabi for all subjects, and development partner resources. SSLs continue to be facilitators of School-Based In-service (SBI) at their respective schools, benefiting over 66,614 teachers of whom about 10,844 are lower primary school teachers. Adjustments and Phase 2 Training Due to a number of delays in the original training schedule produced by the REB, some of the trainings mentioned above were reduced in length from initial plans. This resulted in some cost savings against the USAID grant. In consultation with USAID, UNICEF decided to use the remaining funds to support the Phase 2 training for the CBC. USAID funds continued to specifically support the training of lower-primary teachers and education stakeholders. The objective of the second phase of the trainings was to reinforce teachers’ knowledge on CBC, with more emphasis on the specifics of delivering effective competence-based teaching and learning. Given lessons learnt from Phase 1, the training model moved away from cascade-level trainings to a school-based approach, with the aim to improve the quality of trainings and increase understanding and efficiency to implement the CBC. Between October and November 2016, 204 NTs, including 24 REB staff members and 42 TTC Tutors, developed training materials to train about 4,500 other trainers, with whom they trained over 67,000 teachers, including lower primary teachers, in school-based rollout trainings. For indicator 3.2.1-41, the total number of NSTs, DMASTs, SSLs, and NTs training person hours as indicated in the table below did not match the final intended person hours particularly due to the fact that the training model changed for phase 2 training, where only 204 NTs were trained to later train sector-based trainers. Nevertheless, this does not mean that the target was not achieved, as the 204 who were trained will also train about other 4500, and together they will conduct sector-based trainings in 2017, reaching all teachers intended. The targets under indicators 3.2.1-42 and 3.2.1-43, targets were exceeded due to the large numbers of NST TTC Tutors, DMAST TTC Tutors, NT Tutors, REB and MINEDUC Staff, DEOs, SEOs and head teachers who attended pre-service training and training for administrators and officials, respectively. See tables 4 and 7 for details.

A pullup banner of the Curriculum is displayed during a training in Eastern region. ©UNICEF Rwanda/2015

11

Table 2: Summary In-Service, Pre-Service, and Administrators and Official Trained1

Indicator number

Indicator Project Target (Person Hours)

Project Achievement (Person Hours)

3.2.1-41 Total number of person hours of teachers who successfully completed in-service training with USG support

703,664 540,176 (NSTs, DMASTs, SSLs, NTs)

Male 350,050 267,927 Female 353,614 272,249

3.2.1-42 Total number of person hours of teachers who successfully completed pre-service training with USG support

5,120 11,216 (NST TTC Tutors, DMAST TTC Tutors, NT Tutors)

Male 2,130 5,563

Female 2,990 5,653

3.2.1-43 Total number of person hours of administrators and officials successfully trained

9,984 18,896 (MINEDUC and REB administrators, REB officials, DEOs, SEOs, Head Teachers)

Male 4,551 9,372

Female 5,433 9,524

Outcome 2

a) Output 2.1 Curriculum materials formed the basis of all training activities. The following materials were developed and/or printed and distributed with USAID funds. Table 3: Curriculum Materials and Intended Audiences

1 See Annex 1 for explanation on figure calculations

12

Material Audience for distribution Resource pack (including training manuals, session plans and teacher guidance document)

Trainers: National Trainers (NTs), National Subject Trainers (NSTs), District Master Subject Teachers (DMASTs), School Subject Leaders (SSLs) Trainees: Teachers, Head Teachers Training Coordinators: REB, District Education Officers (DEOs), Sector Education Officers (SEOs), Teacher Training College (TTC) Tutors

Subject syllabi Primary sections in schools- Head Teachers, Director of Study (DOS), Teachers including SSLs

Summary of the curriculum framework

District offices, schools

Curriculum framework NTs, NST, DMAST, SSLs, Teachers, Head Teachers, REB, MINEDUC, DEOs, SEOs, TTC Tutors

In September 2016 USAID funds supported a 10-day workshop for developing training manuals on phase 2 training for the curriculum. A total of 185 participants including REB staff, Development Partners, TTC tutors and school teachers participated in this workshop. The objectives of the workshop were to ensure that:

1) All sessions according to the agreed session plan list are drafted with a significant level of quality;

2) Sample schemes of work and lesson plans are drafted with a significant level of quality;

3) All learning activities deliver intended learning objectives towards achievement of objectives stipulated in the curriculum framework and syllabi.

The results of this workshop were six training manuals developed for humanities, languages, mathematics, science & ICT, with separate manuals for lower primary (in Kinyarwanda except for English subject) and Pre-Primary (in Kinyarwanda). Training materials drafted in the workshop then underwent a three-stage quality assurance process. First, the national Girls Education Working Group was brought on board to review the document for gender sensitivity. Development partners quality assured the English language in the training materials to ensure readability and accessibility to teachers. UNICEF contracted Corner Stone Africa (COSTA), a local non-governmental organization (NGO) to quality assure the training materials at the national and local levels. Due to increased numbers of required materials by REB, particularly for syllabi and curriculum summary framework documents, the intended number of materials was surpassed, supporting training for more education stakeholders from pre-service, education administrators and officials at district and national levels and at school levels. See Tables 4 and 7 for details.

13

Table 4: Number of Materials Distributed2

Indicator Project Target Project Achievement

Number of teaching and learning materials provided with USG assistance (3.2.1-33)

153,141 183,106

b) Output 2.1 UNICEF supported REB to establish a system of monitoring and reporting to track REB’s progress in implementing the new curriculum, and to ensure that feedback flows from schools to the national level. The first step in the monitoring system was to track and assess the quality of the teacher training sessions. UNICEF worked with its national partner, COSTA, to recruit education experts to observe training sessions and write an assessment report using pre-agreed criteria of success with REB. These reports also included interviews with teachers and teacher trainers about what they took away from the training, and provided recommendations that helped REB to reflect on the lesson learned from the training for future phases of the teacher training. Monitoring reports revealed that teachers were enthusiastic about improving their teaching skills under the competency-based curriculum, although the majority of them needed more support with teaching methodology. To develop a longer term monitoring system, with USAID support, UNICEF and REB designed a monthly monitoring tool to be used by REB pedagogical inspectors and SEOs to monitor the success of different components of the teacher training and the CBC implementation. The monitoring tool is hosted on a web-based software system that allows real-time monitoring and analysis of results. To support this system, it was intended that USAID funds be utilized to procure 416 modems and internet subscriptions for one year for all SEOs. This procurement was to complement an earlier UNICEF activity that supplied all SEOs with laptops. During the contract negotiations with internet providers, the selected provider offered to donate modems for this activity; this donation has been reported in the indicator even though USAID funds did not need to be used for modems as planned. The same provider was contracted to provide a year of airtime. REB identified inspectors and a core team from other departments to oversee the monitoring programme. With USAID financial support, all inspectors and the core team were trained 2 See Annex 1 for explanation on figure calculations

14

through three separate workshops. All SEOs were then trained to use the system in a three-day workshop in September 2016. The training included general principles of good monitoring, strategies for ICT management, specific training on how to use the monitoring system and specific tools, and a practical test exercise in nearby schools. The inspectors and SEOs collected data using the new system in November 2016. The test was successful: data was returned from the SEOs, analyzed by REB and a debriefing workshop was held to provide feedback on the results and related support to SEOs and schools. UNICEF is continuing to support REB to develop a comprehensive monitoring system to monitor implementation of CBC among other initiatives. The training of SEOs is reflected in the indicator above, “Total number of person hours of administrators and officials successfully trained.” Activities also contributed to the following: Table 5: Number of ICT Resources Distributed3

Indicator Life of Project Target Life of Project Total Number of ICT resources distributed with USG assistance

416 416

5. Capacity Building and Sustainability The rationale of this cooperation was capacity building for MINEDUC, REB and all partners involved, on effective facilitation for competency-based teaching. From national to local levels, UNICEF ensured effective facilitation of trainings to ensure achievement of objectives. The overall programme of teacher training was designed so that it continues to take place at the SSL level beyond 2016 to include continuous support for teachers through additional and follow-up trainings, feedback mechanisms and monitoring, and promotion of reflective practice. Implementation of the CBC provided a unique opportunity to test and learn from a framework that is potentially applicable to the broader system for continuous professional development. As part of its training implementation plan, REB established District CPD Committees (DCCs), in each district, which are responsible for facilitating and coordinating the implementation of the new curriculum. DCCs continue to coordinate selection and training of DMASTs and to support training on CBC and eventual sustainable implementation. Also, involvement of pre-service personnel (i.e. TTC tutors) in in-service teacher trainings on CBC has provided opportunities for coordination between REB and University of Rwanda College of Education (URCE), facilitating

3 See Annex 1 for explanation on figure calculations

15

revision of the pre-service curriculum in alignment with the basic education curriculum. Finally, the development and implementation of the monitoring system was designed in line with REB, and implemented within existing REB systems. This ensures that beyond the project implementation, the system for monitoring will be maintained with little or no input from external partners.

6. Lessons Learned There were a number of lessons learnt throughout the course of this partnership. First, training schedules by MINEDUC and REB continued to change due to competing priorities, which resulted in the need to remain flexible. Based on data collected on the Phase 1 training on CBC, it was noted that the cascade-level training approach was not as effective as had been anticipated in the design stage. As a result, Phase 2 was planned with a focus on trainings and support at the school-level. In implementation, the majority of SEOs reported that they were not able to use internet because of issues with the service and coverage of the contracted provider. Even though this provider claimed nationwide coverage, SEOs were not able to access internet. The currently limited internet coverage in Rwanda is a reality that should be considered in any plans to use ICT in Rwanda.

7. Way Forward Further curriculum rollout is resource-demanding and MINEDUC will continue to need partner support if the curriculum is to be effectively rolled out according to plan. UNICEF aims to remain a key technical and financial partner, supporting the following activities:

● Continued rollout of the curriculum. ● Phase 2 training on the CBC for all teachers. ● Printing more curriculum documents for distribution to schools. ● Development of teaching and learning materials aligned to the new curriculum. ● Monitoring and assessment of learning outcomes for the CBC. ● In-service teacher development through the school-based mentorship programme.

UNICEF is mobilizing more efforts to support both pre- and in-service teacher development to guarantee effective learning for children to meet demands of the new competency-based learning as outlined in the CBC. UNICEF will continue to work with the REB and other stakeholders to

16

implement the real-time data monitoring of the education system, with particular emphasis on monitoring the CBC.

17

8. Human Interest Story School-based Mentors support teachers to implement successfully the new competence-based curriculum

August 2016, Nyarugenge district, Kigali City, Rwanda- Ezra Mugabe is School-based Mentor at the Kanyinya Child Friendly School (CFS) in Nyarugenge district. He has prepared a training session today for a group of primary teachers in the reading room. At Kanyinya CFS, there are 17 primary classes and 21 teachers. Another session will be organised for those teachers who were not able to attend this session. Teachers take turns to attend training sessions in the afternoon to take care of the afternoon shifts, and Ezra prepares training sessions accordingly.

To help teachers with the implementation of the new competency- based curriculum, Ezra prepares sessions on teaching methodology and English language. Today’s topic is on formative assessment and play-based learning approach. He introduces assessment tools such as ‘think time in pairs’ to see how children find solutions together. Another tool introduced is an exit card. Children submit an exit card at the end of the lesson with either questions or answers to the questions teachers have asked. This helps the teachers to assess children’s learning outcomes.

After training sessions with teachers, Ezra takes steps to follow up on their learning. He visits classes to observe if teachers are applying what they learned. He also organizes one-to-one sessions with teachers to assure that the session has been understood well and to resolve questions or challenges if any. He also prepares model lessons and tries to interact with children to be able to get feedback from children directly.

Alex Kilama is Reading Mentor at Kanyinya CFS. Today he is supporting Ezra with a phonetics lesson. He has prepared a playful game which can help children learn easily while having fun. “Let’s make our lessons interesting. For teaching a letter to children, we can either make a shape of the letter or use sound of a word which starts with that letter. For example, the letter ‘S’. We can use our hands to show a snake or make a sound. Then it is easy to remember how we pronounce it” explains Alex. After sharing how to pronounce the alphabets- S, T, I, P and N, he starts a game by pronouncing a letter and asking teachers to find the letter from the material available. Later, another game is introduced where the teachers pair up to link with pronunciation of other letters. Participating teachers enjoy playing these games forgetting for a moment that this was a training.

Onesphone Dusabimana is Primary-2 teacher who joined today’s session with six other teachers. He says “I learned a lot today with so much fun by playing games. I am satisfied to learn new tools for assessment and thankful to the mentors’ support. Phonetics is not easy for me, so will need more training sessions and more materials to share in the classes.” “I thank our mentors for their support. These sessions are very

Alex is explaining how to introduce letter sounds to children. © UNICEF Rwanda/2016

18

much helpful. It would be great to have more such sessions with all the teachers so that we can share and learn together” says Valentine Uwamahoro who supports Primary 4, 5 and 6 classes.

Since 2012, UNICEF in collaboration with International Education Exchange, a local NGO, has been supporting the development of the government initiated National School-based Mentoring programme to improve language skills and instructional practices of teachers at schools. In addition, UNICEF supported mentors like Ezra to support other mentors to develop their capacities. In 2016 with the launch of the new competency-based curriculum, mentors played a crucial role in the implementation of the new curriculum through various trainings. https://www.unicef.org/rwanda/reallives_18566.html

18

Annex 1: Indicator Table

Indicators Table 6: Overall Results, by Indicator

Targets Achievements Total Life of Project Achievements

Comments

Indicator Indicator Q4 Jul-Sep 2015

Q1 Oct-Dec 2015

Q2 Jan-Mar 2016

Q3 Apr-June 2016

Q4 July-Sept 2016

Q1 Oct-Dec 2016

Custom Number of ICT resources distributed with USG assistance

416 0 0 0 0 0 416 416 Achieved (see pages 10-11 for details)

3.2.1-33 Number of teaching and learning materials provided with USG assistance

153,141 0 76,571

0 0 0

106,535

183,106

Target surpassed. See page 7 for explanations

3.2.1-41 Total number of person hours of teachers who successfully completed in-service training with USG support

703,664 97,664 0 416,400 0 0 26,112 540,176

Target at national level not fully met due to changed phase 2 training model (See page 9)

Male 350,050 47,990 0 206,520 0 0 12,795 267,927 Female 353,614 49,674 0 209,880 0 0 13,317 272,249

3.2.1-42 Total number of person hours of teachers who successfully completed pre-service training with USG support

5,120 640 0 5,200 0 0 5,376 11,216

Target surpassed (See page 9 for explanations)

Male 2,130 277 0 2,579 0 0 2,666 5,563 Female 2,990 363 0 2,621 0 0 2,710 5,653

19

3.2.1-43 Total number of person

hours of administrators and officials successfully trained with USG support

9,984 0 0 3,536 0 0 15,360 18,896

Target surpassed (See page 9 for explanations)

Male 4,551 0 0 1,754 0 0 7,619 9,372 Female 5,433 0 0 1,782 0 0 7,741 9,524

The total person training hours have been calculated using the formula provided by the USAID indicator manual. For indicators 3.2.1-41, 3.2.1-42, and 3.2.1-43, the following formula was used: Number of people trained x Number of training days x Number of training hours per day = Total