University-School Linkage for EnhancingQuality of General Education; Outreach

Program

Haileselassie G/MariamVice President for Research and DevelopmentAksum University

December 2, 2012

OBJECTIVES

Describe that Quality of school education is an Agenda ofTODAY!!Share AkU’s Experiences to Sister Universities and otherstakeholders

To explore ways for expanding scale and impact of AksumUniversity (with special reference to outreach) for improvingquality of school education in the NationCreate a mutual learning circumstances in the area ofenhancing QE

Contents

n Why do we have to support schools?

n Understanding school gaps

n AkU’s efforts to enhance quality in education

n Some final Remarks

GTP targets

n Intake capacity of higher education undergraduate 467, 445 n TVET 1,127, 330 n Primary school gross enrolment ratio 100% n Secondary school enrolment 75% n Meet the MDG targets of education in 2015 n Mandated to contribute overall GTP

Provide support to primary and secondary education andprovide support and cooperate with preparatory andtechnical and vocational schools as may be appropriate

Research and Research Directions

The focus of research in any institution shall be on promoting therelevance and quality of education and on the country'sdevelopment issues focusing on transfer of technology.

Responsibilities of Institutions

Also,

Quality of education in schools affects student performancein Universities

Universities get feedbacks to supply quality teachers to schools

Modelling an innovative example of how universities can effectively support local schools

UNDERSTANDING OVERALL STATUS OFEDUCATION

We tried to understand the status of education

n National exam analysisn Research and short participatory assessmentsn Giving tests to teachers n Participation and Organization of different

Educational workshops and forums - Zonal, Regional and Nationaln Analysis of students performance (Our students)

In National exams of 2010, Grade 10

n Curiosity is needed: Only 45% joined preparatory school n Also, highly qualified students (>3) were only 5.5% and Tigrai

ranked 4th n On the other hand Tigrai is better than all regions with

extremely low scorers (<1)

University Entrance Exam

National exam

Tigrai has few females scoring >50% in 2001National University Entrance Exam (3rd to thelast)

Performance of students joining Universities inMaths and English

English and Maths results in Universityentrance exams

n Student from all regions joined AkU with: - English, all >50% ( 33-47%) - Maths, all <50% (44-47%) Thus, there is very low performance of students in

Maths and English in preparatory schools.

AkU’s Previous experiences

• Contents: • Challenging contents of the text books in each grade

level • Virtual lab (simulation) for high and preparatory school

teachers • Science kit demonstration (5-8 teachers), to function their

own science kits • Pedagogy (common course for all teachers)

Conducting training

Pre and post training tests (5-8 all subjects)

Outcome of pre and post training tests (9-12 all subjects)

Outcome of pre and post training tests (Natural Sciences)

Pre and post training test

n The pre and post training results show that thereis Very High Gap in Mastering the subject Matter

n Training has a significant effect on teachers

performance

We have learned from:

n Experiences of the schools themselves: To improvequality of education in central zone

n Abiyi Addi Teachers’ Training College n Adwa Teachers Colleges Teachers’ Training College n Zonal Experience:Progresses in implementation of the 6 school education

Quality improvement Packages (By zone administration,interest of zone to realize quality of education)

WHAT DID WE DO SO FAR?

n Established a Zonal Panel n Developed comprehensive QE enhancement

Supportive plan - Based on Gaps in the six packagesn Regional Panel - Zones divided among 3 Universities - Colleges focus on PE n Outreach programn Wukro Maray Integrated support –Extension of

outreachn Other Activities depending on the Plan

How did we go about knowing the schools’ problems?

n Assessment on bottlenecks that deters thesuccessful implementation of the Six QualityAssurance Packages.

n Teachers Development Programn School improvement programn ICT expansion and improvement Programn Curriculum improvement programn Civics and Ethical Education improvement programn Educational managers improvement program n What was the result?

1. About TDP

n Generally huge gap in:o Subject matter mastery (theory and practical)o English Languageo Teaching staffs in (Drawing, ICT)o Standardized and harmonized performance

evaluation toolso Recognition of competent and dedicated staffso Lack of competence in planning, evaluation and

monitoring

Measures

Comprehensive training to school science teachers andlab assistants

Teacher development is system development instead of aone-time service

Curriculum driven means purpose driven and not arbitrarycapacity building

School teacher development serves as a feedback forteacher education in university

StrategiesFocus on science subjects ü National educational plan (70/30)ü Current performance in science is lowü Children should grow loving maths and science n Focus on Supportive courses ü Supportive courses are key to understand major courses

2. School Improvement program

Main gaps

• Scarcity of teaching and reading resources• Low sense of accountability of teachers to be evaluated

based on student performance• Low self-esteem of students• Low community participation (specifically in secondary

and preparatory schools)• Shortage of chemicals

Measures takenq Donation: q Preparation and distribution of lab-manuals, ICT, library

manuals,q Virtual lab installation and trainingq Lab-set-upq Active participation in Regional Fundraising events for school

improvementsq Building a school in collaboration with Metropolitan college of

Denver (USA)

• blackboard and white-board,• Science-kit• Books….more relevant to schools, withDenver, • Chemicals…

3. ICT expansion and improvement

• Some schools lack electric power to follow courses taughtvia plasma

• Considering plasma as separate and sufficient teaching

mode and regret to support students • Low ICT infrastructure and computer knowledge

§

Measures taken

§ Training and virtual lab-installation (Schools,TVET and TTC)

§ Internet access to secondary schools § Donation of computers and printers conjointly

with IFESH Ethiopia

4. Curriculum improvement program.

• Schoolteachers do not follow student centered teachingmethodology

• Lack of Implementing continuous assessments• Weak reading habit• Bulky contents of books that cannot be covered within

one semester• Lack of text and reference materials

Measures taken n “Solving one hundred difficult ESLCE questions for grade

twelve examinees”, n The introduction and implementation of summer outreach

program, n Identifying challenging chapters in secondary schools (first

phase accomplished) n Review of school text books (curriculum: English,

Pedagogy, Chemistry, Physics, Biology and Maths)

5. Civics and ethical education improvement program

n Lack of students motivation n Copying

• Copying became school culture (Teachers and studentsdo not condemn it copying)

• Ethics teachers lack ethics by themselves and do notqualify to shape citizens

Measures:

n Outreach for talented students---Peer effect n Tutorial sessions, n Practical demonstration for secondary school

students eq. physics and chemistry n Training for female students on the possibilities

of improving their results in their school.

6. Improving school organization and management

• Lack of full engagement of school management in leading

the schools • Less focus to scaling out of best practice • Lack of integrity and commitment (especially school

directors) • High communication gap from the region down to Woreda

education office heads and directors (No harmonizedpractice to use guidelines, rules and regulations, trainings)

• Weak leadership style

OUTREACH PROGRAM

n Gelfand Charitable Trust………….Mr. Mark Gelfand n Dictum: ‘In Every Child there is a scientist’ …………..AkU

Preparation

n Participants: 420 n Tigrai, Afar, Gambella, n Grades: 7-12n Curriculum developedn Manual (Teaching Materials developed and

disseminated)n Training: STEMn Guided tour

Project participants

n Tigrai:v Three zones: Western, N. Western and Central

Zonesv Selection of participating schools: Primarily made

BoEv Selection of talented students: BoE and Schools § Gambella: BoE, Gambella National Regional State § Afar: BoE, Afar National Regional state

Initial workshop: Curriculum approvaln Other: Selection, preparation of students, parents…

Grade 7-8

Ø Total number of students enrolled :120Ø Contact hour in each field: 30 hrs.Ø Total contact hour in the four fields: 120 hrs.Ø Mode of training : Circuit training

Grade 9-10

Ø Total Number of students enrolled:150 Ø Total contact hour in selected field:75 hours plus

25 hrs in mathematics and 25 hours of computerapplications

Ø Mode of training : specialization

Grade 11-12

Ø Total Number of students enrolled:150

Ø Total contact hour in selected field:75 hours plus 25 hrs in mathematics and 25 hours of computer applications

Ø Mode of training : specialization

Physics

Computer lab session-Practice

Guided tour to nearby historical sites

Workshop

Students with their university teachers and management

Best Practices

n Majority of the participating students were too zealous inassuming a leading role in the program.

n Thus, most outstanding students can be used as the focalpersons of students’ network at school level.

n High commitment among staff and co-teachers fromsecondary schools in executing the envisaged objectivesof the project.

n To this end some instructors spent even their extra hourshelping the students in the laboratories.

n Students developed sense of peer support

n The strength of the outreach project lies in the diversity ofthe perspectives participants brought from across Tigray,Afar and Gambela Regional States.

n Hence, it would be an excellent experience for AksumUniversity to invite students from other regional states andthis practice should be mainstreamed in the outreachprogram executed by other similar higher institutions.

n Expansion to weekend outreach program

Weekend Outreach Program!!

How did we select Wukro Maray?

n Continuously low performing of the school(Rank:41/42); Zonal Workshop in Enticho

n Immediate measures: n ESLCE- acceleration session for prospects

national examines, n Deployment of problem assessing team n Comprehensive action plan developed

Survey and Plan

v A group of teachers: CNCS, CSSL,CBE were recruited to undertake abaseline survey.

v An action plan was developed on thebasis of the survey.

Components of the action plan

1. Lab Technicians deploymentn A total of 6 Lab-technicians from Biology, Physics and

Chemistry were assigned to install all lab instruments inthe school.

n During installation process school science teachers andlab technicians were involved from the beginning to theend of the whole program.

Before

During

After

2. ICT technicians deployment

n There are more than 60 computers. n However, majority of the computers were not

functional owing to technical problems. n 5 ICT technicians were sent to the school and

more than 50 computers were made operational.

3. Virtual Lab-technicians deployment n A virtual-lab training team of the

university was given the task of trainingand installing the programs in theschool.

n All the science and ICT teachers of theschool were given intensive trainingson the application of virtual-lab in basicscience subjects includingmathematics.

Conference

n During the conference guidance and counselingand gender experts from Aksum University wereassigned to share their expertise to theparticipant students

AkU band took part and played a major role to sensitizestudents and school staffs.

Next Steps…Wukro Maray

n Comprehensive support to the school n Agreed rank of WMSS…1st n Acceleration session on selected difficult chapters

for grades 10 and 12 national exam examines;

Next….

n HDP training for school teachers- Continuous assessment- Student centered teaching methodology- 1 to 5 networking n Training of trainers in Computer n Replicating activities accomplished at Wukro Maray

Secondary School, within our mandate areas

Final remarks

n University- school linkage is a promising mutually usefulapproach for enhancing quality of school and higher education

n Systematic documentation and communication needed for useof lessons for scaling up and Scale out (Address DiverseSources of inputs)

n Strong collaboration among stakeholders (educationmanagement offices, universities, schools and donors) crucial

n We have to start expanding the application of the presentapproach in the Nation

Excellence Through Perseverance!!

www.aku.edu.et