Every year in January Impact Network conducts a teacher training which brings together teachers from all Impact Network schools. This multi-day training presents an opportunity for the organization orient teachers on different topics from all departments, academics, operations, child protection and HR. This year, 150 teachers attended the teacher training in Sinda from the 2nd to the 5th of January.

The first two days the training focused on the academic’s presentations with topics that highlighted changes in the schemes of work and school timetable grade specific programs, government programs and assessments, and classroom management. We also had a session which helped teachers on how they can prepare our grade 7 students for their national grade 7 exams in October this year. Furthermore, we had lesson demonstrations by teachers which illustrated how teachers can use fun and play to increase learner participation in the classroom activities.

On day 3, the training concentrated on how teachers should take care of equipment, solar systems, and school supplies. The operations team demonstrated how different pieces of equipment such as tablets, dongles, and projectors, and stressed the expectations on equipment usage, care, and security. In addition, teachers were also given guidance on how to use and take care of the solar units in order to prevent damage. There was also a session on school supplies and safety and hygiene, which allowed teachers to understand how supplies are allocated to their schools, proper usage and storage, and most importantly, highlights on cholera preventive measures. The last session of day 3 was facilitated by the child protection team and focused on identifying and reporting child protection cases.

*Above: A veteran teacher demonstrating to a new teacher the procedure for connecting a tablet to a projector*

Thursday was also the day that the government announced that schools would have a 3-week delay in opening due to the cholera outbreak. The senior team was quick to meet and decide our message to teachers the final day of the training, which was to go on leave for 2 weeks and return for preparations the week prior to the opening.

All sessions on the fourth day were from the HR department, including how to access their statutory benefits, as well as a cooperative savings and loan scheme were shared with teachers. We also explained the procedure for leave management. The 2024 organizational policies were reviewed and signed on this day in addition to the teacher expectation document and the contracts. It was a lot of paperwork, but all necessary to set everyone on the right path from the start of the year!

What we found most interesting about this teacher training was the contributions to the hands- on activities and overall participation from the teachers. The teachers practiced what they have learned with their colleagues during the training. It was also interesting to see veteran teachers guiding new teachers on how to use learner centered methods.

Since then, on the 24th of January, the Ministry announced a further 2-week delay in the school opening. Once again, our team acted quickly to establish new work plans, communicate to all staff, and make all necessary adjustments for the delayed opening. We are incredibly appreciative that our team is able to adapt and pivot whenever needed and we remain hopeful that schools will indeed open on the 12th of February because we are very much looking forward to seeing all of our pupils again!

Thank you, Promise and Steven for this week’s blog. I’m also hoping that school reopens on February safely!

Teacher Training 2024!