EQUIP 1 – Education Quality Improvement Programme in Sudan (Pre-Service Training Component)

Improving basic education quality and access in Sudan for the most vulnerable populations.

Sudan is experiencing a major democratic transition, with an estimated 40% of the population aged under 14, while being the third largest country in Africa.

In addition to the poor access to education, the quality of teaching is inadequate with only 38% of Sudanese teachers qualified (basic and secondary education).

The pre-service teacher training programmes, which are dispensed in faculties of education, give priority to theory and academic knowledge. But they do not allow future teachers to acquire the practical and pedagogical skills required to provide high quality education.

In response to this alarming context, the European Union has launched the Education Quality Improvement Programme in Sudan (EQUIP).

Improving basic education quality and access in Sudan: the issues of teacher training

The EQUIP programme was financed by the EU Emergency Trust Fund for Africa with €22 million over a 3-year period. It was implemented by Expertise France in partnership with France Éducation International (FEI), the British Council, UNICEF, Save the Children and SOFRECO. It aimed to improve the quality of basic education in Sudan, with a focus on the most vulnerable groups, in particular girls, migrants, displaced persons and refugees.

It had three main components:

1) Develop conducive and inclusive learning environments in formal and informal settings;
2) Improve the qualification of teachers in basic school in Sudan;
3) Improve the governance of the education system and coordination between the stakeholders.

Expertise France worked on improving pre-service teacher training under component 2.

Objectives of the EQUIP “Pre-service Training” component

Under the EQUIP “Pre-service Training” component, Expertise France assisted the Sudanese Ministries of Higher Education and General Education in improving teacher training programmes (curriculum) and strengthening pre-service training for primary school teachers.

The actions implemented focused on training:

• 300 trainers, university deans and inspectors in teaching professional skills;

• 300 trainers, university deans and inspectors in how to use tools to evaluate the quality of teaching;

• 8,000 trainee teachers in professional skills.

Activities of the “Pre-service Training” component

1- Needs assessment

The first stage of the project involved assessing pre-service training in the nine States targeted by the project and conducting a needs analysis using the available database, previous studies, interviews conducted with key stakeholders and a field survey. This activity made it possible to jointly build an appropriate response with all the partners.
 

For further reading: In Sudan, linking the community to the classroom to fight against school dropout

2- Reference framework for the qualification of teachers

In the second stage, EQUIP designed a pre-service training programme and modules corresponding to the qualification reference framework and in line with the needs identified, working closely with the stakeholders, in particular the key educational staff in the Ministries of Education and Higher Education.

3- Cascade training for trainee teachers

The trainers of trainee teachers from the faculties of education were subsequently trained on the basis of the new training curriculum, with a focus on teaching professional skills.

The teams worked closely with the British Council, which was responsible for the in-service teacher training component, in order to make a connection with the professional practices of teachers.

4- Creation of evaluation tools and training in how to use them  

Finally, EQUIP created tools to evaluate the newly trained trainee teachers and trained teacher trainers in how to use them.

The EQUIP programme is financed by the European Union. The “Pre-service Training” component is implemented by Expertise France with CIEP, while the “In-service Training” component is implemented by the British Council. UNICEF and Save the Children also work on the school environment. The Sudanese Ministry of General Education is coordinating the programme, with support from SOFRECO.