THE GESCI ORGANIZATION IS EMPOWERING MEMBERS OF THE (REL) TO STIMULATE EDUCATION POLICIES

 

By, Hamad Rashid: Sixteen Institutions, including Non-Governmental Organizations, Civil Society and universities in Tanzania, who together are members of the Regional Education Learning Initiative (RELI Network) met in Morogoro to build capacity on how to strengthen efforts to stimulate education change and promote Life Skills for young people.

This training was organized by the Global e-Schools and Communities Initiative (GESCI) which implements Adapting assessment into policy and learning (ADAPT): Adolescent 21^st Century Skills Project in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, The ADAPT initiative monitors the use of assessments and data provided by education stakeholders, to be used to bring about policy change including the development of life skills for young people.

Tanzanian International Education Expert Henry Kulaya after training participants, spoke about the importance of education stakeholders engaging in policy in the education sector.

Henry Kulaya said: "We are talking about how to measure skills and knowledge in the 21st Century, on the ability of the child and youth to afford life, so we were building capacity for these representatives of the NGO's and different CSOs within the RELI umbrella, to look at how they can engage with the policy, to try to bring about changes that will be consistent with the studies that are being done, what steps to go through, what things need to be considered before decisions are reviewed by the authorities. So overall, I'm very haapy with how they have been cooperative in this training and have presented well through the groups that we have assigned."

                                         HENRY KULAYA IN VENUE

Dr. Shadidu Ndosa, a Kiswahili Language Lecturer at St. John's University in Dodoma, during the Interview with the Tanzania Kids Time, He explained the lessons he had learned in this training.

"We have learned a lot but for me I have two big things, one is this influence on policy, personally I feel it is a good thing and this training has come at the right time, right now in Tanzania we are in the process of changing the curriculum of Education from Primary School Level to Form Five and Sixth, but we also have policy changes so the process is still ongoing and it is time to know, what things to go to influence the policy change and I believe all the members of this training  will go to help in this process. The last issue is the life skills side, Life Skills are an important Global agenda and are important issues for our children and youth today” Said Dr. Shadidu Ndosa.

Madam Chonge Tukwa works at Girls Livelihood and Mentorship initiative (GLAMI) an Organization that supports secondary school girls in tanzania to complete their Education and to build the life skills for them, after participating in the training said, "For three days we attended this training, I have learned a lot of things, first we as an Organization have grown up relating to the daughters and here I understand in this area we need not to forget the daughters that have special needs, but also to wake up to the whole issue of policy. As we say we are working with the Society then we should start looking at existing policies, so that we do not let the special need groups to lack their needs, so that we have to push policy changes to fit the needs of the community."

Samuel Otieno from Kenya, the ADAPT Project Manager in an interview with journalists, explained how the ADAPT Project is working to achieve policy changes in the Education Sector.

Samuel Otieno said "ADAPT is a Project that seeks to encourage the use of Data and evidence that comes from the Assessments that are carried out by Education projects here in East Africa, so we are using these reports, to reform and change the Curricula, so that teachers can teach in a more effective way, especially when we focus on the issues of Life Skills and Value for young people that have become so important now in the world”.

                    PARTICIPANTS AT THE KIBO PEAK VENUE.

The Regional Education Initiative (RELI-Africa) operates in three East African countries: Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. To date, there are more than 70 members who are a variety of Non-governmental organisations, Civil Society organisations, universities and Education institutions who aim at ensuring inclusive learning for all children in East Africa is fulfilled and every child living in a difficult environment receives a quality Education.