Mentorfor Primary Teachers

in Southern Tanzania

EdUKaid is a small UK based charity which helps children in southern Tanzania to attend school and supportsthe schools in providing the best education possible. At the moment, we are supporting 12primary schools and 4secondary schools in the Mtwara region; however, we are planning to extensively develop both the range and scope of our work in this region within the next three years.

As part of our Whole School Development Programme (WSDP) EdUKaid is now seeking a highly motivated teacher trainer who will be faced with the task of designing and implementing aneight-month longmentoring programmefor primary teachers in southern Tanzania. The person appointed will work withabout 100-120 primary teachers from 12 Primary Schools. The focus of the mentoring should be on helping to develop child-centred methodologies with an emphasis on the practical aspects of teaching primary school children.

The WSDP consists of four elements: mentoring primary school teachers, supporting pre-primary schooling (for 4-7 year-olds), school resources, and school feeding. The programme has been designed over the last year and is currently running as a pilot in one primary school. The goal is that over the course of the next three years we will have covered all four pillars of the WSDP in each of the 12 Primary Schoolswith which we are working. In 2010 we are focusing on mentoring primary school teachers and developing pre-primary schooling.

We envisage the following timeframe:

In months 1-3: The goal is to design the teacher mentoring programme

In months 4-12: The goal is to implement the teacher mentoring programme

The post is offered as an initial six months volunteer contract starting at the beginning of March/April 2010 or as soon as possible thereafter. As a small charity we ask the volunteer to fundraise a minimum of £1500 before departure to Tanzania, and to cover the cost of international flights. These funds will directly cover your living expenses for 6 months and support the charity’s operations in Tanzania.

Depending on a satisfactory review of performance, there is a goodpossibility of a contract extension for another six months during which the successful applicant will receive a living allowance of £200 per month together with free food and accommodation.

Application deadline: Please send applications to by 9am Monday 8th February 2010.

Initial interviews will be via skype. Where applicable, follow up face-to-face interviews will be held in the UK.

We will be looking to recruit the candidate based on the following criteria:

Essential – the successful candidate should have: / Desirable – the successful candidate could have:
Educational background:
- Either qualified to teach status (QTS) achieved through a training course in England or the equivalent from elsewhere in the world.
- Current trainee teachers and new entrants to the profession will also be considered / An understanding of the issues facing education in developing countries in general and East Africa in particular. A further focus on the challenges surrounding teachers, teacher training, and quality of education would be an additional asset
A desire to make improvements in the quality of education of children in developing countries. / Experience of living and working in the developing world
Exceptional organisational skills
(i.e. the ability to carry forward a number of tasks simultaneously without losing sight of the ends to be achieved by each individual project) / Some experience of writing reviews/carrying out evaluations.
High levels of initiative and problem solving skills
Independence of mind whilst also being a good team player with great social and interpersonal skills
Excellent people skills with a great amount of patience, energy, and positive attitude
Strong communication skills, and aptitude and willingness to develop Swahili language skills

Primary Teacher Mentor

Job description

Key purpose:

To create and implement a mentoring programme for approximately120 primary school teachers spread over twelve schools in southern Tanzania.

The post holder will report to EdUKaid’s project director in Tanzania, who will act as her/his line manager and with whom s/he will regularly review progress.

Tasks and Responsibilities:

Over the course of their contract, s/he will:

  • Design a mentoring programme for those who teach children in the 7-15 year-old age range. This will entail the following:
  • Developing an understanding of the Tanzanian education system and the main elements of primary school teacher training programmes
  • Researching the key issues affecting primary education in southern Tanzania
  • Identifying the main obstacles hindering the development of effective teaching
  • Identifying examples of good practice in teaching using child-centred methodologies
  • Within budgetary constraints, apportioning resources including manpower where they will have the greatest impact
  • Design an evaluation model to test the impact of the programme on the quality of teaching and learning
  • Implement the mentoring programme. This will entail:
  • Identifying the individual training needs of teachers in the programme and agreeing training plans in response
  • Visiting teachers in their schools to provide practical on-site support including modelling strategies and team teaching
  • Periodically bringing groups of teachers together to review their progress and decide on next steps
  • As appropriate, designing and delivering a programme of workshops and seminars to address key issues for improvement
  • Meet regularly with the project director to review progress against agreed performance indicators
  • Draft a monthly report to feed into the project director’s report to the trustees
  • Undertake a formal six-month review of the programme to demonstrate the impact on the standard of teaching and learning