Photo: Ala Kheir
In partnership with the Ministry of Education, we are currently running teacher training courses across Sudan to improve access to quality English Language learning for all students.
The programme aims to give teachers access to up to date teaching methodologies, improve their English and build their capacity so that they can better teach students for years to come.
The programme started in Khartoum in October 2011 when a Britsh Council trainer training course was run in order to select 20 trainers who could deliver the training programme English for Teaching 1 (EfT1) to approximately 900 teachers in Khartoum State over a six-month period.
The EfT1 coursebook material was seen as particularly appropriate for the teachers’ training needs as it combines a strong focus on language revision and awareness with activities and classroom ideas that promote a far more communicative approach to teaching. In addition, the course encourages teachers to reflect on practice, to transfer teaching ideas from the training room to the classroom and provides a means of evaluating progress (both self-evaluation and by their tutor) throughout the course.
Although originally limited to Khartoum State, the success of the project and popularity of the training material (with both participating teachers and the trainers themselves) led to a widening of the programme in 2012 to include an additional eight states. Further training of tainers was conducted in order to identify and train individuals to teach the EfT course in the other states.
This project is the initial part of a revolutionary commitment to raise teaching standards in schools across Sudan, elevating the skills of all teachers and improving the learning experience of every student. It has grown to become an almost country-wide programme offering training opportunties to more than 4500 teachers, 200 trainers and 35 School inspectors.
‘We all appreciate so much the efforts of the British Council for making this happen for us. We have come out of our cocoon and are all better teachers now. Our students are happier and learning more.’ – A Participant in English for Teaching Training from Al Kalakla