Edinburgh College Starts New Programme in Rwanda
Last week saw the start of a new programme in which Edinburgh College’s ESOL team will provide remote training to a large group of English teachers from Rwanda.
The course forms part of the Building Learning Foundations (BLF) Programme funded by the UK Government’s Department for International Development (DFID), which aims to improve the quality of teaching and leadership in all of Rwanda’s Government-funded primary schools.
As part of the project, the College’s ESOL team (with technical support from the College’s Learning Technology team) has developed an interactive 10-week (30 hour) blended EFL teacher training course, specifically designed so that participants graduate the course ready to deliver high-quality English sessions for teachers in Rwanda.
College lecturers have also designed two written assignments to assess learners’ progress on the course, as well as working with the British Council to create a suitable assessment framework for observed teaching practice, and session guidelines for post teaching practice feedback, reflection, and planning sessions, which will be delivered alongside the course face-to-face in Rwanda.
After a delayed start, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, College lecturers are now remotely monitoring the online work of the 65 participating teachers as they work through the course over the next ten weeks.
Sarah Gore, International Business Manager at Edinburgh College said: “It’s great that this programme has now been able to go ahead. A lot of work has gone into preparing the course for delivery and we’re excited to be getting started.
“The development of this programme shows Edinburgh College’s ability to design and deliver high-quality bespoke English Language and Teacher training solutions, and to adapt our expertise in English Language and teacher training for online delivery.
“The course also represents a positive step in expanding our work in Africa. It’s a region where we see huge potential for future growth and we hope this course is the start of us deepening our engagement with the continent through involvement in new projects of this sort in the future.”
