TİKA Has Introduced Innovative Approaches to Tanzanian Teachers

Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA) continues to introduce innovative approaches to the teachers of the world through its Education & Learning Support Program (ELSP).  

An introductory program on integrated learning and teaching models was carried out in Rehema Foundation High School in Dar es Salaam in Tanzania from June 20^th to 25^th, 2022. The program was organized within the framework of ELSP with the support of Turkish Ministry of National Education, Tanzanian Ministry of Education and Rehema Foundation. The trainings were given by Recep Çetinkaya, who is in charge of ELSP projects at TİKA and works as a STEM trainer, Funda Bayraktar and İlyas Akca, Hârezmî Training Model İstanbul Üsküdar and Adalar Coordinators.

71 Teachers from 10 Cities Participated in the Program

71 primary, secondary and high school teachers from 10 different Tanzanian cities participated in the trainings. New learning and teaching models were introduced in computer labs with the support of TİKA in 2021. Tanzanian teachers designed their own projects and lesson plans, and they also designed learning processes based on real needs to apply to their own students. All teachers prepared project reports on the reasons for the problems they chose from real life as well as solution ways, and they worked on how they can develop their own solutions.

Some examples of projects developed by teachers;

• Preventing floods caused by rainwater
• Overcoming problems encountered by hearing impaired people
• Recycling wastewater
• Developing a garbage collection machine to be used in the environmental cleaning at school
• Installing a system to make the rainwater at school usable
• Using paper waste as fuel
• Making biogas out of domestic waste
• Making implementations in more than one classroom by using periscopes

It is foreseen that first teachers with leadership qualities are given trainings within the framework of the program and local teachers train their colleagues.

Workshop with 220 Students

In addition to the training given to teachers, 220 students attending Rehema Foundation High School participated in the two-day workshop. After STEM and Hârezmî Models were introduced briefly, students were divided into groups, and they chose a problem from their own lives. Each group prepared posters to explain how long they have been affected by the problem, what solution ways they propose and what they will need to apply the solution. On the last day of the training, a big fair area was created in the school garden where posters and presentations were exhibited. The teachers that participated in the training visited the fair and gave the first feedback.

Some examples of projects developed by students;

• How can we prevent toilets from overflowing?
• How can we carry out astrological research at school?
• How can we purify salt water?
• How can we reduce the negative effects of malaria?
• How can we prevent floods and use flood water?
• How can we prevent the spread of typhoid?
• What can we do at school and in the city for waste disposal?
• How can we prevent female circumcision?
• How can we integrate machinery use training in our education?
• How can we prevent the dangers caused by still water?
• How can we prevent crime in our city?

On the last day of the training, a ceremony was organized to present certificates. The ceremony was attended by all teachers and students who participated in the training as well as TİKA’s Tanzanian Coordinator Halil İbrahim Okur, Rehema Foundation’s Tanzania Representative Musab Demirlenk, Rehema Foundation General Manager Zübeyr Salum, an Inspector from Tanzanian Ministry of Education Pinga Jumanne and Recep Çetinkaya, who is in charge of ELSP projects at TİKA and works as a STEM trainer. It is planned to continue the trainings through online workshops aimed at teachers and face-to-face trainings in Istanbul for certain teachers.