Opportunity International EduFinance and Indian School Finance Company (ISFC) have partnered to launch Opportunity’s Education Quality Programme (EdQ) in Jaipur, Rajasthan. The first batch of the program, scheduled to be launched in August 2018, will constitute 80 schools and approximately 640 teachers.
EdQ will offer training for school leadership and teachers, along with a comprehensive guide for overall school improvement. The programme will be delivered through three unique product offerings of Opportunity EduFinance.
Pathways to Excellence (P2E) is designed by international education experts to help holistic school improvement, no matter what level the school. It’s a tool which guides schools in their development planning, following a framework of thirty-one educational areas which constitute the workings of a school.
Pathways to Excellence helps schools self-assess what level they are at in each area, guiding them to where they want to be. Areas such as school culture, school environment, teaching and learning resources, pedagogy, teacher professional development, teacher retention, school management, child centred learning, early childhood education, behaviour management and child protection.
Based on their self-assessment, Pathways to Excellence helps schools create a school development plan typically focussing on two to three areas for improvement over a year. The guide also links to a free library of resources for schools to access, helping them achieve their school improvement goals.
School Leadership Professional Development (SLPD) is Opportunity EduFinance’s flagship senior leadership programme for schools’ senior management. It runs over two years with 2-3 workshops per annum bringing together school Principals and Head Teachers to ultimately learn best practice in managing and running a school. The programme’s development modules include topics such as: building a successful school, school administration, marketing, governance & leadership, financing & budgeting, pedagogy & approaches to effective teaching and learning, and safeguarding.
Aside from the training content, school leaders also get an opportunity to establish a peer leaning network to share experiences. Leaders often comment that they are encouraged in learning about successful interventions from other similar schools which can easily translate to success in their own.
Teacher Trainingultimately aims to improve teacher performance and increase teacher retention. Very much a hands-on professional development programme, it is delivered in 8 sessions (typically over the course of a year) by teacher mentors training small groups of teachers in schools. The training also includes lesson observation in the classrooms and advice – bringing training to the heart of the learning environment!
Opportunity EduFinance’s Teacher Training programme typically includes sessions on classroom management, teaching and learning pedagogies, assessment for learning, lesson planning, learning environment, design for learning, and helps teachers create a portfolio of standards.
Speaking about the programme, Andrew McCusker, Head of Opportunity Education Finance,
“We’re really excited to bring our Education Quality programme to ISFC in India, expanding from our existing footprint in Africa and Latin America. Through our three flagship programmes we will provide schools in India with tools to improve the education quality they offer and equip teachers with improved methodologies in classroom management, teaching and learning, and assessment, resulting in better learning outcomes for kids in their local communities.”
Charles, Head Teacher in a Tanzania Primary School participating in the Opportunity’s Education Quality programme speaking about Pathways to Excellence:
“The Pathways to Excellence book and school development planning process has opened up my eyes to new and inclusive ways of working towards education quality improvement in my school. It has made me a different person as a leader, and has also highlighted new areas for improvement that the school needs to focus on. Plus, I can share strategies and ideas with other school leaders through the meetings. Opportunity’s Education Quality programme is changing schools for the better.”
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