IRINGA-The Open University of Tanzania (OUT), in collaboration with the district education office in Iringa DC, organised a half-day forum, hosted at Ifunda Tech Secondary School, focused on areas and strategies to scale up the Connected Learning for Secondary school Teachers’ Capacity Building in STEM (CL4STEM) project that aims to promote higher-order thinking with inclusion and equitable classroom environment.
This forum was part of activities in the 2nd project phase now nearing completion that commenced in January involving eighty (80) science and mathematics teachers from nine (9) secondary schools in Iringa DC emphasizing coming out with the scaling up pathways.
Attendees included eight subject leaders representing participating teachers, four school heads representing others, educators from the Open University of Tanzania involved in the project, the District Education Officer (DEO) and her assistant in Academics, and representatives from the Regional Education Office (REO), President’s Office – Regional Administration and Local Government (PO-RALG), and Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology (MoEST).
During his address, MoEST representative Mr Musa Mnyeti expressed satisfaction with the project’s outcomes, highlighting its impact on teachers who upgraded and implemented the knowledge and skills gained from their original training.He underscored the potential for scaling up CL4STEM, particularly the project's lesson plan approach, which could be adapted or harmonized with the existing one if proven effective.
Mr. Mnyeti reacting to earlier teachers' concerns about ICT equipment adequacy recommended that schools adopt a phased approach to acquiring them, starting with four computers and a projector per school.
This would enable teachers to utilize government-issued tablets more effectively for accessing, creating, and presenting teaching materials. He also urged educators to enhance their computer and communication skills, essential for engaging today’s learners.Furthermore, he encouraged them to explore online and distance learning opportunities at OUT to further their education.
Mr. Anosta Nyamoga, representing PORALG, also commended the project’s outcomes, particularly the effective use of local resources for teaching and learning.
He emphasised the need for schools to store these locally available resources for future use.
He also encouraged schools to consider acquiring small routers to ensure sustainable internet access for accessing valuable teaching and learning materials and enabling the online Community of Learning (CoL).
Earlier on, before the forum proceedings, Mr Linus Songoro, representing the headmaster of Ifunda Tech Secondary School, the host, welcomed the attendees and praised the project’s impact on enhancing student engagement in learning.
DEO Academic- Secondary Ms. Tina Sanga thanked OUT for implementing this innovation project, which has benefited 80 teachers in science and mathematics in the Council.
She also highlighted the provision of internet bundles that enable their online study, collaboration, and access to digitally enabled teaching resources.
Further to her, Mr Ohad Nosa, headmaster of Mgama Secondary School who coordinates all heads of schools involved in this project, voiced appreciation for the support from MoEST, PORALG, regional and council officials as well as OUT CL4STEM teacher educators and leaders.
He cited the CL4STEM initiative's substantial benefits to teaching and learning, including improved STEM teacher competence, increased creativity through local materials, and enhanced learner-centred teaching processes.
He recommended scaling up the initiative beyond involved subjects and schools. Ms. Meresiana Lugendo, the headmistress of Lyandembela Secondary School, also added the heightened enthusiasm among teachers and students for STEM subjects, resulting in increased retention rates.
She noted the initiative to have improved ICT tools used to teach and expressed a need for more to augment their capability.
In response to various speakers and before inviting presentations of scaling up reflections from teachers involved in the project, Dr. Nfuka, the project leader, thanked Iringa DC leadership for their cooperation through the DEO office.
He expressed hope that initiatives from this office led by the new DEO, Ms Alice Nkwera and her assistant in Academics Ms Tina Sanga, would ensure the sustainability of project efforts and facilitate scaling to other subjects and schools.
Dr Nfuka also highlighted the CL4STEM innovation project, a collaborative effort involving partners from Tanzania, Nigeria, Bhutan and India funded by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) under the Global Partnership for Education’s Knowledge and Innovation Exchange (GPE-KIX), with a focus on promoting higher-order thinking, inclusion, equity, and the use of locally available teaching and learning materials.
The forum mainly featured presentations from leaders of teachers in involved subjects: Physics, Chemistry, Biology, and Mathematics, who shared their reflections on scaling up the initiative.
They expressed gratitude to OUT for enhancing their teaching methodologies through practical, cost-effective, and innovative approaches that leverage local resources, learner engagement, and mobile community of practices.
They proposed, together with learnt inclusive lesson plans scaling up them to other subjects and schools in the council, region, and nationally.
The presenters further indicated public schools having tablets provided by the government that have been useful in this initiative, but also noted challenges of other vital ICT equipment, such as computers, and projectors or smart TVs that hindered the effective delivery of lessons using some indicated innovative approaches.
They recommended schools invest in these resources and ongoing teacher training to improve further teaching processes and learning outcomes.
Closing this scaling-up forum, Iringa DC DEO, Ms Alice Nkwera recognised the presence and contributions of the national, regional, council, schools and OUT officials on reflection presentations and discussions made on scaling up the CL4STEM initiative within and beyond Iringa DC.
She committed to collaborating with the nine involved schools and partners to address the indicated challenges, including securing some devices to increase access to digital resources and proposed CL4STEM scaling-up to the remaining schools in Iringa DC.
This forum was preceded by several days of implementing CL4STEM module 3 lesson plans in classrooms across the nine participating secondary schools, complemented by classroom observations led by OUT educators, allowing officials to witness the project’s implementation, reflection and impact firsthand in each involved school.
The nine secondary schools involved in the project include Mgama, Lyandembela, Lumuli, St. Mary’s Ulete, Kibena, Bread of Life, Lipuli, Ifunda Tech, and Tanangozi.