The Early Childhood Development Caregivers' Training Framework

Abstract

INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND The training of ECD caregivers and nursery teachers has been largely uncoordinated and under supervised since it is still offered by the private sector. The results from the MOES (2009) National ECD teacher training institutions validation exercise revealed several challenges and significant gaps in training ECD teachers in Uganda. The diversity of the curricular used by different institutions, varied duration of courses offered, the content of programmes, facilities, management systems, structures and quality of tutors/ instructors employed were cited. The performance gaps identified in ECD teacher education is largely attributed to financial constraints by the proprietors who operate solely on their capital with no government support in this area. Staffing is the biggest challenge across, there is a chronic inefficiency of tutors in the ECD teacher training institutions. These Institutions cannot attract and pay qualified diploma and graduate tutors, instead they recruit by crisis and employ para -professionals and certificate holders for convenience and cheap labor. Many NGOs are also training and employing ECD teachers / ECD Caregivers in ECD centres without government control hence compromising quality. The process of licensing nursery teachers by TIET in MOES also revealed significant quality gaps in the process of preparing teachers while in the colleges. The practicum (school practice) is inefficient in terms of time on task, supervision, evaluation, basic knowledge on Child growth and development, pedagogy and Education Technology. These concerns among others impact hugely on the quality of ECD teacher preparation in all institutions at all levels. The enactment of The Education Act (2008), the implementation of the ECD Policy (2007), and the development of the ECD Training Framework (2010) will re-direct and re-focus all the ECD service providers to the right track to ensure that quality prevails. The Constitution of the Republic of Uganda (1995) Article 34 states that, "a child is entitled to Basic Education which is a responsibility of the state and the parents of the child. The Ministry of Education and Sports Mission is set to fulfil this obligation as per its Mission - "Provide technical support, guide, coordinate, regulate and promote quality education and training to all persons in Uganda for national integration, development and individual advancement". The quality of teachers and the key roles of leadership and service delivery teachers play in policy implementation for the Education Sector is important as stipulated in the Government White Paper on Education (GWP) 1992, chapter, 8 (Para 382). The GWP further emphasized that "No country can be better than the quality of its education system and no education system can be better than the quality of its teachers" (page 97). The training framework will clearly articulate the policy guidelines that govern the training and management of ECD teachers. The Framework will also address and give guidance to the process of streamlining the licensing, classification and registration of ECD teachers and training institutions in Uganda. This guidance will be instrumental broadly in the realization of the goals of efficiency, equity, and adequacy in early education. Most specifically the framework will among other aims a)clarify the roles and responsibilities of government and other stakeholders in training ECD teachers b) Streamline and harmonize existing ECD training for ECD caregivers and teachers and d) Promote and strengthen partnerships and coordination amongst ECD caregiver and teacher educators. The framework is hinged on and informed by various International commitments to Early Childhood Care and Development to which Uganda is a signatory and relevant National laws in Uganda. At International level these include the 1989 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), the 1990 World Declaration on Education for All(EFA), The UN Special Session on Children, 2002, . The Millennium Development Goals (1,2,3) and General Comment number 7 - Implementing the ECD rights of children. In Uganda supporting policies include The constitution of Uganda Article 34, The Children's Statute and the Child Act (2004), The Government White Paper (GWP) on Education (1992), The Education sector Policy for ECD 2007 section 3.5 (d) The Education (Pre-primary, Primary and Post Primary) Act 2008, The National Child Survival Strategy 2010-2015 and The Uganda Vision 2025 among others According to the Education Act (2008) section 10 (2) (b) Teacher Instructor and Education Training Department (TIET) is mandated to ensure that teachers who teach in pre-primary institutions have the necessary qualifications. The Framework has addressed those areas and gives guidance to the process of streamlining the licensing, classification and registration of ECD teachers and training institutions. The Quality Assurance Framework for the implementation of the ECD Training in this document will go a long way to guide, harmonize, and regularize the courses and programme offered throughout the country Teacher training however is a cross-cutting function that serves the needs of all technical departments of the Ministry of Education and Sports and various stakeholders. The Framework was therefore developed through an intensive consultative model. In-puts were obtained from all relevant stakeholders to make the document comprehensive enough to serve as a national document. Kyambogo University (KyU), Directorate of Education Standards (DES) and National Curriculum Development Centre (NCDC) were at the fore front in this process. Contributions from the Association of ECD teacher training institutions proprietors (ECDTIA) were very useful in relating the existing practices to the challenges ahead. The draft was piloted in the training institutions to check its suitability, relevancy and reliability. After the pilot, a review was done to incorporate the concerns of the training institutions. The draft was presented to DES and NCDC to ensure that the expected standards are infused in the document. The draft was also presented to Universities that have ECD teacher training programmes for their inputs and guidance on how the framework can be used to develop appropriate syllabi for the trainees in different ECD Teacher Education Institutions. Later, the draft was presented to stakeholders at the district level to get their input on how best the document can be implemented. This was also for information and owner ship at implementation level in the local governments. The final document was later presented for the approval process of MOES.