The Commonwealth of Learning has collaborated with Kiribati Teachers College (KTC) in Tarawa to launch its Teacher Futures programme, which aims to improve teaching quality in secondary schools through innovative teacher development
The Commonwealth of Learning has collaborated with Kiribati Teachers College (KTC) in Tarawa to launch its Teacher Futures programme, which aims to improve teaching quality in secondary schools through innovative teacher development.
The programme will be both school-based and technology-supported.
The Permanent Secretary at Kiribati’s Ministry of Education, Kaaro Neeti, and the Principal of Kiribati Teachers College, Aberaam Tebitaki, officially initiated the programme in November, 2017.
It was followed by a capacity-building workshop, which introduced the principles of the Teacher Futures programme to college staff and prepared teachers for participation in a global Community of Practice.
The Community of Practice aims to connect staff within the teaching profession from around the world to share knowledge and best practices of effective educational processes.
Kiribati is a small Commonwealth island in the Central Pacific with a permanent population of 110,000.
More than half of residents live on Tarawa Atoll, in the densely populated capital, South Tarawa.
The country is made up of 33 atolls, reef islands and one raised coral island, Banaba.
It has a total land area of 800 square kilometres, but this is spread out over 3.5 million square kilometres, which makes unified and well-informed infrastructure and development more difficult to implement.
The Commonwealth of Learning (COL) works to ensure that teacher education institutions like Kiribati Teachers College are able to deliver effective opportunities for learning, working with governments and teaching institutions to improve teacher quality through integrated programmes.
They aim to make sure that teachers are provided with the necessary skills, knowledge and materials to be well-qualified and trained in vocational subjects, as well as subjects within the traditional national curriculum.