Distribution: limitedFR/UNDP/SOMALED 12 Somal i Democratic

Republic

Teacher TrainingMarch 1970 ­November 1972

E..D!Serial No. 2834/RMO.RD/EHTParis, January 1973

by I. Hafez

Unesco

f..~,- liARS 1973

Io BACKGROUND •

CONTEN'l.'S----

. . . . . . . . . .. . . . . 3

The educational sY3tem: an outline •••• 0 • • • •• 3Quantitative expansion •••••••• ••••• 3Qu31itatlve aspect •••••••• 0 • • • • • • • • 0 5

(a) Teachers • 0 • • • • • • • 0 • • • • 0 • • • •• 5(b) Currioulum development •••• • • • • • • • •• 6(c) Textbooks J teaching aids and school equipment •• 7(d) School inspection • 0 • • • • • • • • • • • B

II. TEACHER TRAINING PRE-SERVICE • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 9·<t* ......TJ..i.J- • TEACHER TRAINING IN-SERVICE • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 10

(a) Institutionalized courses o. 0 ••••••••

(b) Summer vacation courses • • • • • • • • • • • • •(c) Seminars and worksh:>ps •• • • • • • • • • • • •(d) Women's education programme •••••••••••

The Unesco/Unioef assisted project • 0 • • • • •

Objectives • • • • 0 • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Implementation • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

• • 0

• • •• • •

111112

12141516

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •IV. ASSESSMENT

Problems and difficulties ••Aohievements and shortcomings

• •• •

· . . . . .· . . . . . . . . . .. . .17

1718

V. RECOMMENDATIONS • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 21

r0ncet~ing the new project • • • • • • • • • • • • • •• 21SC~~01 inspection ••• • • • • • • • • • • 0 • •• 22.?:!:·p.··.3erv1f~e training of teachers ••• 0 • • • • • •• 23In-scrvioe tr~~ ••••••••• • • • • • • • •• 24Women's education •• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •• 25Utilizaticn of equipment supplied •• • • • • • • • •• 25

\':1: • SUMrJI.ARY • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 26

E'!:'..1.l1ative examination for primary school tee.che!'s • 27

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I. BACKGROUND

The educational system: an outline

1. At the time of independence in 1960, Somalia inherited two systems ofeducation which differed radically in regard to stru.cture.. curricula and

media of instruction. Until 1964.. the educational ladder in the south was5 ... :5 ... 4 (5 elementary, 3 intermediate .. 4 secondaryL with a total of 12 yearsof schooling. In the north.. on the other hand.. the ladder was 3 - 4 - 4.. witha total of 11 years. The medium of instruction in the south was Italian.. whereasin the north it was Arabic in elementary schools end English in intermediate andsecondary schools.

2. With the political unification of the country in 1960, one of the mostpressing problems in the field of education was the integration and unifi­

cation of the two systems. In 1962.. a Unesco Educational Planning Group visitedSomalia and'inade a thorough study of the educationaJ. situation. The first five­year plan.. 1963-1967, which was prepared by the Ministry of Education .. wassubstantially based on the findings of thi El Unesco group.

3. As a result of the first plan:

(a) the structure of education comprised the same three levels ­elementary.. interm~iate and secondary - but was made 4 - 4 ... 4in both regions:

(b) it was decided that the medium of instruction be Arabic in the.elementary level (with English as a subject starting in grade :5),and English in the intermediate and secondary levels (with Arabicas a subJeot);

(c) unified curricula and integrated syllabi were to be prepared. andintroduced in both regions;

4. In 1965, the new syllabi were adopted by aJ.l four grades of the elementaryschool. Owing to difficulties relating to changing the language ef

instruction in the nouth from Italian to English.. it was decided to introducethe new syllabi in the intermediate schools year by year commencing with grade 5in the school year 1966-1967, and subsequently in the secondary school year byyear commencing w1th grade 9 in the school year 1970-19n.

guantitat1ve expan~(l)

5. During the period 1966...1970, the number of e1ement~ry schools declined from210 in 1966-1967 to 170 in 1970-l9n. Howev";r.. the number of classes

increased from 786 to 792. This tended to make the schools bigger and theaverage size of a school increased from 3.7 classes to 4:7 classes.

(1) See: Ministry of Education, Current Statistical Trends in Somali Education..Mogadiscio, 1971.

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6. In apite of the decrease in the number of elementary schools, enrolmentincreased from 21,050 in 1966-1967 to 25,939 in 1970-1971, with an annual

increase average of 5.4 per cent.

7. The number of teachers in elementary schools, like the number of classes,fluctuated, but eventually increased from 738 in 1966-1967 to 748 in

1970-1971. The teacher/class ratio is less than one because some teachers wereassigned to more than one grade. The average number of pupils per teacherincreased during the same period from 29 to 35.

8. On the other hand, intermediate educa.tion made tremendous progress duringthe last few years. While the number of schools increased by 70 per cent

in the four years ending in 1970-1971 (from 39 to 66 sChools), the number ofclasses doubled (from 214 to 429 classes). This tended to increase the averagesize of the intermediate school from 5.5 to 6.5 classes. But this averagenaturally c<..nceals considerable variations (17 schools have 3 classes or less,31 have 4 to 7 classes, 7 have 8 to 11 classes, 7 have 12 to 15 classes, 3 have16 to 19 classes, and. one 24 or more classes).

9. Enrolment at this level also nearly doubled. It increased from 7,532 in1966-1967 to 14,761 in 1970-1971, with an average of annual increase of

18.3 per cent.

10. The number of intermediate teachers increased by 60 per cent during thesame period (from 341 to 550) as against an increase of 100 per cent in

the number of pupils. This increased the pupil/teacher ratio from 22 to 27.The average number of teachers per class declined from 1.59 to a better levelof 1.28.

11. In secondary education, spectacular progress was also made in the past fewyears. The number ef secondary schools increased from 13 in 1966-1967 to

19 :L."1 1970-1971. The number of general secondary schools increased from 7 to15, but that ef teobn1eal schools decreased from 6 to 4. While the number ofsecondary schools increased by 45 per cent during 1966-1970, the number ofclasses increased by as much as 145 per cent (from 63 to 154).

12. In terms of enrolment, the number of secondary (general and technical)schools students increased at an annual rate of 30 per cent (from 1,836 in

1966-1967 to 5,244 in 1970-1971).

13. During the same period, the number of secondary teachers nearly doubled(from 143 in 1966-1967 to 266 in 1970-1971). Of this total, almost

50 per cent were expatriates. The teacher/class ratio moved from a somewhatextravagant ratio of 2.17 to a more reasonable level of 1.66. The pupil/teacherrat.r,o increased from 13 to 20 in general secondary, but declined from 12 to aslow as 10 in technical schools.

14. It will be noted from the abo'le that the main features of the educationalpolioy concerning the quantitative aspect of education may be surmned up

as follows:

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(a) to control expansion of elementary education in order to improvethe quality of education at this level and ensure a reasonablebalance between the various levels;

(b) to expand rapidly intermediate education so that the majority ofelementary school leavers can find places in intemediate schools.This is in line with the policy of the Ministry of Education totreat elementary and intermediate education as one level (primary)of eight years~ which will be terminal for a S1J,bstantial number ofchildren;

(c) to expand secondary education in order to increase the supply ofupper level manpower and satisfy the public demand for secondaryplaces as an avenue to higher education.

guantitative aseect

15. The figures given above may provide a bright picture of progress achievedin implementing the policy of expanding education quantitatively alcng

certain lines. However~ they give no indication of qualitative improvementwhich is closely related to such important factors as the qtlality of teachers ~

cUrr1cula~ school 1nspection~ and the availability of teaching equiPment andtextbooks.

(a) Teachers

16. In some repqrts it was estimated that in 1968-1969 the percentage ofunqualified~2) primary teachers was as high as 50 per cent. The Unesco/

Unicef Joint Project for in-service training of teachers was chiefly geared inthe course of four academic years (July 1968 through June 1972) to upgrade 480elementary teachers to the diploma level in teacher training through aninstitutionalized course of one year duration.

17. Meanwh1le~ the introduction of the integrated curricula in intermedie.tesohools in 1966, w1th English as the medium of 1nstructiO::'l~ seriously

affeoted the te3.oher situation 1n the south where most of the teachers werepreviously trainad 111 Italian and thus became unable to teach in English. Some200 of those f redundant t teachers became in urgent need of learning the newlanguage and retraining in using it in teaching their various school subjects.In 1968-1969 ~ the tUnistry decided to adm1t them to the institutional1zedcourse. However.. the training proved unsatisfactory in many respects. It alsoadversely affected the implementation of the plan of training all the 480 sub­qualified elementary teachers because eventually they replaced these teachersin the institutionalized course.

(2) The accepted criteria for a qualified primary school teacher has beeneight YClars of general education plus three years of trainirJg at ateacher training centre.

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18. The improvement of in-service teachers in the primary level was meanwhilehandicapped by the fact that no adequate records on the academic and

professional qualifications of teachers in the service have been kept, and mostof the in-service programmes were p1armed on unreliable, subjective bases. Asa first step towards overcoming this problem, an "evaluative examination" washeld in July 1972 for all primary school teachers. Full details of this examina­tion are given in the Annex.

19. The teacher situation in primary schools was further aggravated by theolosing down in 1967 of all centres which provided pre-service training of

primary teachers. (3) This made the shortage of qualified teachers in primaryschools more acutely felt. The Ministry's estimate of this shortage in1971-1972 is 400 teachers. The forecast of probable enrolment in 1974-1975 isroughly 46,500 elementary and 18,638 intermediate. (4) Assuming the averagepupil/teacher ratio will remain the same as in 1970-1971 (i.e. 35 and 27 pupilsper teacher in elementary and intermediate respectively), more than 700 newteachers will be needed in the primary level by 1974-1975.

20. In secondary education, the problem of shortage and quality of teachers hasbeen given more attention. The upgrading of NTEC to a College of Education

and the envisaged expansion of the college under the new IBRD/UNDP Project Sa.1/20will ensure a regular supply of qualified teachers at this level for many yearsto come.

(b) Curriculum deve1.opment

21. It was quite natural that with the unification of the system of educationand the subsequent imparting of the new integrated curriculum, many

problems were apt to arise relating to the content of the curriculum, the train­ing of teachers to impart the new syllabi, the preParation and provision ofappropriate textbooks and teaching aids, etc.

22. After the initial stage of completing the new curriculum by a curriculumdevelopment workshop, which was established under the guidance of a Unesco

expert(S), the curriculum unit of the Ministry of Education was faced with thetask of undertaking systematic follow-up and evaluation of the progressiveintroduction of the new ourriculum and recommending the necessary modificationsand adjustments, a task which calls for elaborate processes of gatheringreports on educational research conducted everywhere for guidance, filing anddocumenting the flow of comments and suggestions, adopting and applying soundevaluation techniques, as well as constant contacts with the inspectorate andthe schools.

(3)(4)

(5)

See section below en pre-service training of teachers.

Final report by W.D. Gregg, Mucational F1arming Expert, Somalia,April 1972.

See: Somalia: Curriculum Development, Sept. 1966 .. June 1970 byW.A.B. Goodwin. Serial No. 2'~44/BYJS, RD/EDS, Paris, December 1970.

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23. The task was teo big for the small and inadequately staffed curriculumunit with its limited facilities and resources. To this may be added the

fact that the educational policy has been so far in the process of formationand much work had to be done to arr1ve at a clear and relatively stabledefinition of the objectives for the school system in general and for each levelin particular.

24. In order to develop the curriculum unit and enable it to carry out itsresponsibilities effect1vely~ it has been decided to embrace it within the

fra.mework of the IBRD/UNDP Project SOM/20 and so it will be able to benefit fromthe guidance of the Unesco expert and to work closely with the evaluation andexamination boards and the teaching aids and materials production unit.

(c) Textbooks, teaching aids and school eqUipment

25. For a long time~ the Somali teachers and the whole Somali system of educa-tion have been labouring under the serious handicap of lack of sufficient

and appropriate textbooks at all levels of education. In most cases~ the teaoherhas to perform his duties in the classroom without such essential teaching aids~

a s1tuation which causes great concern, especially in the case of sub-qualifiedteachers.

26. The Ministry of Education has been aware of this difficultYlI which ismainly a financial problem, and is ma.king serious efforts to overcome it.

It states explicitly that "when the new curricula for the unified system ofeducation was being prepared~ it soon beMme apparent that at least for thefirst eight years a new series of textbooks would be required. This work wasquickly put in hand in 1966, but very great difficulties were encountered in theed1ting, publishing and printing. By the end of the present period. only the~lementaryEngl1sh course was 1TIf'de available to schools and the intermediateschools do not yet have any of the books that were planned for themtt .(6)

27. Closely related to this is the language problem. The adoption of twolanguages of instruction, both foreign, created so many problems for the

teachers and the pupils that the Government recently decided to give writtenform to the Somali language. A committee was formed to study the problemsinvolved, and funds were provided to meet necessary expenses. A final decisionwas made with regard to the script to be used(7) and the preparation of anumber '1Jf textbooks in Som~i for elementary schools is under way.

28. The situation of teaching aids and school equipment is no better than thatof textbooks. A large number of schools are poorly equipped, and teaching

aids and materials are lacking.

(6) Ministry of Education, Short-Term Development Progt'anrn.e 1971...1973,para. 6, p. 3. Released in June 1971-

(7) It was annctUlced on 21 October 1972 that the Latin script has beendecided upon.

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29. Sinoe 1965, Unioef has provided materials and equipment for establishingan audio-visual aids oentre at Magistrale, including one vehicle for

necessary transportation. The centre's function was w produce teachingmaterials for imparting the new elementary and intermediate syllabi, to trainteachers in making and utilizing simple visual aids in their teaching. In 1968,the Ministry decided to move the centre to NTEC where well equipped premiseswere available and where a production unit for printed matter was establishedto help develop, within the Ministry of Eduoation, an efficient organization withsound routines for the seleotion, writing, testing, production, publication anddistribution of textbooks ard teaChers' handbooks. Unicef's supply assistanceto the centre and the unit was increased in order to give them a good start andcreating the basis for sound working conditions.

30. Also a substantial amount of teaching equipment and materials was suppliedby Unicef to the College of Education, the pilot intermediate schools, the

home economics progrannne, elementary schools, and school inspection service.unicef's allocations for supply assistance fer the three years 1968/1969 to1970/1971 amounted to m.:>re than '$ $150,000.

(d) School inspection

31. In view of the fact that many of the teachers in the schools at the presentstage are still of low' academic and professional qualifications, and since

no emer.ging system of education can function efficiently and develop satisfacto­rily unless strict control, serious supervision and adequate guidance areensured, it became imperative that the school inspection service should be sostrengthened as to ensure maximum e:c'ficiency and to minimize waste of energy andfunds. A large number of the present school inspectors were promoted from theirposts as intermediate headmasters on the basis of seniority, without previoustraining in the techniques of inspection and guidance of teachers. Some of themdo not have suffioient mastery of the language of instruction.

32. Again, as schools are scattered over vast areas in the eight regions ofSomalia, it has been difficult for the school inspectors to pay the necessary

regular visits to outlying schools.

33. Under the Unesco/Unioef project, a number of seminars were organized forschool inspectors, with the purpose of improving their pMfessional standard..

On the other hand, in order to help overcome the difficulty of transportation toremote areas, Unicef provided 21 vehicles for the use of inspectors in the field.

34. The Ministry has also been considering the reorganization of sohoolinspection. A Committee for the Improvement of School Inspection (of which

the writer was a mernber) made. a comprehensive study of the existing situation andsubmitted. its findings and reoommendations to the Ministry.

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II. '.rEACHER TRAINING: PRE-SERVICE

35. There are at present no institutions providing complete or regular pre-service training for primary ~chool teachers, a situation which gives rise

to a great deal of concern and requires serious attention in order to avoid anyadverse effects on the development of education in the country. Schemes forthe preparation of teachers have undergone many changes since 1946 when thefirst Teacher Training Centre was established in Sheikh, followed byTl'C Magistrale, Takasus and NTEC.

36. The TTC at Sheikh (north) started with a one-year training course, and waslater upgraded to a two-year post-intermediate institution. In 1964/1965,

it moved to Hargeisa,and provided a two-year oourse, after which the studentscame to N'mC, Afgoi, for a third year of training. In 1966/1967, it ceased to .provide pre-service training.

37. The TTC Ma.sstrale was established in Mogadiscio in 1946 to upgrade Somaliassistant teachers, through a one-year orash programme, to the level of

teaching diploma, qualifying them as elementary sohool-teachers responsible forthe Arabic syllabus. In 1951, it was upgraded to a three-year post-intermediatecentre for pre-service training of teaohers. In 1966, it ceased to admit newintakes, and the last group graduated in 1968.

38. The Takasus institute was attaohed to the Institute of Islamic Studies endprovided four years of intermediate education, followed by two years of

teacher-training courses to prppare teaohers of Arabic in elementary schools.It was also closed in 1967.

39. The National Teacher Education Centre (NTEC) was established in the southin 1963 w1th the assistanoe of USAID, operating through the Eastern Michigan

University. It was intended to undertake the pre-service training of primaryschool teaohers. The centre admitted intermediate school leavers for three yearsof training. The courses were given in Ehg1ish, and graduates were appointedintermediate teachers. Intensive eight-week courses during summer vacations,to be repeated over three conseoutive years, were organized for them. Thisperiod was considered equivalent to a fourth academic year. Upon completion ofthe three sessions, successful particiPants were given a teaoher trainingdiploma equivalent to seoondary sohool level.

40. In 1968, NTEC was upgraded to a College of Education, with an intake ofsecondary school graduates to undergo a four-year course of training

leading to the B.A. or B.Sc. in Education, qualifying them to teach in seoondaryschools.

41. As a temporary measure to cope with the problem of pre-service training ofprimary school teachers after the upgrading of NTEC to a College of

Eduoation, a number of secondary school leavers were admitted to NTEC .'for a one­year three-semester oourse to be trained as intermediate school teachers toreplace unqualified teaohers who were preViously transferred froD elementary tointermediate schools as an expedienoy measure.

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42. Plans were considered to establish a modem centre for the pre-servicetraining of primary teachers in Mogadiscio but they were not carried out,

and in spite of the demand caused by expansion and loss of teachers throughretirement, death, resignation, etc., arrangements for the training of newelementary teachers came to an end and only limited and temporary facilitiescontinued for the training of new intermediate teachers.

43. The situation with regard. to secondary teachers was no better. Theupgrading of NTEC to a College of Education was meant to provide a continu­

ous supply of locally trained graduate teachers for secondary schools. It washoped that the country, which had so far relied heavily on expatriate teacherswould be able to attain self-sufficiency by the mid-seventies. However, by thetime the graduate course reached its second year of development. 1t began tostagger, owing to the withdrawal of the USAID assistance which supported theservices of the senior expatriate staff. The third and fourth years of thegraduate course were closed down, and the students were posted temporarily forservice in intermediate schools. It was resumed in 1971, and the situation isexpected to illi>rove with the implementation of the new project at Afgoi.

III • ~CHER TRAINING: IN-SERVICE

44. After independence in 19a:>, the demand for primary education, andsubsequently the number of schools, increased so rapidly that it exceeded

the teachir~g power available and the small teacher output of the teacher­training centres. Consequently, a large number of unqualified teachers joinedthe profession. In 1966, it was estimated that, out of 714 elementary teachers,about 600 were almost completely unqualified. The maJority of them had receivedless than full intermediate education, while others had received no formaleducation at all.

45. As mentioned above, the situation was further aggravated, especially inthe south, by making English the medium of instruction in intermediate

schools. Some 200 intermediate school teachers thus became 'redundant t in thesense that, since they had. their previous training in Italian, they were unableto teach in English and thus needed retraining.

46. In the nomadic areas in the north, where approx:l.mately 75 per cent of thepopulation live, education in elementary schools and adult education in

pastoral communities was undertaken by teachers. a large number of whom had noprevious training' at all. There was a pressing need to train them and raisetheir academic and professional standard in order to improve the social andeconomic conditions in these areas through the improvement of education.

47. Meanwhile, the limited number of qualified teachers, as well as the schooladminis"trators and inspectors, needed to be brought into touch with new

ideas, developments, techniques a'ld approaches. If this type of in-servicetraining of teachers, admin1strato ....s, inspectors, advisers and other officialsin education is now a universally accepted facet of eduoatlon, even in advancedcountries. it is indeed an urgent necessity in developing countries.

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The Unesco/Uhicef ~sted project

48. From 1964 to 1966~ Uneeco and Unic2f e.3s1stcd the Ministry of Educationin supplying teacher-training centres wi.t.h most needed equipment and

materia1s~ such as science equipment~ audio-visual a1ds~ text and referencebooks~ etc. In addition~ Unicef provided financial E'.ssistan~e for organizingrefresher and emergency courses for in-service teache:..'s and for ho1Jingseminars and conferences for primary sohoo1 headmasters~ inspectors and regionaleducation officers. In 1966~ it was decided to initiate an intensive prc,grammefor the in-service training of Somali teachers~ with the technical assistance ofUnesco and the financial support of Unicef.

49. The Plan of Operation for this project and its First Add.endum covered theperiod 1964-1968. The Second Addendum described the additional plan;:; of

action in the course of the subsequent academic years 1968-1972. Under thetecJ:m1cal assiste.nce ccmponent of TJr.."DP ~ Unecco provided thr'ge tee.cher-trainingexperts (one of them aoting as co-crdinator), and FAO prov.tded a home ecor.omicsexpert. The financial contribution ef Unioef increased from US $25,000 before1966 to approXimately $130,000 in 1968/1969. For the last three years~

1969/1972, Unioef approved the allocation of $360,000 for the projeot. Thecounterpart expenditure of the Government in teacher training for the sameperiod was estimated as equivalent to $658,000.

Objectives

50. The major objectives of the project in the C011rse of the four academicyears (July 1968 through June 1972) were defined as fellows:

(a) to upgrade 480 unqualified teachers to the taacher's diplomalevel through intensive institutionalized C?Ut'f'9S for cne andtwo years (at the rate of 120 teachers a year);

(b) to provide some 1,400 in-service teachers in primary ec.ucation~

through refresher courses, with academ:.c and professional skillsand abilities to raise their standard in teachi~~;

(c) to provide 200 'redunda.T'J.t' teacher:::> in intermedi~te schools withneoessary instruotion in the use of English, which replacedItalian as the medium of instruction in intermediate schools;

(d) to organize seminars and workshops for senior eduoation officers~

school inspectors and administrators so as to enable them to runthe primary schools more efficiently;

(e) to proVide teacher-training centres, a:ldio-'Vlcuu aids centre~

WOian educatioa centreG and pilot intel'r.Jct~ia"'0 t3U1.100J.S W1th basicequipment ~ materials and books in order to ht:}lp them f"IDctionsatisfactorily.

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Implementation

51. The implementation of the project included the organization of varioustypes of in-service training courses:

(a) institutionalized courses of one to two years' duration foruntrained elementary teachers and redundant intermediate teachers;

(b) eight-week summer vacation refresher courses for inadequatelytrained elementary and intermediate teachers;

(c) seminars and workshops for school headmasters, inspectors,regional education officers and secondary school teachers;

(d) six-month course for women teachers in women education centresand girls' intermediate schools.

(a) Institutionalized course.!

52. These courses originally aimed mainly at:

(a) upgrading the participants (unqualified elementary teachers)to the level of a teaching diploma;

(b) providing them with the necessary knowledge for teaching allsubject matter in the curriculum;

(c) developing their professional abilities by instructing them inmodern tecmiques and methods and in the adaptation ofinstructional materials to the Somali environment;

(d) strengthening their skills in the use of Arabic as the mediumof instruction and English as a subject matter.

53. Accoro.ing to the Plan of Operations, 120 elementary school teachers were tobe released every year frc-m their teaching duties to attend an intensive

one-year course. However, in 1968/1969, the tJIinistry of Education decided togive more attention to 'redundant' intermediate teachers in the south, and thusadmitted a group of 30 of these teachers to the cc-urse for two years.

In the following year 1969/1919., 38 elementary headmasters in two groups of20 and 18 replaced the elementary teachers in the course. Meanwhile, theinstitutionalized training of intermediate teachers continued. 'l'w9 groups ofthem attended the course: 23 (second year) and 30 (first year).(8)

In 1970/1971, three groups of participants atten1ed the course in the south:21 olementary headmasters (one year), 19 intermediate teachers (second year) and19 intermediate teachers (first yea.r). The actual numbers o:~ those whocomp:eted the course and took the eJtamination were 15 - 18 - 19 respectively. In

(8) In the north, the number of participants was 16 in a one-year English course(intermediate) and 22 in a two-year Arabic course (elementary).

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the north" there were "the usual two courses" the English medium one-year coursefor intermediate teachers" and the Arabic medium two-year course for elementaryteachers. The number of participants was 16 and 21 respectively.

In the academic year 1271/1972" the Ninistry suspended the institutionalizedcourse on the grounds" mainly" of acute shortage of teachers in the primarylevel (approximately 400) and dissatisfaction with the hephazard methods ofselecting the participants for the course in the previous years.

The situation may thus be summed up as follows:

Institutionalized courses

196811969 1969/1270 1270/1971 1973/1972 Total

Elementary teachers(and headmasters) 120 60 36 216

Intermediate teachers 30 69 53 152

Total: 150 129 89 368

54. When the intermediate teachers were first admitted to the course in 1968"it was understood that this was an additional undert<lking on the part of

the Ministry to provide language training to otherwise qualified teachers a".-:.dso would not affect the top priority programme for sub-standard elementaryteachers. However" from 1969" the training of intermediate teachers replaced inpart that of elementary teachers" with the result that less than 50 per cent ofthe 480 elementary teachers for whom the institutionalized course was originallyplanned underwent the required training.

55. The institutionalized course for elementary school teachers" in spite of itslimitations" proved a successful achievement of the project. The increasing

need for teachers in elementary schools wd the non-avai1abiltty of a regularprogramme for their pre-service training make the adverse effects of the discon­tinuation of the course more ·pronounced.

56. On the other hand" reports on" and examination results of" the course forintermediate teachers show that the course was, in terms of achievement of

objectives, far from satisfactory. From the start" the course was rather anambitious one. The main reasons for its limited success were the haphazardselection of participants and the lack of material incentives. Thi s resulted ina lack of interest on the part of many participants and "the incapability ofothers to follow the programme of instruction.(9)

(9) See reports of Mr. J .G. Hodge" Unesco Teacher Training Adviser in English.

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57. It should also be noted that there has been no follow-up of those whooompleted the oourse. ObJeotive assessment of the effeotiveness of their

in-servioe training programme must be an integral part of their training andshould be mdertaken systematioally for a period of at least one academic yearfollowing the graduation of trainees.

(b) Summ~ati<?!!..oourses

58. A number of refresher courses were organized and conducted in Mogadiscioand Hargeisa during the summer vacations in acoordance with the Plan of

Operations (Second Addendum) of the project with the aim of implementing thepolicy of the Ministry of Education to improve the academic and professionalstandard of in-service primary teachers.

59. The specific objectives of the courses were:

for ele~t~eachers

(a) to improve their knowledge of Arabic and English and theirability to use Arabic efficiently as the medium of instructionin elementary schools;

(b) to enrich their abilities and skills in subject areas ~f theelementary syllabus in which weaknesses were evident and helpthem acquire further skills in imparting the new syllabus;

(0) to improve their professional qualifications in the use ofmodern educational teclmiques and methods of planning andteaching lessons.

for int_e~ate teachers

(a) to develop their ability to speak~ read and write Englishfluently and accurately;

(b) to enable them to teach the subject matter of the integratedsyllabus in English;

(0) to provide them with the academic background neoessary toimprove their teaching ability.

60. The number of teachers who attended the courses in the four years 1968 to1972 is given below:

Summer vacation refresher courses

l268t~2.§2 l269/l97Q. 1970/1271 1971/1972 Total

Elementary teachers 120 150 1'7 407

Intermediate teachers 95 142 100 "7215 292 1'7 100 744

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61. It will be noted that the total number of participants in the summPorvacation refresher courses during the period under review is al:::o about

50 per cent only of the number 't-hat was expected to attend these coursesaccording to the originai plan. ,This i~ mainly due to the cancellation in1970/1971 of the c~urses for intermediate teachers and koranic schm~l teachers#and in 1971/1972 of all Cuurses (except one for civics teachers in primaryschools).

62. The reason for cancelling the two courses in 1970/1971 was to save part .fthe funds required to cover the expenses of the evaluative examination.

In 1971/1972# the courses were cancelled on the ground that the teachers had.Just finished the evaluative examination and needed some rest and that thedesignated instructors of the courses were engaged in the marking of the examina­tion. Meanwhile# the Ministry was reconsidering thp. wholepoliQ,Y of in-servicetraining and preferred to wait uptil the results of the examination were aVail­able before embarking on any new programme.

63. However# it can be safely said that the refresher C':)UI'ses which were heldwere successful in achieving their objectives. The results obtained should

encourage the Ministry to continue these courses as a regular annual programlne ofin-service training for increased number of in-service teachers. The programmesof instruction should also be so diversified as to cater for the various cate­gories of participants.

(c) Seminars and workshops

64. The seminars and workshops for senior education officers# inspectors, head.-masters and secondary school teachers were an 1Jnportant feature of the in­

service training progranme. They aimed at improving the professional standardof the Participants through bringing them togethelG to discuss and exchangeexperiences regarding common educational problems and keeping them abreast ofrecent educational policies and developments in the country.

65. During the period 1968-1970# the following seminars and workshops wereheld:

Year

1968/1969

1969/1970

1970/1971

1971/1972

Category of participants No. of participants

Elementary headmasters 80Intermediate headmasters 80School inspectors and )

senior officers') 20

REOs # inspectors and ) ( )school principals) 18 10

Primary headmasters 165Secondary school principals 19REOs 14Secondary school teachers 130

(workshop)

2 weeks2 we~ks

1 week

2 wQeks2 w":'9ks

2 weeks

(10) The original number was 26 but 8 failed to attend.(11) Extended to six ",reeks to provide participants with additional training

in the use of English.

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66. It will be noted from the above that there were marked fluctuations in theimplementation of the seminars and workshops programme. In 1970/19711 the

programne was given more attention by the Ministry of Education than in theprevious year. The implementation reflected better organization l more carefulsupervision l and a wider scope of acti'rity. In spite of the successful achieve­ments of the progra.rmne that year l it was suspended in 1971/1972 for administra­tive reasons.

67. The workshop for secondary school-teachers proved to be a multipurposeunc:-ertaking. It provided a useful opportunity for teachers of the same

specialization to exchange views on their SPeCial areas of teaching in secondarysohools. It also gave a good chance to secondary school teachers I who wereexpected to implement the new curriculum l to advise the curriculum makers oftheir points of view concerning the goals l scope and content of the curriculumand of their suggestions regarding textbooks and teaching aids.

68. The personal opinions of the participants regarding the various asPeCts ofthe seminars and workshop in 1970/1971 were obtained through a questionnaire

drawn up for this purpose. Analysis of the replies indicated general intel;'estin th'3 programme and revealed the main benefits obtained by the participants I aswell as certain shortcomings. (12)

(d) Women education programme

69. The Plan of Operation for the period 1968-1972 included the organizationof special courses in home economics and related subjects of child care

and nutrition for women teachers I either of girls' intermediate schools or ofwomen education centres l as follows;

1968/1969 19§9/l970 1970/1971 1911/1972

South

North

23

14 15

The duration of the course in 1968/1969 was nine months I but the courses insubsequent years were shortened to six months.

70. The broad objectives of these courses were;

(a) to raise the academic level of the participants so tllat l inaddition to their skills on the practical side l they CallI asand when necessary I assist w1th the academic work in womeneducation centres;

(b) to bring up to date the e~erience and practice the teachershave hac'!" particularly in the subjects known generally aspart of th-: wider field of homo) eoonomics;

(12) See my Semi- Annual Repo;~-r. 1 r,1arch - 31 August 1971.

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(c) to enable the participants to take the initiative in the pioneeringwork to be done in conneXion with the introduction of scientificall:r­'based practices of caring for ohildren, family feeding, home~ement and allied requirements for the efficient running of ahome.

71. The course for 1969/1970 in the north was run along tho s:ur-: lines as thecourse of the previous year. The programme was designed and the syllabi

for non-academic subjects drawn up by the FAO Home Economios expert attached tothe projec1. The oourse was supervised by the Adult Education Officer, thesupervisor of women f s education, and the Unesco Teacher Training expert basedat Hargeis~. Ten women teachers attended the course.

72. Assessment reports show that because of the ages of Participants and theirlow ~ademic attainment, none of the participants reached the level which

would enable them to teach efficiently and confidently up to grade 8. On thepractioal side, however, some really first-olass work was produced. This wasconsidered the area in which the most worthwhile oontribution to the develQp­ment of wcxnen' s education could be made.

73. In 1970/1971, the Ministry was not able to hold the course originallyplanned because the women teachers who were to participate in it could not

be released from their classroom duties in girls' intermediate sohools. As analtemative., another course of the same duration was organized for a small groupof 17 needlework instructors in primary schools. The course for 1971/1972 wassuspended.

IV. ASSESSMENT

74. The accotm.t given in the previous pages of the teacher situation inrelation to the development of the educational system smws that the

Ministry of Education has been trying in the last few years to develop a moredefined and stable educational policy and has been attempting to find solutionsto the numerou~ intricate problems connected with the rapid development ofeducation in the country.

Problems and difficulties

75. The task, in spite of the ~erious efforts made, proved far from easy. TheeoonomlO and political set~p which inevitably affects the eduoational

policy' has been tmdergoingrapid changes for some time. On the other hand, theadm1nistrative organs of the Ministry of Education were not always able to copeeffeotively with the situation for many reasons. Frequent changes of thestaff adversely affected the continuity of work. The various departments,including the Planning Department, work in relative isolation, and there is noformal war in which what they plan to do or have done can be observed andproperly documented. Another difficulty encotmtered in the Ministry's adminis­trative system would appear to be the lack of systematic documentation servicesundertaken by various sections and units which could be readily referred. tolater or ~upplied to others for reports, inforJPation or future guidance.

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Again, notwithstanding the fact that the vital importance of accurate up-to-dateinformation maintained at each appropriate level is being appreciated by allconcerned in the Head Office and in the field, yet pressure would appear to beneeded on all sides until the supply of information in the form requestedbecomes a semi-automatic reaction.(13)

76. ~;.a outcome was that in many cases the solutions worked out for problemswere rather fragmentary, unco-ordinated and temporary. The direct impact,

and the far-reaching implications, of many such solutions on other sectors ofeducational development were overlooked. Under the pressure of emergingsituations, decisions were made which might affect the eduoational plan as awhole, or oertain sectors of it, but it was difficult to conceive any measuresto ensure the co-ordinated action required in such cases.

77. The Unesco/Unicef assisted prcject was naturally affected by this approach.It is quite natural that the Plan of Operation should allow for some

reasonable degree of fleXibility in implementation, yet the changes made, manyof which were last minute changes, were, taken together, a radical departurefrom the original Plan of Operation. The admission of 'redundant' intermediateteachers to the institutionalized oourse and the event~ exclusion ofelementary teachers from it, the cancellation of a number of important summervacation courses in order to save funds for the evaluative examination, and thesuspension of the home economics six-month course, are examples of thesechanges. However, it is evident that the Ministry had its justifications fordeciding to modify the in-service training programme and to adjust it to changingcoOOitions and emerging needs.

78. It may also be mentioned that the lack of permanent premises for the train-ing courses represented an obstacle· to the proper implementation of the

project. In 1966/1967, the teacher-training progranme in the south was locatedat Magistrale. In the following year the building was condemned and thetraining centre had to move to the University Institute. But again, theupgrading of the University Institute to a fc-ur-year course and the introductionof morning sessions meant that the Institute was no longer able to provideacfJcmrr.odation for the courses. The courses have had to be held in variousschools ever since. This resulted in depriving the programme of permanentcentral premises where a reference library, a reading room, a language laboratory,workshops for audio-visual aids and teaching materials, and offices for theUnesco experts and programme supervisors could be located. It also made itdifficult to give the prestige and the standing the programme should command orto instil. in the participants that their training is something of real import­ance. It is expected that this obstacle will be overcome when all training,both pre-service and in-service, is located at the Ccllege of Education, Afgoi,under the new project.

Achievements and shortcomipe;s

19. On the positive side, the project realized a numter of achievements whichundeniably contributed to a certain extent to the improvement of the

teacher situation. The number of participants who benefited from the variouscourses during the period under review was:

(13) See E!~l ReWrt by W.D. Gregg, Educational Planning Expert: 1 January1972 - '23 April 1972.

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TyPe of course Category of N~rJ28:rtic~pan~

Institutionalized course Elementary 216Intemediate 152

Six-month H.E. course H.E. women teachers 27

Summer refresher courses Elementary 407Intermediate 337

Seminars REOs, inspectors,headmasters 396

Workshops Secondary school-teachers l~

Total: 1,465

80. The success of the institutionalized courses for elementary teachers, thevarious SUJ1'IIIer vacation refresher courses for primary (elementary and

intermediate) teachers, the seminars for school principals, inspectors andsenior education officers and the workshop for secondary school teachers, wasgenerally recognized by all concerned.

81. The institutionalized course for intermediate 'redundant' school-teacherswas less successful. The main weaknesses of the course were as follows:

(a) The aim of the course was an ambitious one - ambitious under anycircumstances. It set out to enable people with no previousknowledge of English to acquire in two years sufficient masteryof the language to be able to teach through it. However, it isone thing to obtain general conversational control of a foreignlanguage, and another to be able to use it as a medium ofinstruction;

(b) The essential prerequ1sites for the success of the course werenot satisfied: no language laboratory was at the disposal ofsuch an intensive course where time was limited and the aimambitious. Reading material graduated in difficulty was scarcewhich narrowed the learning of English down to a classroom activity.

(c) The limited success of the course as far as English is concernedwas attributable in large measure to what appears to be a lessthan careful selection of participants. The inequalities ofattainment were made perfectly clear during the teaching practiceperiod. It was found that some of the participants will continueto make progress, others have reached their ceiling - a very lO'Vlone as far as the use of English is concernedJ

Serial No. 2834

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(d) Absenteeism was olearly linked with the lack of inoentives.Over half of the partioipants were anx1ous~ and struggling~ tofind their way to jobs other than teaohing - all were potentialesoaped teachers;

(e) The teaching practice period was not satisfactorily organizedand supervision was inadequate.

82. Another weakness in the planning of tb! course was that at the rate of30 teaohers per year~ seven years wert required to train all the 200

'redundant' teachers. One would naturally ask: How would the teachers who haveto wait such a long time until their turn comes to take the course go about theirteaching duties as teachers in intermediate schools where the language ofinstruction is unknown to them?

83. As to the implementation of the progmmme of women's education, theMinistry expressed dissatisfaction w:1.th its achievements and attributed

this to the fact that the limited number er teachers who underwent training inorder to be qualified as teachers of home economics and related subjects ingirls' intermediate schools or women's education centres were subsequently postedas teachers of school subjects other than home economics. Thus ~ the womencentres ended up with unqualified teacher., while intermediate girls' schoolswere deprived of the services of tr~ed teachers in the area of home economics.This of course does not imply any failure on the part of the course itself toprovide the participants with the requ1r«l -training.

84. Other reasons identified by the Ministry as contributing to the flounderingof the course were the lack of laboratory space for domestic science in

intermediate schools for girls and the failure to build even a modest number ofwomen's education centres because of the aon-availability of funds.

8S. A proposal was made that for the following three years 1972-1975, thescope of the programme be 111711ted to:

(a) strengthening what is 8.lready in eXistence, 1.e. the seven women'seducation centres, by improving the calibre of the teaching staffand providing them with any essential equipment and supplies theymay be lacking;

(b) constructing four new uentres and equipping them adequately;

(c) providing eight inte~diate girls' schools with home economicslaboratories;

(d) releasing enough qualified teachers already trained in homeeconomics from teaohing other school subjeots so that they candevote th~mselves to teaching home eoonomics in schools andwomen!~ centres.

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86. The project, with the financial assistance of Unicef, made a substantialcontribution to the improvement of material conditions in the College of

Education, the training centres, elementary and intermediate schools and women'seducation centres w1th the purpose of supporting the implementation of theteacher-training programne. This supply as~istance included:

for the,C~lleae of Education:

for the, teacher-trainingcentres:

for the home economicsprogramme:

for intermediate schools:

sci,ence laboratory apparatus and equip­ment, ,reference and textbooks, scienceteaching aids, basic equipment andsupplies for the Production Centre;

reference and textbooks (Arabic andEnglish.), duplicating equipment andsupplies, projector and tape-recorder;

kitchen and household equipment, homeeconomics equipment, sewing machines,reference and textbooks;

siX sets of teaching' equipment forpilot intermediate schools and 20 setsof science equipment for otherintermediate schools;

for elementary schools: 225 sets of simple teaching aids kits;

for school inspection service: 16 vehicles (landrover)

V. REO:HmIDATIONS

87. The Unesco/Unicef assisted project was expected, according to the secondaddendum of the Plan of Operation, to come to an end iD. June 1972.

However, the suspension of certain courses and the non-implementation of otheri terns of the prograrrme resulted in savings in the allocations by Unicefamounting to about US $60,000. Unicef agreed'to extend its commitment withinthe limits of this amount up to the end of 1973, and requested that a prograrrmeof in-service training of teachers be worked out in the light of the results ofthe "evaluative examination". This programme would be, considered as a supple­ment to th~ original programne and would be financed by the' savings ofUS 860,000.

Concerning the new project

88. In the meantime, the new project SCPt/20 ,has already started with thearrival of the chief technical adviser 8nd some of the team of experts.

It is understood that this project will embrace all teacher training, both pre­service and in-service, at all pre-un1versity levels. The implementation of thesupplementary programme referred to above may be included in its activities.

Serial No. 28}4

... 22 ...

89. In the light of the praetical experience gained from the implementationof the Unesco/Unicef assisted project during the last three years .. it is

recommended that steps should be taken:

(a)

(b)

(c)

to ensure that abrupt changes in the Plan of Operation should beavoided. Some such changes in the past were undoubtedly made tomeet exceptional circumstances. Although difficulties relating tothe financial implioations involved in these changes were avoided,the fact remains that each aspect of programme implementation hasto be studied on its own merit (sometimes neoessitating theapproval of Unesco and Unicef headquarters for important deviationsfrom the Plan of Operation) and cannot be simply considered on afinancial basis, 1.e. whether funds can b~ diverted or whethersavings are available. There would certainly be no objection onthe part of Unesco or Unicef to consider any plan changes made bythe Government if they are infonned about such developments intheir formative and tentative stage and especially if they aresupported by the opinion of the experts concerned;

to give due attention to systematic evaluation of the 'in-servicecourses. Evaluation forms{14) should be used. at the end of eachcourse tc obtain from participants, instructors, and supervisorsassessment data which can be used to improve future courses.This should be supplemented by systematic follow-up in the fieldof teachers who have completed their in-service training inorder to cbtain first-hand information regarding the extent ofacademic and professional 11!P2'Oyement the programme was able toachieve. The academic year following the completion of a long­term training course such as the institutiC'nalized course maybe considered as a cmtinuation O'f the in-service training inpractice teaching. During this year, the trainees would carryout their work in the' schools under the supervision l"nd guidanceof the teacher-training instructors and the experts, as well asthe school headmasters and inspectors;

to co-ordinate pre-service and in-service programmes of trainingso as to ensure that the teaching force is kept in touch withnew ideas, developments and modern techniques and approaches.In other words, in-service training should reinforce and supple­ment pre-service training.

School inspection

90. Closely related to our recommendation in para. 89 (b) is the improvementof the school inspection service which is also basic to the improvement

of educational practice in general. It is recommended in this respect that:

(14) See my Semi-Annual Report .. 1.3.1971 to 31.8.1971, para. 23, p. 8 andAnnex.

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(a) members of the school inspectorate be selected from among thebest qualified and most experienced teachers. Intensivetraining courses should be organized for them w1th specialemphasis on such profession::u aspects as school organizationand management ~ staff assessment, and techniques of guidanceand reporting;

(b) Inspection tours should be carried out accoroing to monthlyschedules approved by the Chief Inspector. These schedulesshould be so planned that each teacher be vis! ted at leastthree to four times a year~ but more frequently if possible;

(c) for follow-up purposes~ standardized inspection forms shouldbe designed and made available to the inspectors who wouldhave to enter on them in a systematic way all appropriatedetails of their visits as well as their remarks anddirectives. For each teacher, the form would be in triplicate:one copy to be kept in the school file ~ another in theinspector' s f1le~ and the third to be sent to the RegionalDirectorate of Education;

(d) every inspector should submit semi-annual and armual reportsembodying his remarks and gen~ral reconmendations;

(e) school inspectors oan be assisted in their work by the schoolheadmasters and senior teachers.

Pre-servtce training of teachers

91. The new project S()V'20 will include all levels of pre-service training ofteachers. The pMgramme of prepara.tion I')f secondary school teachers has

already taken a definite form since the upgrading of NTEC into a four-yearCollege of Education. On the other hand~ the policy of preparing elementaryand intermediate teachers has been far from stable. We have described in theprevious pages the various programmes of pre-service training of these cate­gories of teachers and the many changes they underwent which adversely affectedthe qUality of teaching at the primary level. According to recent information,the new plan for the preparati:>n of primary (both elementary and intermediate)teachers w111 be a two-year post-intermediate course. This may be suitablE9 forelementary teachers who are generally classroom teachers and the subject mattercontent of the syllabus they would teach is rather simple. On the other hand,if this programme is adopted for intermediate school teachers~ it would resultin producing sub-qualified teachers of intermediate schools where the languageof instruction is English, the syllabus content too advanced for a teacher whohas not academicaJ.ly acquired much more than the subject matter given in thestage in which he is expected to teach and who is supposed to be a subjectteacher. It is thus recommended that the period o:f training of intermediateteachers should be extended to three or four years. I am also of the opinionthat only when the elementary and intermediate schools are actually mergedinto one level (primary) and the medium of instruction unified, it would bepossible to provide one training programme for primary teachers.

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In-service tra1ning

92. It is miversally accepted that in-service training has become an essential 'aspect of the process of training qualified manpower at all levels. This

is the more so .w1th regard to teachers and education officers in a comtrywhere a large percentage ef the teaching force is considered sub-qualified a1dwhere the duration c.f pre-service training programmes must be reduced to aminimum for financial considerations. It is thus recommended that more atttl­tion be given to the planning, organization, implementation and assessment <fin-service training programmes for all categories (.If teachers, adm1n1stratcIIand inspectors.

93. This calls for the establishment of a Teacher Training Conlmittee to adv~e

the Ministry on matters relating to the general plan of the programme foeach year, the requirements ef participation in the various courses, theappointment of lecturers and instructors, the programmes of instruction, metl'".dsc,f evaluation, and so on. To this Committee may also be referred the variousprofessional and administrative problems that may arise during the rurming ofthe courses. Participation of the Unesco experts in the work of the Comm1tteis strongly recommended.

94. Taking into consideration the general conditions which affeoted theimplementation of the Unesoo/Unioef assisted projeot in the last three

years, it is reoommended that in order to achieve the maximum suooess of futUrEprogrammes of in-service training:

(a) measures should be taken by the Ministry to make participatidlin the various courses compulsory and serious in the sense tlatunjustifiable failure to attend or to achieve the requiredstandard may disqualify the candidate for the post of tealher;

(b) the oourses should be conducted with maximum strictness. Noslackness on the part of participants, instructors or slpervisorsis to be tolerated. No one should be under the false 1npressionthat the courses are a paid pastime;

( c) periodic tests and terminal examinations are not to le consideredas mere routine procedures. They should be prepared, conductedand marked with all possible care so as to serve af: adequatecriteria of efficiency and ensure maximum benefit ~m the oourses~

(d) follow-up reports, by school inspectors and headmasters, ofteachers who have completed in-servioe courses shoWi be insistedupon;

(e) since the integrated curriculum is still relatively lew to theteachers who feel in many instances at a loss as wha~ to do andhow to proceed, teachers t manuals for all subjects shou:.d beproducc,,::' and made available to all teachers so as to serre ashandy guides for them in the sucoessive stages of their 'fOrk.The production of these manuals should be the outcome of Jcintefforts by teachers, inspectors and curriculum developmen~

officers through workshops organized for this purpose;

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(f) in devising the new curriculum for schools at all levels emphasiswas placed on the need for developing practical activities on theground that children learn more by doing and manipulating things,that the acquisition of certain basic manual skills is desirableand useful whatever career the child ultimately adopts, and thatthe dignity and importance of manual labour and manual skill inall its different forms should be inculcated from early years.The Ministry is deeply conscious of the urgent need to providegreater facilities for practical work in ordinary schools at alllevels. Due attention should be given at the same time to theorganization of special in-service training courses for teachersof practical subjects so that the new trend can be effectivelytranslated into action.

Wem6Il t S education

95. In the Second Addendum to the Plan of Operation of the Unesco/Unicefassisted project, the commitment of the Government with regard to women's

education was to take steps to accelerate the development of better currioulumfor the young women's uourses, with emphasis on home economics, child care andnutrition, and to train personnel sufficiently in advance so that when the newwomen education centres are opened through the community self-help efforts,properly trained teachers would be available for assignment. Furthermore, homeeconomics, based on sound scientific knowledge in the fields of nutrition, foodtechnology, health and san!tation, child care and development, psychology andeconomics in the form suitable for young girls and women, would be strengthenedin various levels of education, particularly at teaoher-training centres.

96. It was lately realized by the Ministry that the women's education programmelacked a clear and realistic definition of scope as well as any serious

commitments to it. Plans were drawn up but appeared to be too difficult toimplement. International aid was requested on the basis of these plans but thecounterpart commitments could not be fulfilled. The aid given, especially inthe form of equipment and supplies, has not been fully utilized, and the servicesof the Home Economics FAO expert attached to the project were dispensed w1th inearly 1970.

97. It has been repeatedly recormnended that a complete review of the situationand the programme be undertaken by a competent consultent, preferably from

Unesco, with a view to advising the Government on the effective approach to beadopted, the practical training priorities to be estabUshed, and the appropri­ate programmes which should be implemented. This consultancy mission wascarried out in November 1972.

Utilization of eguiEment suPElied

98. It goes without saying that the equipment and educational materialssupplied by Unicef in the past few years made a notable contribution to

the launching and continuation of the teacher training programme. Much ef whathas been supplied is available and in good "ondition and will be needed for thenew project. All such equipment as was provided, especially for the College ofEducation, the Audio-VisuaJ. Aids Unit, the Production Centre, the institution­alized courses, and the women's education prograume should be inventorized andhanded over to the new pro':'act.

Ser3Jal No. 2834

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VI. SUMMARY

99. The main features of the quantitative aspect of educat:tonal developmenthave been the controlled expansion of elementary scOO01s .. and the rapid

expansion of intermediate and secondary education. QualitatiVe improvementwas hampered by various factors relating mainly to the traintlg of teachers,the development of appropriate curricula, the availability ot textbooks,teaching aids and school equipment .. and the efficiency of scbol inspectionservices.

100. Pre-service training of elementary school teachers was adversely affectedby the closure of all teacher-training centres for prirary se l"I,:,:.01. teachers

since 1967. The upgrading of the National Teacher Education ~entre to a four­year College of Education is expected to provide the country d th enough second.­ary school teachers.

101. Through the technical assistance of Unesco, and the firancial aid ofUnicef, various in-service training courses for primar~ teachers, seminars

for regiC'nal education officers and senior education officers, workshops forsecondary school teachers and training courses for women teac'lers were organizedsince 1966 in accordance w1th the Plan of Operation of the Uresco/Unicef assistedproject. In apite of certain difficulties.. the project was ~le to achievesatisfactory results, especially in the area 'f elementary teLcher training.

102. The supply assistance of Unicef made a substantial cont'ibution to theimprovement of material cenditions in the College ef Edlcation, the train­

ing centres, elementary and intermediate schools and women t s !ducation centres.

103. In order to ensure the success of international aid in :mproving thequality of education.. it is recommended that definite ~asures be taken to

avoid the pitfalls and difficulties encountered in the past, ~o improve schoolinspection services, to draw up adequate programmes for the rre-service trainingof primary teachers, to improve in-service training condit10IB and consider thistraining as an integral part of pre-service training and to lJve serious atten­tion to women's education.

104. Further programmes of in-service training should be im~emented within theframework of activity of the new project SOM/71/520 (National Teacher

Training Centre, Afgoi).

Serial No. 28}14.

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ANNEX

EVALUATIVE EXAMINATION FOR PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHERS

1. For a long time # reliable information on the academic standard andpro:fessional competenoe of teachers in the primary (elementary and inter­

mediate) level was laoking owing mainly to the facts that:

(a) those teachers came from a wide variety of educationalbackgrounds;

(b) they received different types o:f professional trainingvarying markedly in standard and duration;

(c) no e:fficient inspection service was maintained to providesystematic information on the competence of teachers andsubmit recommendations for their upgrading and in-servicetraining;

(d) no adequate filing system from which relevant data onteachers could be obtained was available.

2. As a result# there was no reliable basis for postings# transfers andpromotions of teachers. There was also a justi:fiable feeling of dis­

satisfaction with the so often haphazard methods of selecting participants forthe various in-service training programmes and the resulting high percentageof dropouts and low standard of achievement.

Objectives

3. In order to overcome these chronic difficulties# the Ministry# in consulta-tion with the Unesco experts# decided in March 1971 to hold an ltevaluative

examinationlt for all primary teachers in the country. The objectives of thisexamination were defined by the Committee which was set up to consider the variousaspects of the examination# as follows:

(a) to provide an objective indicator of the relative suitabilityof every teacher for teaching at the elementary or intenned1atelevels;

(b) to identify the areas of weakness of every teacher so that appro­priate corrective tra.in1ng could be designed for him and for allthose in the same category;

(c) to identify the strong areas ~:f each teacher so that he could beposted or transferred to schools on a sotmd basis;

(d) to provide an objective measure by which such rewards as ·scholarshipsand promotions may be determined;

(e) to provide obJective criteria by which temporary teachers can beplaced in the permanent establishment.

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4. The examination was thus intended to serve as a basis for identifying thosewho are not fit for teaching and classifying the rest into A and B levels.

and further subdividing each group into homogeneous sub-groups aocording tolanguage mastery and academic standard so that the Ministry may be able to drawup more adequate plans for improving the quality of teachers in the primary leveland establish realistic priorities with regard to future programmes of training.

Financing

5. The expenses of the examination (including setting question papers. transla-tions, invigilation, supervision, marking, stationery, etc.) were estimated

at So.Shs.90,7l5. It was agreed that this arnotmt would be met by savingsaccruing from the cancellation of the following in-service training courses,which were supposed to take place in 1971:

six-month home economics course for 30 women teachers;

eight-week summer course for 95 intermediate teachers;

eight-week summer course for 30 nomadic teachers;

42-day summer course for six women teachers of home economics;

three-week workshop for 50 teachers in women education centres.

Preparation

6. Preparations for the examination were made with care and thoroughness.Speoial syllabi were drawn up by Colt~)ctent sub-comm1ttees and were made

available to the teaohers. The te~\0hers W01'e also g"tv':m eas;v access to readingand reference materiAls a'11. te"Ji:i:.YJ>Y..}"s. A numl-,e-;-: of f:;l1'~::,<t r8f!'(';;.~~er courses wereorganized for them by a gruup ef sc~n:ndary schvc:. tC\C:1'.:."S [:.Lld ra:lintry officers.A standing ""teachers t evaluai:.ive e.x.:.mination commito:;ee" was set up. It metregularly to discuss any technical problems that might arise and to decide uponthe various organizational aspects of the preparation for andimplementation ofthe examination. An administrative SUb-committee was also appointed and was heldresponsible for all administrative aspects of the examination.

gy.estion papers

7. The subjects of the examination were: English, Arabic, religion, mathemat-ics. science, history and geography. The eXamination papers were in two

levels: A (intermediate) and B (elementary). Every teacher had to take bothpapers. Except for English. Arabic and religion, the question papers were inthree languages: English, Italian and Arabic. The teachers opted for thelanguage they preferred.

Examination centres

8. The examination was held in 11 centres: two in Mogadiscio and one in eachof Burao, Galcaio .. Hargeisa, Amud, Kismayo, Gardo, Baidao, Belet Wein and

Merca.

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9. The question papers and answer sheets were delivered to the regional oentresby speoial oouriers in acoordanoe with a definite sohedule, either by air

or by land, so as to reach destination one or two days before the examinationdate. All answer soripts were brought back to Mogadisoio by the same oouriersfor marking.

Date and timetab!!!

10. It was decided at first to hold the examination during the mid-year breakin January 1972. Owing to administrative considerations, it was postponed.

till the 1972 summer vacation when it took place on 8 to 1S·Ju1y 1972 according tothe following timetable:

Saturday, 8 July Arabic B 10.00 - 12.00 2 hoursArabio A 14.00 - 16.)0 2.1/2 hours

Sunday, 9 July HistoryB 8.00 - 10.00 2 hoursHistory A 10.30 - 13.00 3 hours

Monday, 10 July Maths B 8.00 - 10.00 2 hoursMaths A 10.30 - 13.00 2.1/2 hours

Tuesday, 11 July Religion B 8.00 - 9.30 1.1/2 hoursReligion A 10.00 - 11.30 1.1/2 hours

Wednesday, 12 July English A 8.00 - 11.00 3 hoursGoography A 11.30 - 14.00 2.1/2 hours

Thursday, 13 July English B 8.00 - 10.00 2 hoursGeography B 10.30 - 12.30 2 hours

Saturday, lS July Scienoe B 8.00 - 11.00 3 hoursScience A 14.00 - 17.30 3.1/2 hours

Participants

11. The preliminary estimate of the number of teachers who would sit theexamination was 1,650:

elementary teachers

intermediate teachers

teachers engaged injobs other than teaching

748

550

35:?1,650

However, the total number who registered the names in the various regions was1,407. According to language option, they fell into three groups:

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Arabic 626English 587Italian 194

Total 1,407

The actual number who took the examination was 1,333.

Results

12. The results available by the time this report was wr1tten are tabulatedbelow:

Level A

Cate60ry Score Maths English Science GeographY Arabic Reli6ion

A - 70 1 68 55 0 93 530B 69-50 9 238 244 66 209 295c 49 - 35 22 176 328 275 213 148D 34 - 21 70 125 445 606 297 101E 20 and 1,129 657 151 313 414 169

below

Total 1.,231 1,264 1,223 1,260 1,226 1,243

Level B

Maths English Science Geography Arabic Religion

A - 70 12 155 124 27 193 5»B 69-50 53 315 325 509 '05 326c 49 - 35 89 124 377 463 262 138D 34 - 21 192 118 321 220 204 98E 20 and 904 542 106 37 300 148

belowTotal 1,250 1,254- 1,253 1,256 1,264 1.. 243

13. According to this tabulation, which, for practical considerations .. was madeto give five categories of the teachers who sat the examination, we note

the following:

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(a) a large number of teachers are still sub-qualified, even in theelementary level;

(b) there is certainly an overlap in the results of the two levels.It is most probable that the teachers who fall in, say,categories C and D in level A are those who scored A and B inl~vel B. Thi s should be taken into consideration when settingup crit-eria for postings, transfers and promotions;

(c) owing to the present acute shortage of teachers, tile followinglenient criteria may be adopted even for an interim period oftwo or three years (with due consideration to the overlapmentioned above):

category A level A for teaching in grade 8It B " "tI It It grades 7 and 6

" C " tI It " It grade 5It D It "" " It elementary schools

" A It B" It It grade 4

ft B " "" " " grades 3 and 2

" C " tt" tt " grade 1

Categories E in both levels will have to undergo intensive retra1.ningbefore they can be entrusted with teaching tasks. A certain number of them willprove completely unfit for teaching.

(d) It is clear that the situation in mathematics is more seriousthan in the other subjects. According to the criteria suggestedabove, we have no more than 32 qualified for teachingmathematics in intermediate schools, and 224 in elementaryschools.

(e) English comes next to mathematics in this respect in inter­mediate schools where English is the medium of instruction andshould be well mastered by all teachers.*

(f) With regard to the other subjects, the situation is relativelytolerable. It is rather satisfactory in elementary schools ingeneral. This indicates the success of the institutionalizedand refresher courses which were organized for elementaryschool teachers in the past few years.

* The decision of the Government which was announced in October 1972 to usethe Somali language as the medium of instruction, starting immediatelywith the lower grades of the elementary school. will naturally solve thelanguage problem in due time. However, it will be some time before Somalireplaces English completely in the intermediate school. Thus improvingthe standa.rd of in-service teachers in the use of English will have tocontinue for some time.

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14. Due to t.he non-availabilit.y of t.he result.s for hist.ory, no cat.egorizat.ionaccording 'to tot.al scores was made. However I in t.he light. of the above

preliminary analysis, it. is recommended that. in t.he envisaged programme of in­service t.raining:

(a) various types of courses should be planned to cater for thediversity of academ1c standards of teachers. These may includeevening classes, mid-year and summer vacation refresher coursesas well as institutionalized courses. The courses should startas early as possible;

(b) successive refresher courses will be required for categories Cof both levels, one-year inst.itutionallzed courses forcategories D, and two-year institutionalized courses for categories C;

(c) mathematics (and. It;lglish) should be given top priority in the programmeplan;

(d) teachers in categories A m..;,y be sol(;c~~£rd to participate in workshopsorganized for the preparation of manuals and guides for the varioussubjects;

Ce) a more complete and detailed analysis of the results of the evaluativeexamination will be required to serve as a reliable basis for thedrawing up of the various programmes of instruction and theselection of Participants in the different courses.

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