Teachers Forum
February, 2001

Answer: My name is Rashid Chua Chua and I am a COBET-facilitator in Mbonde COBET-centre which is situated in Masasi district in Mtwara region. It is a cohort II COBET-centre with cohort II learners, which means that the learners are between 14 and 18 years old.

A: First of all, I was a primary school teacher for a while before I was chosen to become a COBET-facilitator in a COBET-centre. To become a COBET-facilitator was very interesting for me because it has helped me to know about and to care about children who have been out of the formal education system for a long time. To be given this opportunity is something which the Ministry of Education has done and which has made a difference to my professional career because, when we were in the teaching training college, we didn’t know how to handle children who were out of the formal education system. The COBET-children have been out of the formal system for a long time and they had different bad behaviours such as stealing, the use of drugs, etc. To be a COBET-facilitator has also helped me in classroom teaching because in the training for COBET-facilitator, we have learnt how to use other teaching methodologies which are very interesting. They make the children participate fully in the learning. So, these are the changes which have made a difference for my professional career and classroom teaching.

A: Let me first talk about the conducive learning environment. I think the society itself will participate in this because the connection with the community means that they take action and thus value the importance of education for their children. By the involvement of the community and by knowing the community, it also means that they see the effects of providing education to children who were previously out of school. Then, the community can contribute so that the children can learn in a conducive learning environment. In my COBET-centre the learners have a conducive learning environment because they have chairs, a proper floor and teaching aids are available. In order to improve the environment further, I will make sure that I communicate with the community members, the leaders of the village and the parents to make contributions to improve the school environment.

A: There are big differences. For example in COBET, the learners don’t have to pay school fees, we don’t use corporal punishment and the learners don’t have to wear school uniforms. Some children had earlier dropped out of school because they couldn’t afford the school uniform and to pay for the school fees, but in COBET we don’t have such things. The COBET-programme therefore helps the community and especially the children whose parents are very poor and the children who don’t have any parents.

Q: How relevant have you found your teacher training in your daily work as a teacher?

A: At the teacher training college, I had somehow been taught how to care for children and I say somehow, because most of the teaching in the teacher training colleges is more theory-based than action-oriented. At the teacher training college, I learnt about educational psychology, which I have used in order to handle the children in COBET. I also learnt how to teach, but more theoretically than in COBET. But I use these methodologies when I am teaching in COBET. What has also helped me is the practical training which was part of the teacher training and where I learnt how to handle the children and to be able to control them.

A: I suggest that the teachers are given special education in order to be able to deal with children who have been out of school for a long time because it is very difficult. For me as a COBET-facilitator, it would also be useful to get training in how to teach vocational skills because after the three year COBET-cycle, the cohort II learners will have to depend on themselves. In order to do this, they will have to have many skills which they can use to in the world outside of school. I therefore suggest that the facilitators should have enough teaching materials for "Stadi za Kazi" (Vocational skills). They should also be trained in how to teach this subject because it is the mother of all lessons and it is important that the children have a solid understanding of the subject. Vocational skills include many skills and we need to be able to give learners the capacity and the ability to depend on themselves.

A: For myself, I would make sure that all the preferable teaching methodologies which are supposed to be used in the classroom are used effectively. When the teaching techniques are bad, the children will not participate. They will not learn and they will not have enough understanding of the lesson. The action that I would take is to make sure that the methodologies which I use during the class session make the children participate and that the learners understand what I am teaching them.

A: Yes, there are many good methodologies which can be used in order to make the learners participate fully during the lesson. One example is the group discussion method which is good because it trains the children in decision making and to exchange experiences during the lesson. Another good method is to use demonstrations because after the teacher has demonstrated something, the children will do after you. By doing after you, the children are participating and they are very interested and very happy with the lesson.

Intro  ·  Delaide Daniel  ·  Delfina Lusuva  ·  Rashid Chua Chua  ·  Sedet Bulaya

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