Public school educators awarded certificates by Academy's Professional Development Centre

16 public primary school educators from Matola and Boane districts graduated from a certificate course in Educational Leadership and Management after completing a training programme offered by the Professional Development Centre at the Aga Khan Academy Maputo. A certification ceremony was held at the Aga Khan Academy’s Professional Development Centre, located in Matola. Participants included head teachers and pedagogical leaders from local primary schools. Three managers from the Professional Training Centres of the Ministry of Labour, Work and Social Security also attended the course.

The certification of this group of head teachers and primary school teachers is in line with strategic efforts being made by the Ministry of Education and Human Development to build leadership capacity amongst the nation’s educators.

The certificate course in Educational Leadership and Management is offered by the Aga Khan Academy Maputo’s Professional Development Centre in partnership with the Ministry of Education and Human Development through the District Services for Education in Matola and Boane, Munhuana Teacher Training Institute, and in collaboration with the Ministry of Labour, Work and Social Security. It is part of a series of in-service professional development programmes held at the Aga Khan Academy since 2010 to improve the quality of teaching and learning in nearby primary schools.

Ms Regina Miguel Langa, National Deputy Director for Teacher Training, represented the Ministry of Education and Human Development at the graduation ceremony. She praised the certification programme, noting that “school management is a big challenge for the Ministry of Education and Human Development and in order to achieve good quality education it is important to have good school managers.” She also thanked the Academy’s Professional Development Centre and encouraged the graduating school managers to respond to their professional challenges with the tools they had recently acquired.

Mr Lee O’Leary, the Head of the Aga Khan Academy Maputo, emphasised that “the course has contributed to the creation of an improved context for child education. As this certification is part of the Aga Khan Academy, it aims to create opportunities for future leaders within the community and give them capacity for problem-solving.” The Class of 2016/2017 representative, teacher Danilo Ventura stated emotionally that “we are committed to the implementation of what we have learnt, collectively guaranteeing improvement in the quality of teaching in our schools…we finished this course with the profound determination to disseminate what we have learnt among our colleagues in the schools where we work.”

The course is unique in Mozambique in that it is taught through a combination of face-to-face group sessions as well as through support provided to educators within their schools. Participants spend a total of 320 hours in the course, through which they develop clear and realistic plans for their school’s development, and learn how to conduct school-based action research and provide support to classroom teachers. Head teachers engage in collective discussions in which they reflect on and question their current leadership practices. They are challenged to implement good leadership practices in their schools, including collaborative management, transparency and open communication among all members of the school community for better learner results. Outcomes from the course are assessed against rigorous monitoring and evaluation indicators.

Since the start of its activities, the Professional Development Centre has certified 481 state educators including general teachers, English language teachers, school managers and school council members.