UNESCO - UNESCO Office in Dakar

TEACHER TRAINING

Since the 1990 Jomtien Conference (PDF*), UNESCO dedicated an important part of its resources to the training of primary school teachers in order to widen access to quality basic education.

The three UNESCO world conferences on education organized from 1998 to 2000, namely the World Conference on Higher Education, the 2^nd International Congress on Technical and Vocational Training and the World Forum on Education for All unanimously recommended to pursue and intensify the training of teachers at all levels. These conferences also identified crucial issues which will be the object of reforms aiming at improving the relevance and quality of teacher training.

The BREDA will proceed to compiling a comprehensive inventory of all documents recently published on the reforms brought to policies and programmes related to the training of teachers, successful experiments and good practices. The BREDA will also carry out case studies and surveys in order to complete the available information. The synthesis of all these documents will contribute to the elaboration of a concept document on the reforms that need to be carried out.

Forthcoming activities in 2001

Case studies on the main factors which could lead to the renovation of teacher training policies and programmes
Preparation and production of a concept document on the reforms to bring to teacher training programmes.
Organisation of a regional conference and publication of a book on national policies on training, recruitment and the valorization of teachers
Setting up of a regional African network of institutions offering pedagogical training in order to promote the exchange of information, experiences and good practices on policies, programmes and the use of new technologies in teacher training. All this information will go towards creating a database which will be distributed widely in CD-ROM form.

See also