Forty-six UK teachers will arrive in Johannesburg on Monday 21 July to begin a five week placement in rural schools in the Northern Cape and Eastern Cape.
The teachers have been recruited by Link Community Development – an NGO which specialises in school and district improvement and works in partnership with the Department of Education.
Link’s approach to school improvement focuses on practical changes that a school can undertake – and it provides training, mentoring and grants for the school.
The UK teachers are part of LCD’s ‘Global Teachers Millennium Award Scheme’ a three year project funded by the UK Millennium Commission (also built the London ‘Dome’) and part funded by the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID).
Twelve teachers will go to the Northern Cape to work along side LCD’s Kimberley Thusanang Project working in partnership with the Francis Baard District of the Northern Cape Department of Education.
Thirty-four teachers will go to the Eastern Cape to work alongside LCD’s Phakama Project based in Umtata – working in partnership with Mhlontlo, Mount Fletcher and Libode Districts of the Eastern Cape Department of Education.
The teachers will spend 5 weeks during their UK summer break in 2003 living with host families in South Africa and providing school based professional support. Each ‘Global Teacher’ will be based in a rural school to share their expertise and work closely with the senior management team on school improvement. But the learning is two ways! They will learn what school life is like for their counterparts, who frequently have to cope without electricity or water, with minimal facilities and few resources, class sizes of over 100 and little professional training and support. Working with their new colleagues to tackle these issues, the Global Teachers will face the possibly the greatest professional challenge of their careers.
In the Northern Cape the primary role of the Global Teacher will be assisting schools to implement HIV/AIDS Action Plan and explore ways in which the school can play a central role in fighting this disease.
In addition to the 46 teachers, LCD has recruited 7 accountants who will be providing district and school based training in financial management in the Eastern Cape.
The 53 volunteers are supported by another team of volunteers – 8 people who have been Global Teachers themselves have volunteered to come back to provide additional support to LCD’s core delivery team based in Centurion, Kimberley and Umtata.
One of the added benefits to the South African school is the opportunity to ‘link’ with their northern school. LCD now manages over 270 links between southern schools and the UK. In some cases these links have led to exchange visits from South Africa to the UK and in additional school resources.