Teacher training need is becoming one of the most talked about topics among parents and leaders in Somalia who want to give the young generation a much better life. For many decades the schools in the country have suffered from a lot of problems because of conflicts and a lack of proper equipment for classrooms. But today people are realizing that you can buy new books and build beautiful buildings but the education will never improve if the person standing at the front of the room does not know how to teach properly. Investing in the skills of these workers is the true key to transforming the minds of millions of kids who are eager to learn every day.
Read Also: Why Old Somali School Methods Changed for Young Kids
The current reality of the teacher training need in local schools
When you travel around the different regions and look into the small classrooms you can easily see why the teacher training need is so urgent right now. Many individuals who are working as educators in the villages and big towns never went to a special university to learn how to manage a class or explain difficult ideas. They are often just nice people from the neighborhood who know how to read and write so they volunteered to help the local kids because there was nobody else available. This creates a massive gap in quality because loving a subject is completely different from knowing the correct methods to explain it to a six year old child.
Read Also: Is traditional Somali education better than modern schools?
Without addressing this heavy teacher training need the children will continue to spend hours in school without gaining the actual skills they need for future jobs. A teacher who lacks preparation will often just shout at the students or force them to memorize long pages of text without understanding a single word of the lesson. This boring and old method makes a lot of young boys and girls hate their classes and many of them end up leaving school early to work on farms or streets. We must change this pattern by giving these educators the proper psychological and technical tools to make the lessons interesting and full of life.
How fixing the teacher training need changes the whole country
When a government or a charity group takes the time to solve the teacher training need the positive results show up very quickly in the community. Trained educators learn how to spot children who are struggling with reading or math and they can give them extra help instead of ignoring them. This specialized support reduces the number of failures and gives the kids a lot of confidence to dream about becoming doctors engineers or leaders of their country later. This shows that the teacher training need is not just a small school issue but it is a direct investment in the safety and wealth of the entire nation.
Simple ways to handle the teacher training need with low budgets
Fortunately you do not need millions of dollars or giant university campus buildings to start fixing the teacher training need this year. Experienced educators from the capital can travel to smaller towns during the summer holidays to run short workshops for the local village teachers. They can teach them how to make simple lesson plans how to create cheap games out of cardboard and how to test students fairly without causing them too much fear. These short courses can give a big boost to a beginner teacher who has been struggling alone in a crowded room for months.
Using mobile phones and internet videos is another smart way to address the teacher training need in remote areas where travel is dangerous or difficult. Universities can upload simple video clips explaining good teaching tricks so that any school worker with a small phone can watch and learn during their free time. This digital approach makes it very easy to spread good knowledge across the borders without spending money on expensive hotel rooms or plane tickets for trainers.
The long term value of solving the teacher training need completely
If the country continues to ignore the teacher training need for another ten years the economic growth of the whole society will slow down completely. We cannot build modern businesses hospitals or banks if our high school graduates do not even know basic science or advanced writing skills. The foundation of any successful country is always built on the quality of its primary schools and those schools depend 100% on the people holding the chalk. By giving them respect a good salary and continuous training we are ensuring that the future of our children is in very safe and capable hands.
Read Also: Early childhood education: Why it matters for young kids
In conclusion understanding the teacher training need is the first step toward creating a peaceful and civilized society where everyone has a chance to succeed. The young kids in Somalia are incredibly smart and they have a lot of energy to learn they just need teachers who can guide them in the right direction. Do not wait for the perfect conditions to start improving our schools because a bright future always begins with a well trained educator standing proudly in front of the blackboard.
