VSO

Education

"Everyone has the right to education…Education shall be directed to the full development of the human potential" UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948

Throughout the world, education is the key to development. Supporting education is a major part of VSO's work, and approximately 45% of VSO volunteers are working in the field of education.

The diversity of opportunities in the education sector is growing all the time - as educational needs develop, so do the different types of requests we receive for volunteers. If you don't see your area of expertise listed here, please contact us.

Sandy Stratton, Ottawa - Teacher Trainer, China, 1993 - 1995
"I worked at Lingling Teacher's College in Hunan for two years. When I arrived in Lingling I was the only foreigner in the city. Of course life there was difficult for me at times. But during my stay I taught hundreds of student teachers. Two years after leaving Lingling I still get letters from some of them saying that by being there, I inspired them to make their lives better. I made a difference to them. This is one of my greatest accomplishments in over 20 years of working."

Curriculum Development		B.Ed with 2 years teaching experience and experience of curriculum development
Educational Resource Centre Coordinators		Qualified teachers (in any discipline) with 2 years experience
Educational Managers		Qualified Heads of Departments (any discipline) with 5 years experience	View a sample placement
Special Education:
	Special Ed. Teachers	B.Ed (ideally primary) with experience including working with children with special needs	View a sample placement
	Teachers of the Deaf	Appropriate teaching qualification with at least 6 months relevant experience	View a sample placement
	Teachers of the Blind	Appropriate teaching qualification with at least 6 months relevant experience
Sports Coaches and Development Officers		Coaching qualifications in relevant disciplines or coaching experience or sports development background
Teachers:
	Business Studies	Trained business studies teacher with 2 years experience
	Commerce/Office Administration	Advanced office procedures/typewriting / shorthand skills. Teaching experience preferred
	Computer Studies	Degree with 2 years experience	View a sample placement
	Craft Design and Technology	Diploma or B.Ed (preferred) with 2 years experience
	ELT	B.Ed with 2 years teaching experience, or B.A./B.Ed (preferably in English/modern languages) and TEFL certificate (100 hours) with 1-2 years teaching experience	View a sample placement
	Home Economics	B.Ed with 2 years experience
	Math/Science	B.Ed+B.Sc.(Physics, Math, Chemistry, Biology, Engineering), or M.Sc. with teaching experience	View a sample placement
	Music	B.Ed with 2 years experience and knowledge of at least 2 musical instruments
	Physical Education	Degree or diploma in Phys.Ed with teaching qualifications and experience
	Portuguese	Degree in an appropriate modern language with some teaching experience. Fluency in Portuguese
	Primary Education	B.Ed Likely positions: With experience: primary teacher trainer. Without experience: teacher at a junior secondary school.	View sample placements

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Sample Placements in Education

The following placement descriptions provide examples of the type of jobs that VSO hopes to fill in the coming year. Since VSO aims to match volunteers with placements where their skills are most needed, we are not able to accept applications for specific positions.

School Administrator - Cameroon

St. Mary's Home Economics Centre (SMHEC) requests a qualified and experienced school administrator to oversee education and management of the school. The volunteer will work closely with the vice-principal of the school in order to share skills. It is hoped that at the end of the placement, the vice-principal can take over from the volunteer.

Key Responsibilities of the Volunteer:

To set general targets and responsibilities of staff members
To maintain discipline and a high morale amongst staff and students
To supervise teachers and instill a spirit of teamwork
To evaluate teachers and ensure that the different pedagogic departments in the school are organized and operational
To ensure the implementation of timetables and workplans through classroom observation
To assist with the recruitment of staff
To represent the school at external meetings

SMHEC was founded in 1971 with the primary objective of providing female students of secondary school age with an opportunity to learn life skills. To overcome the shortage of staff who are trained in education administration, VSO Cameroon is working with SHMC and similar organizations to build the capacities of the institutions to deliver effective services and better job opportunities.

Location of Placement:

The volunteer will be based in Ndop, a town found in the divisional capital of Ngoketunja in the Northwest Province of Cameroon. Ndop is 35 km from Bamenda, the provincial capital. It is a 45 minute journey by car from Bamenda to Ndop, driving through the beautiful green scenery of the Sabga hills and down into the plains of Ngoketunja.

The school will arrange for a house in Ndop where running water and electricity are available. VSO will provide a small grant to buy basic household equipment.

Special Education Co-ordinator - Namibia

The Namibian Ministry of Basic Education requests a Special Education Coordinator to work in Khomas Region. The Coordinator will work alongside staff at the Ministry to improve the quality and provision of education to children with special needs who live in disadvantaged areas. The length of placement is two years.

Key Responsibilities of the Volunteer:

To support current special education teachers to identify gaps in their capacity to run special education classes and design workshops to meet their needs
To work collaboratively with personnel from other ministries in order to promote a holistic and community-based approach to special education and disability in the region
To work in the Teacher Resource Centres (particularly in Gobabis & Otjivarongo) in order to promote a team approach to capacity building and skill sharing with staff
To work with other volunteer regional co-ordinators and Ministry personnel to promote policy development for special education nationally

This placement contributes to VSO Namibia's plan for education, which seeks to improve quality and provision of education and care to children in disadvantaged regions, and specifically to children with special needs.

Location of Placement:

Okakarara is a small town serving the farmers of the former Hereroland. It is about 100 km from Otjiwarongo and a 3 hour drive from Windhoek. Okakarara is a Herero community, where many women wear traditional colourful dress. Okakarara has all the basic essentials, and more importantly, it has a strong sense of community. Very close to Okakarara is the magnificent Waterberg Plateau Park. The volunteer will live in a self-contained house about 3 km from the town centre.

Okakarara District remains heavily disadvantaged in many ways - economically, politically, geographically and socially. Having a Special Education Coordinator based in Okakarara has been shown to have a significant impact on the focus of the Regional & National Education Offices.

Teacher of the Hearing Impaired - Kenya

The Lamu Hearing Impaired Unit requests a qualified and experienced special educator to assist community efforts to provide appropriate education for children with special needs. This placement is supported by the SNESP (Special Needs Education Support Project). The length of placement is two years.

Key Responsibilities of the Volunteer:

To teach children with a hearing impairment, following the KCSE syllabus. This includes English, Mathematics, Science, Geography/History/Social Studies and Religious Education
To foster public awareness about the causes of disabilities and to recommend preventative measures
To plan rehabilitation strategies
To participate in co-curricula activities according to interest

Disability is a key theme in the work of VSO Kenya because people with disabilities are among the most marginalized in society, with limited access to education and training. VSO Kenya plans to respond to these challenges by providing specialist teachers. Training and support for learning Kiswahili will be provided. It is essential that the volunteer learns Kenya Sign Language.

Location of Placement:

Mokowe Primary School is situated on the mainland of the North Coast of Kenya approximately 70 km south of the border with Somalia. The school is in a very rural environment that is known as an arid zone, an approximate 1.5 km walk from Mokowe village. The school will provide the volunteer with a modest 2-bedroom house on the teachers' compound. Electricity is solar-powered, and there is a water tap available in the compound.

English Teacher - Bosnia-Herzegovina

The Bosnian Ministry of Education requests an English Teacher to provide a high standard of English language instruction to children in state schools, and to introduce interactive methods of teaching to colleagues. The volunteer will be based in Banja Luka, the capital. The length of placement is two years.

Key Responsibilities of the Volunteer:

To teach English language to 11-15 year olds, according to the school curriculum
To work alongside other English teachers and students to introduce new teaching methods
To organize/participate in extra-curricular activities that support the learning of English (e.g. drama clubs, reading groups, etc.)
To attend staff meetings and other functions as required of teachers at the school

VSO volunteers have been working in Bosnia - Herzegovina since 2000. Very few schools in Bosnia have qualified English teachers. It is important that children are given the opportunity to learn English, because it widens their options for further education and employment.

Location of Placement:

Banja Luka is located at the crossroads of the Vrbas River in north-western Bosnia. It is now the capital of the Republika Srpska. The volunteer will be housed in a private room or apartment provided by the school. Serbian/Serbo-Croatian language lessons will be provided for two weeks on arrival in-country before the volunteer begins the placement. After that, a small language grant is available as a contribution towards private lessons.

Physics Teacher - Zambia

Kabompo High School requests a qualified and experienced Physics Teacher to enable young people from disadvantaged communities to have access to high quality secondary science education.

Key Responsibilities of the Volunteer:

To teach Physics to students in grades 10, 11 and 12
To prepare mid - term and end of term exams, and develop a workplan
The volunteer will be asked to be on the duty roster. This involves counseling students, taking registration and carrying out disciplinary procedures if necessary
To be involved in extra - curricular activities
To work with colleagues to identify and implement appropriate HIV/AIDS education activities

Kabompo is a disadvantaged school due its rural location, and like most other rural schools in Zambia, the school finds it difficult to recruit qualified Zambian teachers. VSO Zambia aims to increase opportunities for young people in rural areas for employment by supporting institutions and programs that provide relevant training or support.

Location of Placement:

Kabompo is about 550 km from the industrial centre of Zambia, and a further 450 km from Lusaka, the capital. The school is a 20 minute walk from the town centre, where the main market and shops are located. The volunteer will live in shared housing on the school compound.

Computer Science Teacher - Ghana

The Business Secondary School in Tamale (BISCO) requests a qualified and experienced Computer Science Teacher to provide high quality instruction to students in its Business/Secretarial program.

Key Responsibilities of the Volunteer:

To teach Computer Science/IT theory and practice to students in all three years of the Secretarial course. Teaching would mainly cover basic general computer skills, word processing and spreadsheets
To set and mark exercises, grade students' performance and fill in continuous assessment forms
To provide in-service training to other teachers within the Business/Secretarial Department, to enable them to take over the teaching of Computer Science/IT by the end of the placement
To provide IT training to relevant and interested administrative staff at the school (e.g. secretaries, accountant etc.), in order to improve record keeping and general administration of the school
To take on extra-curricular duties, according to volunteer's interests. VSO Ghana actively encourages volunteers to get involved in these types of activities, as an informal but important aspect of skill share between volunteers, students and colleagues

This placement contributes to VSO Ghana's work to increase opportunities for young people in rural areas for employment, by supporting institutions and programs that provide relevant training or support.

Location of Placement:

Tamale is the capital of Northern Region, the largest of Ghana's ten regions, but also the most sparsely populated. Tamale is the largest settlement in Northern Ghana and the fourth largest city in the country. The large BISCO campus is situated just outside the town (about 15 minutes by bicycle). There is a daily State Transport Corporation (STC) bus service to Kumasi (5-6 hours) and Accra (8-9 hours).

The school will provide a 2 bedroom bungalow on the school compound. It has a hall/sitting room, a kitchen and bathroom. Electricity supply is from the national grid, and there is piped water supply.

Kindergarten Teacher - Mongolia

The Christina Noble Children's Foundation in Mongolia requests a qualified and experienced primary teacher to develop a high quality Kindergarten program for rural children living in a Ger community. The length of placement is two years.

Key Responsibilities of the Volunteer:

To work alongside Mongolian teaching staff to teach a mixed age group of approximately 20 children, aged three to seven years
To develop the curriculum and timetable (based on the National Curriculum), adapted to the needs and special circumstances of the children
To build on the concept of child-centred learning
To train the Ger mothers (women who look after the younger children) in child-centred childcare skills. This will be done mainly through involving the Ger mothers in kindergarten activities and observation

Since emerging from Communism in 1991, Mongolia has struggled to transform its education system. Kindergartens used to serve as childcare institutions for working parents, but methodology is starting to shift to a more child-centred approach.

Location of Placement:

The volunteer will be living and working in a Ger village (traditional Mongolian felt tents) about 8 km north of Ulaanbaatar, the capital. The volunteer will be housed in a Ger within the school compound. A Ger is a cozy living space, about 4-5 metres across and covered with felt layers to provide warmth. The Ger will have an electricity supply. Volunteers will take intensive Mongolian language lessons upon arrival, and will be given support from VSO to continue language lessons.

Primary Teacher Trainer - Nepal

The Dhunkharka Village Development Committee requests a qualified and experienced primary teacher to work as a Teacher Trainer with five primary schools. There are approximately 30 primary teachers in the area, all of whom are untrained.

Key Responsibilities of the Volunteer:

To conduct training workshops for teachers from the five primary schools and sections within the area. These may be one day or more, and should focus on the introduction of simple participative teaching methods, and helping teachers to understand the curricula and books
To visit teachers in their schools on a regular basis, giving model lessons, team teaching and helping teachers in practical ways within their classrooms
To monitor and evaluate the progress of teachers

Location of Placement:

Dhunkharka village is situated in the Kavre district, in Kathmandu Valley. The village is fairly remote, and access varies according o the season. During the wet season the village is accessible only on foot, and is a 2 - 3 hour walk, mostly uphill. The village is set on a hilltop at approximately 7000 feet, so the climate is cooler than the Kathmandu valley and there may be frost or snow in the winter.

VSO provides an initial language training course upon arrival in-country, which is currently 8-10 weeks. Village accommodation is likely to be basic, likely in a hostel which accommodates teachers from outside the area.