Khairat Ghazy, a teacher, develops materials in preparation for her online lesson. She is a member of a WhatsApp group with other pre-primary teachers, and will share the materials in that group, as well.

AKDN / MECP

Supporting teachers: The pandemic took the entire world by storm, but few professions have been more aggressively impacted than teaching. Within the span of a few weeks, teachers have been expected to become distance educators, IT experts and social workers for their students, all the while coping with the effects of the pandemic themselves. Our response programmes have been designed through consultations with teachers, with the aim of providing them the resources and training they need to take on these new roles and responsibilities. For example, we are establishing WhatsApp groups that allow teachers to support one another and share tips for distance learning. We are also implementing distance training programmes to help teachers learn about new materials and pedagogical practices to help them navigate today’s challenging circumstances.

“The Madrasa Early Childhood Programme-Kenya helped sharpen my skills in developing teaching and learning resources using low-cost, locally available materials with a focus on the COVID-19 situation. We develop these materials and share in our WhatsApp group for further guidance from other teachers. I currently use these materials to facilitate online lessons for my pre-primary 2 class, making learning fun and interactive for my children. I also encourage parents to make the same materials for their children to physically manipulate, to help ensure better learning for children while at home.” -- Khairat Ghazy, Mombasa County, Kenya.