Professor Pamela Abbott will be travelling to Kigali, Rwanda in early May as part of the 'Fostering a Social Practice Approach to Adult Literacies for Improving People's Quality of Life in Western Rwanda' project.
Adult Literacies is a policy priority in Rwanda, linked to the aims of building a peaceful and equitable society, tackling intergenerational legacies of the genocide, and connecting Rwanda to wider networks through new forms of global communication and information. At present there is no training programme for Adult Literacies Tutors in Rwanda and the vast majority of tutors have no formal qualifications in education.
The ‘Fostering a Social Practice Approach to Adult Literacies’ project aims to build the capacity of Adult Literacies Education in Rwanda and to foster a community of Adult Literacies Educators to sustain practice well into the future, beginning with the design of the first professional qualification for Adult Literacies Tutors. During the course of the four and a half year project around 100 Literacies Tutors will be qualified and at least 30, 000 learners will develop new basic literacies skills.
The project, funded by the Scottish Government, is a collaboration between University of Aberdeen; College of Education, University of Rwanda; the Institute of Policy Analysis and Research, Rwanda and three Teaching Training Colleges in Rwanda’s Western Province. ProfessorAbbot will be working with Professor Wenceslas Nzabarirwa, University of Rwanda, to lead a workshop for the Directors of Education from seven districts in the Western Province of Rwanda, representatives from the African Ministry of Education and the Rwanda Education board on Thursday 4 May. The workshop will focus on the implementation of the project in the Rwandan districts.