Teacher Training

HIV and AIDS have had a very damaging effect on the teaching profession in Zambia. About half the teachers trained in Zambia each year, as well as thousands of education administrators, are dying of AIDS related illnesses. Tens of thousands more are missing work due to illness, caring for sick relatives or attending funerals.

How the program works:

We help Cecily’s Fund to offer school leavers the opportunity to train as teachers. This not only helps to replace some of those lost teachers, but provides the young people themselves with a secure job and a respected position in society.

Cecily’s Fund's partner organization, Hodi, places students who we have supported through school in two local colleges: Kitwe College of Education, and the Copperbelt Secondary Teaching College. To complement this work, Hodi also works at the local, regional and national level to advocate for better employment opportunities for orphans and other vulnerable children in teaching and other professions.

In 2007 the Zambian government recruited 6,300 new teachers to address the teacher shortage across Zambia. 4,000 new posts were created and filled as part of the Ministry’s efforts to increase the number of teachers in each school. In 2008 we helped Cecily's Fund support 20 trainee teachers, increasing to 34 in 2009, including five on a 4-year degree programme.