International Agriculture Education Fellowship Program (IAEFP)
Fellows’ Scope of Work
Country |
Uganda |
Country Portfolio/Sector |
Agriculture Education |
Implementing Organization |
Catholic Relief Services (CRS) |
Broad Fellowship Objective |
Advancing IAEF Program goals through conducting learner instruction using US based and Uganda contextualized agriculture teaching materials and participation in trade initiatives to promote trade linkages between Uganda and US. Fellowship focus areas: classroom instruction, field based practical activities, youth extension and community engagement, entrepreneurship projects, leadership development, digitized AgEducation and trade awareness initiatives |
Fellowship Duration |
June 2022 – March 2023 (Approx. 9 months) |
Desired fellowship skills/ expertise |
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Important Notice: |
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The International Agriculture Education Fellowship Program (IAEFP) is a three-year (2020 – 2023) program funded by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) implemented by Catholic Relief Services (CRS). The program has two broad goals; to improve developing countries’ ability to meet the food and fiber needs of their domestic population and to strengthen trade linkages between selected countries (like Uganda) and the US agricultural industry. The program provides opportunities for eligible U.S. citizens to assist developing countries in establishing school-based agricultural education and youth extension programs. To achieve these goals, CRS will work closely with the Government of Uganda (GoU) to identify components of the newly revised lower secondary school agriculture curriculum and develop complementary teacher instructional materials to be used through classroom instruction, practical field based demonstrations, small entrepreneurial projects, and youth extension programs for community engagement. Additional activities will include promoting digitized agriculture education among the teachers and learners, leadership skills development and create awareness about US- Uganda agriculture trade initiatives.
Through the IAEFP, CRS will also recruit, train and place nine fellows in Uganda’s secondary schools for 10 months to help advance program goals. IAEFP fellows will help scale up innovative agricultural education programs in selected schools in alignment with the government of Uganda’s newly revised Lower Secondary Curriculum, launched at the beginning of the 2020 school year, which emphasizes an active, learner-centered approach to pedagogy and a competence and skills-based curriculum.
2. ISSUE DESCRIPTION
Agriculture is the backbone of Uganda’s economy, contributing 24% to GDP and accounting for 52% of export earnings. The sector employs approximately 60% of the total labor force. Agriculture is also crucial to Uganda achieving its 2040 goal of transitioning into a middle-income economy. Agro-industrialization has been identified as one of the priorities in the National Development Plan (NDP) III, 2020-25[1]aimed at increasing the commercialization and competitiveness of agricultural production and processing. However, to achieve the above goals, key improvements are needed including increasing labor productivity in the agro-industrial value chain and creating jobs across an increasingly comprehensive food and agricultural economy which encompasses the private sector, research, academia, government and policy, food sciences, economics and trade. Accomplishing these goals will also be crucial to reducing high youth unemployment rates.
Agriculture education is central to human capital development and contribute greatly to labor productivity in the agriculture value chain. Despite the many opportunities in the agriculture sector, young people in Uganda are disinterested in pursuing careers in agriculture. This population relates agriculture with poverty—it is seen as a subsistence livelihood rather than as a potential money-making venture and providing a wide range of respectable success-oriented career paths. The country’s education system has significantly contributed to the youth’s disinterest in agriculture, right from the obsolete agriculture curriculum that has been used in schools to the passive, teacher -centered learning methodologies, dominated by theoretical rather than practical field demonstrations. Historically, education systems throughout the developing world are tied to their colonial past. In Uganda, vestiges of this are reflected in agriculture training at all levels, focusing more on theoretical approaches, rote learning methodologies and often no relation to workforce preparedness or even on practical aspects of the subject. With the growing digital world, the youth are keen on technological advancements, hence the digitalization of agriculture and agriculture education would be fundamental for young people to desire and pursue opportunities and careers in the agriculture sector.
The NDP III is leading an educational transformation that now prioritizes human capital development, strengthening mechanisms for quality educational content, effective learner-centered service delivery, and improving the quality and relevance of skills development geared toward preparing students for a comprehensive workforce. To achieve the NDPIII objectives, in 2020, GoU through the Ministry of Education and Sports (MoES) and the National Curriculum Development Centre (NCDC) rolled out the newly revised lower secondary school curriculum to foster a learning environment that places the learner at the centre of the learning experience. The aim of this curriculum is to promote positive values and attitudes, effective learning, and acquisition of skills in order to produce a secondary school graduate who has the competences that are required in the 21st century, thereby reducing unemployment among graduates. The curriculum is also aimed at reducing the content overload and contact hours in the classroom to create time for research and practical work, as well as creative ventures, promoting emerging fields of knowledge across all subjects and doing away with obsolete information.
The new agriculture syllabus uses a science- based technology and entrepreneurial approach to agriculture education designed to build practical knowledge and student skills across a four-year high school program. The new curriculum roll-out was started with new students from the primary section as a fresh cohort to enable follow up and curriculum evaluation through the lower secondary period. However, curriculum implementation and roll out was hampered by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic which led to the closure of schools. In addition, incorporating this new curriculum approach in schools across the country, training of teachers, developing instructional materials (teaching guides, lesson plans, assessment tools), layering practical field and laboratory applications and facilitating of student entrepreneurial projects is still a major challenge for Uganda. Therefore, CRS’IAEF program will strategically focus on supporting GoU to address this challenge through the placement of fellows in early adopting schools or centers of excellence to help teachers and administrators understand and implement the new agriculture curriculum, focusing in the practical and active learner instruction benchmarking from the US agriculture education approach incorporating leadership, entrepreneurship and digital methodologies.
3. OBJECTIVES OF THE FELLOWSHIP
The overall objective of the fellowship it to advance IAEF Program goals through conducting teacher and learner instruction using US based and Uganda contextualized Agriculture teaching materials aligned with the newly revised lower secondary curriculum with a focus on pedagogic instructional methodologies. Focus areas will include classroom instruction, practical field-based demonstrations, entrepreneurship projects development with teachers and students, youth extension programs and community engagement, and digitalized Agriculture education initiatives.
Specific Objectives include:
Fellowship modalities:
Each fellow will be placed in a pre-selected secondary school in Uganda for a complete school calendar year (Term I, II, & III). The fellow will be required to work closely with the agriculture teacher, school administrators and other contact teachers within school who may be interested in integrating agriculture in teaching other subjects. The school will identify one staff to act as the fellow’s point of contact throughout the fellowship. Fellows may also work closely with student interns from National Teacher Training Colleges (NTCs) and relevant Universities, this is a sustainability measure to ensure skills transfer beyond the project duration.
During the school breaks, fellows will the placed with other CRS projects to provide learning opportunities and provide technical support to project staff or partners. Project placements will depend on fellows’ skills set and interest. A separate scope of work will be shared with each fellow depending on the project type.
4. ANTICIPATED RESULTS FROM THE FELLOWSHIP
The anticipated deliverables include:
Outreach activities, press release or media event conducted by fellows back in the U
5. SKELETON SCHEDULE OF FELLOWSHIP ACTIVITIES WHILE IN UGANDA
Dates | Broad activity categorization |
June 3- 5,2022 | Arrival at Uganda Entebbe International Airport. Pick up by CRS contracted transport company (Silver Fleet) and check in at Hotel Interservice/CRS Guest house. June 5: Rest-day at the hotel – there are no scheduled activities |
June 6 – 25, 2022 | Orientation workshop for all nine fellows. A detailed orientation schedule will be provided to fellows before arrival in Uganda.
Finalize all related logistical preparations before field placement. |
June 27, 2022, | Flag off fellows to the field |
June 28 – 31, 2022 | Travel to the various field placements in the company of school headteachers or designated agriculture teachers |
July 1- March 2023 | Fellowship duration per detailed activities under the specific activities section |
End of Term II (August 2022) | Participate in one-week joint project review and learning event (the activity schedule will be developed in collaboration with the fellows. |
During the 3-weeks Break (At the end of Term II &III) | Fellows will be placed with other CRS projects, partners/host organisations. Placements will be made based on fellows’ skills set and required technical expertise. |
March 2023 | End of Fellowship workshop and final reporting to donor and CRS |
March 30, 2023 | Departure for the US |
COSTS COVERED
Costs covered by CRS in Uganda |
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Item category |
Cost details |
Fellows allowance (includes daily meals and other incidentals) |
$7,150/per fellow for the fellowship year |
Transportation allowance (to and from school sites) |
$ 105/month |
Housing & utilities, furniture, and appliances |
covered by CRS |
Laptops and mobile phones |
Provided by CRS, the in-country team will support the fellows to acquire registered simcards for use while in Uganda. |
Costs for three-week TDY to the field (per diem, accommodation, transport) |
covered by CRS |
International medical and evacuation coverage |
covered by CRS |
Costs to be incurred in US |
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Return flight ticket Uganda to US |
covered by CRS |
Travel related Vaccinations |
covered by CRS |
Visa and work permit processing fees |
covered by CRS |
Accommodation and in country logistics
In Kampala, all fellows will stay at hotel Interservice which is within 10 minutes walking distance from CRS Offices behind the United States Embassy. While in the field, each fellow will stay at a pre-selected venue (either a school residence inside the school, where school accommodation is non-existent, fellows will be accommodated at carefully selected housing outside the school).All fellows housing will be selected and vetted to comply with CRS policies on international staff housing. The accommodation will have basic facilities such as running water and power. Each fellow will be provided with a smart phone and supported to obtain a registered Sim card, the phone will be used both as a hot spot for internet access and communication while in Uganda.
CRS will provide each fellow with a monthly stipend to cater for meals and other incidentals while in Uganda. For more information, please refer to country information that will be provided.
. KEY CONTACTS
CRS Uganda |
Maria Nakayiza Program Manager International Agriculture Education Fellowship Program Office Tel: +256 031 226 5658 Email: maria.nakayiza@crs.org |
School Head teachers’ contacts will be shared per fellow’s site. |
CRS Baltimore |
Priyanka Subba US. Operations Manager Farmer-to-Farmer Program 228 W. Lexington Street Baltimore, MD 21201-3443 443.955.7194 Email: Priyanka.subba@crs.org |