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 |
Tentative Fellowship Duration |
Late April/Early May 2021 – March 2022 (Approx. 11 months) |
Desired fellowship skills/ expertise |
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Important Notice: |
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The International Agriculture Education Fellowship Program (IAEFP) is a two-year (2020 – 2022) 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 11months 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.
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 education is central to human capital development and contribute greatly to labor productivity in the agriculture sector. 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.
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 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 curriculum roll-out process was hindered 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.
OBJECTIVES OF THE FELLOWSHIP
The overall objective of the fellowship it to advance IAEF Program goals using pedagogic teaching methodologies implemented through: classroom instruction, practical field-based demonstrations, entrepreneurship projects development, youth extension and community engagement programs, digitalized Agriculture education initiatives and participation in agricultural trade initiatives in Uganda.
Critical pre-fellowship preparation activities while in US
Key fellowship activities categorized based on the program objectives
To strengthen trade linkages between Uganda and the US agricultural industry, fellows will participate in various activities/projects to include.
FELLOWSHIP CALENDAR PROGRAM
During the school terms
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.
TDY (Temporary Duty Assignments)
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.
Fellows will also participate in a stakeholder engagement, joint project review and learning event at the end of Term I.
The anticipated deliverables reports will include:
SKELETON SCHEDULE OF FELLOWSHIP ACTIVITIES WHILE IN UGANDA
The dates indicated in the table below are tentative and will befinalized based on confirmed travel dates to Uganda.
Dates |
Broad activity categorization |
Late April (24th– 25th, 2021) |
Arrival at Uganda Entebbe International Airport. Pick up by CRS contracted transport company (Silver Fleet) and check in at Hotel Interservice. April 25th: Rest day at the hotel – there are no scheduled activities |
April 26th – 30th, 2021 |
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. |
May 1st – 2nd, 2021 |
Travel to the various field placements in the company of school headteachers or designated agriculture teachers |
May 3rd – April 30th, 2022 |
Commencement of the fellowship per detailed activities under the specific activities section |
End of Term I |
Participate in one-week joint project review and learning event (the activity schedule will be developed during Term I) in collaboration with the fellows. |
During the 3-weeks Breaks (At the end of Term I and Term II) May 2nd – 6th, 2022 May 7 2022 |
Fellows will be placed with other CRS projects, partners/host organisations. Placements will be made based on fellows’ skills set and required technical expertise. Fellows may also support F2F program as volunteers based on interest and availability of opportunities. End of Fellowship workshop and final reporting to donor and CRS Departure for the U.S. |
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 Mobile cell phone +256 783922882 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 |