This blog was submitted by VVOB - education for development and a consortium of other organizations in the framework of the Teacher Task Force #TeachersMissing advocacy campaign to showcase members' good practices in addressing teacher shortages worldwide. It is authored by Loran Pieck, Strategic Education Advisor Online Learning, VVOB - education for development in Rwanda; Maruf Hossain Mishuk,  Manager & Senior Psychologist, BRAC Institute of Educational Development; Saalim Koomar, Research lead, EdTech Hub; Rupert Corbishley, Regional Education and ECD Advisor, Aga Khan Foundation; and Jef Peeraer, Global Strategic Education Advisor, VVOB – education for development.

The shortage of trained teachers is a critical issue that affects the quality of education worldwide.

Among the consequences are larger class sizes, overburdened teachers and reliance on underqualified staff. The scarcity of qualified teachers is particularly noticeable in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields, especially in rural and remote areas (UNESCO and TTF, 2024).

While the crisis in teacher training has existed for many years, evidence shows that the lack of trained teachers has worsened in many high-income and low-income contexts alike. Between 2010 and 2022, the proportion of primary school teachers with the minimum required qualifications in sub-Saharan Africa fell from 75 to 64 per cent. Meanwhile, in Europe and Northern America, the proportion of primary teachers with minimum qualifications decreased from 97 to 93 per cent between 2017 and 2023 (UNESCO-UIS, 2024).

In addition to the need of reinforcing that all teachers complete a recognised pre-service teaching qualification, continuous professional development (CPD) is also important to ensure teachers can fill gaps in their training, remain abreast of new knowledge, innovative pedagogies, digital skills and other competencies related to assessment, administrative tasks and other responsibilities they have.

While there is a need for all teachers to complete a recognised teaching qualification, continuous professional development (CPD) is also essential to help them stay up to date with new teaching techniques, digital skills, and other job responsibilities

In terms of CPD, the data are not much more encouraging with about half of countries reporting fewer than 80 per cent of primary teachers receiving in-service training during the previous year (UNESCO-UIS, 2024).

While face-to-face training is still preferred by many, the COVID-19 pandemic sped up changes in how we teach and learn. School closures forced CPD providers to find new ways to train teachers and school leaders. Blended learning for continuous professional development became more popular during this shift.

What is blended learning?

Blended CPD offers teachers flexible ways to learn, whether in person or online, in groups or solo, at their own pace or in real-time. This approach is a departure from the more traditional, top-down, centralised methods of teacher training which are especially common in low- and middle-income countries (Education Commission, 2019: Hennessy et al., 2022).

By using online courses and collaborative tools, blended learning allows teachers to gain additional skills and qualifications without the limits of in-person schedules. This speeds up certification while improving teaching quality, which benefits students. An additional advantage is the lower cost due to scaling.

Given the lack of qualified teachers, blended CPD can help address qualification gaps by offering flexible, accessible professional development and certification programmes for current and aspiring teachers.

Blend ON! How to implement blended learning

With a lack of clear guidance on how to create major changes in teacher education using blended learning programmes, VVOB – education for development and a consortium of organizations including the Aga Khan Foundation, BRAC IED, EdTech Hub, Plan International, Pratham, Right to Play, STiR Education, and VSO, developed "Blend ON!", a comprehensive guide on how to blend in-person and remote learning for teachers’ CPD.

To help ensure teachers from a wide range of countries and social backgrounds all remain engaged and motivated, the Guide focuses on making CPD inclusive, scalable, and effective. It uses a step-by-step approach to CPD, offering a framework for analysing, designing and developing, implementing and evaluating CPD programmes (Figure 1).

Lessons on blended learning

Professional development is effective when it results in sustainable changes in participants' knowledge, skills, or attitudes. More importantly, it should lead to changes in their teaching, which can improve educational outcomes, such as better test scores, socio-emotional well-being, or student retention (McAleavy et al., 2018).

How can we measure the effectiveness of blended CPD?

And how can we use the insights gained to improve and redesign future programmes?

Careful analysis of blended CPD under the auspices of the BLEND ON! consortium in low and lower-middle-income countries has led to several lessons and insights that can be scaled up and shared widely.

Digital evaluation of CPD for continuous improvement and tailored interventions

VVOB collaborated with the University of Rwanda’s College of Education and the Rwanda Basic Education Board to transition from paper-based evaluations to digital assessments for blended CPD. To collect data on the effectiveness of the ‘Effective School Leadership’ CPD programme, which has already been rolled out to a total of 1911 school leaders, a digital system was put in place. Evidence shows that the digital approach allowed for faster feedback and continuous refinement of CPD. The data highlighted significant differences in performance, which led to developing more specific approaches for teachers from various backgrounds (VVOB - education for development, 2024; Pieck & Leroy, 2024).

As trainers in a blended CPD modality, we know our trainees’ learning gaps, and we know which gaps to remediate. We identify these gaps from the online learning progress. This was not possible in the face-to-face in-person modality. Now we can give trainees more individual support.”  - Facilitator/ lecturer, University of Rwanda – College of Education

Overcoming participation challenges and increasing motivation

To address low participation rates in some of their CPD programmes in Bangladesh, BRAC’s Institute of Educational Development (IED) began integrating smartphones and providing SIM cards for better connectivity. This led to uninterrupted online learning sessions which helped improve participation.

To complement this, field managers worked with content team members to encourage project participation and monitor implementation by creating targeted communication, ensuring accessibility and providing constant guidance.      

A pilot project with primary school teachers showed positive impacts on teachers’ motivation and practices, with all teachers responding well to the training content, duration, facilitators and delivery. However, one in three teachers had difficulty completing the training during school time.

Discussion, sharing our thoughts and exchanging opinions helped us to correct unwanted mistakes very easily. Effective learning through this training can be applied in real life and the training will be very useful for us and the students. - Teacher from Bangladesh

Addressing inclusivity in rural areas

Blended CPD participants have different personalities, knowledge, and learning needs. To support personalised learning, programmes should be designed to consider everyone's needs and create a safe, inclusive environment.

EdTech Hub, in partnership with Aga Khan University, Aga Khan Foundation, and the Tanzania Institute of Education, identified a number of relevant issues to consider in the implementation of the MEWAKA CPD programme in rural Tanzania, including electricity and connectivity, digital literacy, and gender disparities in participation.

Insights led to various programme adjustments to improve inclusivity and engagement, such as using a more inclusive learning management system (LMS) design. This allowed teachers with disabilities to work together with their colleagues on the course content (Koomar et al., 2023a; 2023b).

[the] activities have helped me improve my ability to teach difficult topics and large classes, an ability I did not have before. Similarly, [the programme] has provided me the ability to make tools and use them”.  - Teacher from U.R Tanzania

Cost and sustainability

Analysing the costs of different parts of a blended CPD programme and the cost per participant is key to scaling and sustaining these efforts. While blended learning may need higher upfront investment for infrastructure and materials, its ability to scale can lower the cost per participant.

The Aga Khan Foundation’s blended learning initiative, now in its tenth year, is a model for cost-effective scalability. It mixes video-based learning with interactive in-person sessions, and their portable video-lab setup lowers costs while empowering local teams to create and share their own courses.

By offering high-quality learning resources for free, AKF has reached a global audience. Their custom-built LMS avoids the typical pay-per-user model, allowing courses to scale with minimal annual costs. Since launching in January 2022, their Learning Hub has had 1.6 million page views from 46,000 users across 196 countries.

To ensure teachers have better access to training, we must adopt blended CPD solutions

Post-pandemic, blended CPD is becoming the educational norm in many more contexts. In brief, the "Blend ON!" guide serves as a practical resource for providers, offering frameworks and real-life examples to support the effective design and development of blended CPD programmes.

By continuously evaluating and adapting CPD, educators can meet diverse needs and improve teacher quality and education outcomes. Today, with increasing global connectivity, evolving digital technologies, and the emergence of artificial intelligence, such resources will play a key role in developing teacher' skills and qualifications.

References

Education Commission. 2019. Transforming the Education Workforce: Learning Teams for a Learning Generation. New York: Education Commission. https://educationcommission.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Transforming-the-Education-Workforce-Full-Report.pdf.

Hennessy, S., D’Angelo, S., McIntyre, N., Koomar, S., Kreimeia, A., Cao, L., Brugha, M., & Zubairi, A. 2022. Technology Use for Teacher Professional Development in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A systematic review. Computers and Education Open, 1, 100080. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.caeo.2022.100080.

Koomar, S., Massam, W., Gervace Anthony, G., Mrope, W., Adam, T., Hennessy, S., Mtenzi, F., Proctor, J., Komba, A., Mwakabungu, F., Barretto-Mwaka, J. 2023a. MEWAKA in Tanzania: Emerging findings on tech-supported teacher professional development. https://edtechhub.org/2023/03/03/mewaka-in-tanzania-emerging-findings-on-tech-supported-teacher-professional-development/.

Koomar, S., Massam, W., Chachage, K., Anthony, G., Mrope, W. J., Malibiche, M., Mutura, E., Adam, T., Hennessy, S., Mtenzi, F., Komba, A., Mwakabungu, F., Paskali, J. H., & Nkya, H. 2023b. TCPD in Tanzania: Design-Based Implementation Research Cycle 1 Recommendations Policy Brief [Policy Brief]. EdTech Hub. https://doi.org/10.53832/edtechhub.0166.

McAleavy, T., Hall-Chen, A., Horrocks, S., & Riggall, A. 2018. Technology-supported professional development for teachers: Lessons from developing countries. Education Development Trust. https://docs.edtechhub.org/lib/FXXS4882.

UNESCO and TTF. 2024. Global Report on teachers: Addressing teacher shortages and transforming the profession. Paris: UNESCO. Global report on teachers: addressing teacher shortages and transforming the profession - UNESCO Digital Library.

UNESCO-UIS. 2024. UIS database. Montreal: UNESCO Institute for Statistics.

Photo credit: VVOB - education for development

While schools in most countries have now reopened their doors after the Covid-19 hiatus, in Bangladesh the government  recently decided to extend the shutdown of educational institutions. Pupils have been out of school since March 17.

For teachers, the extended period out of school is both a challenge – to keep students engaged and learning – and an opportunity to rethink how education should be delivered.

Reimagining teaching

Sharmistha Deb is a teacher whose experience of supporting her female fourth-grade students remotely has led her to start a project developing new content on social-emotional learning.

“Research suggests that such learning can help reduce anxiety, suicide, substance abuse, depression, and impulsive behaviour in children,” says Sharmistha, “while increasing test scores, attendance, and social behaviours such as kindness, personal awareness and empathy.”

Lockdown has challenged the wellbeing of many children in Bangladesh. One assessment, conducted in May, found that over half were not taking part in online classes or watching the televised lessons aimed at families without internet access.

Asif Saleh, the executive director of BRAC – an NGO that provides a wide range of services across Bangladesh – has raised concerns about an increase in child marriages in rural areas, while urban areas are seeing more problems with youth crime and drugs.

Learning from previous crises

These reports mirror experiences in Africa during the Ebola crisis, according to UNESCO’s report ‘Addressing the gender dimensions of COVID-related school closures’: Ebola-related school closures “led to increases in early and forced marriages, transactional sex to cover basic needs and sexual abuse, while adolescent pregnancy increased by up to 65% in some communities”.

Sharmistha, a Fellow of the Teach for Bangladesh Fellowship programme, which aims to reduce educational disparities and build the long term leadership skills of educators, wanted the 33 girls in her class to feel connected and important while their school was closed. She uses a range of apps to keep in touch with them – Imo, Viber, WhatsApp and Facebook, as well as phone calls – and check on their mental health.

She found they were experiencing a wide range of psychological impacts due to being isolated from their friends and having to adjust to radically different daily routines, often with more responsibilities for looking after family members. Lockdown increased the financial insecurity of their households, which had already put some of the girls at risk of exploitation and child marriage.

Mental health mentoring

Sharmistha talks to the girls about five ways to boost mental health – prayer, healthy food, meditation, exercise and sleep. These conversations have deepened Sharmistha’s belief that teachers need to support students with their emotional wellbeing, help them to deal with anxiety and develop their self-confidence so they in turn can support their families and communities.

“Students may need additional psychological and socio-emotional support” because of lockdown, notes Supporting teachers in back-to-school efforts: A toolkit for school leaders, a recent publication by UNESCO, the Teacher Task Force and ILO. “A whole new set of vulnerabilities could have reared up during school closures, including disruption of vital safety nets such as school meals or exposure to other trauma in ‘at-risk’ households.”

Among the toolkit’s suggestions is “providing checklists for teachers to assess learners’ behaviour and reactions in relation to stress and anxiety”, and making sure teachers know how to report suspicions of abuse.

Building back equal: Girls back to school guide, calls for “professional development for teachers, school management and other education sector staff to identify and support girls who are struggling psychologically.”

Getting girls back to school

There is the challenge of getting girls back to school, after months away and amid continuing fear of the pandemic. Erum Mariam, the executive director of BRAC Institute of Educational Development, says frontline workers need to “give these families psychosocial assistance and to convince parents to send their children back to school… We cannot work under the assumption that once schools open, children will return.”

After the Ebola crisis there were “increases in school drop-outs among girls when schools reopened”.

Sharmistha is already planning how to integrate social-emotional learning into her lessons, with activities on mindfulness, self-control, relationship building, anger management, coping with stress, empathy, conflict resolution and social sensitivity, and identifying the early signs of mental illness.

“We need to develop social-emotional learning strategies that actually work as proactive initiatives for preventing mental illness,” she explains.

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This blog is part of a series of stories addressing the importance of the work of, and the challenges faced by teachers in the lead up to the 2020 World Teachers’ Day celebrations.

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Cover photo credit: Teach For Bangladesh

"What if lessons were like stories! What if we could watch those like cartoons on the TV!! Wouldn’t it be great fun, if lessons could float like clouds, in front of the eyes?  Learning could be more fun then. Again, if there is any time, when we are far from our school and teachers and we are unable to understand even an easy lesson; what can we do then?  Keeping this in mind, we came up with this endeavour.”

These words are from the description box of the Facebook page “The Online Teacher”. Let’s find out about the background story!

I am Shaila Sharmin, currently working as a teaching fellow for Teach for Bangladesh. I teach grade 4 and 5 students in a government primary school in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Like all other students all over the country, my students were preparing for a class party on 17th March, which is National Children's Day in our country. They made all the arrangements, decorated the classroom and ordered the cake. But suddenly the notice came to immediately shut all the educational institutions in the country before their party day. At first, the students thought that they had 14 days’ vacation. They were heartbroken, but they thought they could make it after the short vacation. We had no idea how long it was going to be.

When reality hit, we all found out that it is going to be an uncertain period of time. A colleague of mine, Atia, while communicating with students and asking about their life and study, realized that students did not have any scope for learning. They do not have anyone in their family who can help them regarding study. Fellows are their teachers whether the school remains open or not. 

Another fellow, Sanjida was maintaining contact with her students and giving them mental support. One of her students, who was top of her class, said, “Apa, when will the school will open? I have no teacher, no homework, I have nothing to study because I can’t solve some lessons by my own. I am getting bored at home and I will not get good marks in the examination if this situation continues.” After hearing the urge of her student to learn, Sanjida tried to support some of them over the phone. But it was not very feasible idea.

Analyzing all these events, I asked myself how prepared I was to face this problem. I thought there must be an alternative way to reach her students. So, Atia, Sanjida and I came up with an idea to support our students by making educational videos and sending them through the Internet.

We were determined to continue teaching and learning because life can’t stop in this lockdown. We gathered our ideas and thoughts. Initially we thought of making videos and sending them to our students. But then we realized we could post them on Facebook and upload them to YouTube. This could be useful for many students around the country. So we started to plan, selecting topics. We named their project The Online Teacher. We opened a Facebook page named The Online Teacher and created a YouTube channel. The videos are 5-10 minutes long so viewers don’t get bored. We are writing up scripts, gathering material, shooting them, editing the videos and finally uploading them to both Facebook and YouTube. We started by sending them to students to make sure they are understandable.  

Using this platform, we are trying to make comprehensible video lessons of Bangla, English, Math, General Science, Bangladesh and Global Studies and Fine Arts for grade 1-5; and to reach as many students as possible all over the country. We are also giving mental health support through messages and live sessions. We are not only focusing on textbook-related content but also trying to cover history and life-related knowledge.

We are seeking feedback from their students and asking them on which topic they need the videos. The students are also enjoying seeing their teacher on the screen and learning by themselves. But it was not an easy initiative to take. We didn't have any resources as we were not prepared for this long lockdown. We had no skill regarding video editing. In spite of the challenges, we made it happen. When you want to make a difference, you will find your way to your goal.

Teach for Bangladesh serves students who are from very challenging economic backgrounds.  A little care can have a great impact on them in this pandemic situation. Engaging those students with studying also helps keep them from anxiety and depression. COVID-19 has shown us many challenges. Our good work must go on because we believe doing something is better than doing nothing.

— Shaila Sharmin

Fellow, Teach For Bangladesh

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This piece is part of the Teacher Task Force’s #TeachersVoices campaign, created to bring forward the experiences of teachers working every day to ensure their students continue to benefit from a quality education despite the COVID-19 pandemic. To participate, go to our dedicated webpage.