NSF Developments Limited has extensive experience in system strengthening and political engagement; organisation development; strategic planning and budgeting; pre-service and in-service teacher training; school leadership and management training; materials development; school improvement planning; digital literacy; community engagement; communications and knowledge management (CKM); and Quality Assurance.
Cambridge Education —UNICEF Funded Teacher Management and Development Programme | (Nov. 2020 – till date)
NSF Developments is currently providing technical assistance to Cambridge Education to work with national and international consultants in implementing the UNICEF-funded Teacher Management and Development project in the conflict-affected states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe (BAY).
The UNICEF funded project involves two main strands:
i. strengthening teacher management and development systems of the states to undertake studies to understand the bottlenecks in effective teacher recruitment, deployment, and development to provide evidence for strategy development to strengthen systems.
ii. The development of training curriculum and the training of Master Trainers who will train teachers in the BAY states on learner-centred pedagogy, subject content knowledge; inclusive education and Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS).
Ekiti State Universal Basic Education Board: Teacher Training | (January 2021)
Supported the State Universal Basic Education Board (EKSUBEB) to train 700 newly recruited basic primary school teachers on 21st century Pedagogy, subject content knowledge and STEAM education to improve their effectiveness and increase learning outcomes within the basic education sector in Ekiti state.
The induction programme involved a three-day face-to-face contact session where participants were taken through the underpinning of topics and relating concepts to the national curriculum in such a way that can help the new teachers to facilitate students’ learning.
Cambridge Education From August 2008 –August 2019
To support the implementation of two DFID programmes- Education Sector Support Programme in Nigeria (ESSPIN) and the Teacher Development Programme (TDP) as follows:
A. ESSPIN: From August 2008- August 2013, NSF supported Institutional Development through:
Policy Influencing
Conducting strategic engagement with policymakers and managers using data to inform decisions leading to the institutionalization of activities that have worked; and supported the conduct of Teacher Developments Needs Assessment (TDNA) to determine the capacity of teachers to teach effectively.
Strategic Planning:
Built the capacity of Education Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDAs) to develop the Education Medium Term Sector Strategies (MTSS);
Supported the review of their Medium Term Basic Education Sector Plan (MTBEST 2017 –2019);
Supported 12 COEs in 5 states to develop organisation sector plans;
Supported SUBEBs in eight states and LGEAs to develop their annual budgets and prioritize activities;
Supported the conduct of Annual School Census (ACS) in five pilot states;
Organisation Development:
Through ESSPIN programme, NSF supported SUBEBs and LGEAs to conduct visioning and functions review to align functions with structure in order to deliver organizational objectives.
Policy Development:
Supported the National Commission for Colleges of Education to develop a reform programme for the Nigerian Certificate for Education (NCE);
B. Teacher Development Programme (August 2013 – November 2017)
For the second DFID programme – Teacher Development Programme (TDP) – NSF assisted in improving the quality of school leadership and management, pre-service, in-service teacher education across five states of Nigeria: Zamfara, Katsina, Kaduna, Kano and Jigawa .
Leadership and Management:
NSF provided leadership for the implementation of teacher education reform in up to five states in Nigeria working with DFID-TDP. The reforms included working with relevant MDAs to implement the National Teacher Education Policy (NTEP). This involved working with the National Commission for the Colleges of Education (NCCE) and Colleges of Education (COE) to strengthen pre-service education and worked with the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) and the State Universal Basic Education Boards (SUBEBs) to strengthen in-service teacher development through innovative, technology-enhanced approach of face-to-face, self-study and on-the-job support.
In-service Teacher Education:
Worked with TDP to support UBEC and SUBEBs in five states to strengthen in-service teacher training by creating or strengthening a cadre of state and local government level teacher trainers using a blended approach. The training model is a combination of face-to-face training; self-study using technology; support to teachers in school; and the conduct of school-based professional meetings and making schools learning communities through support and mentoring of headteachers to become the centre of learning and effective teaching. This resulted in the training of over 99,000 in-service teachers affecting the life changes of 5.4 million school children. In collaboration with the British Council, TDP developed materials and trained master trainers to implement Strengthen Teachers’ English Proficiency (STEP) programme at the Junior Secondary School level.
Pre-service Teacher Education:
supported NCCE and 12 COEs to:
- 1. Restructure 12 COEs to produce graduate teachers who are competent and fit to teach at the ECCDE, Primary School, Junior Secondary School, and Special needs area of basic education in Nigeria;
- 2. Improve quality assurance processes in 12 colleges leading to more effective teaching and coverage of the curriculum;
- Lead the development of the first comprehensive and relevant Continuing Professional Development Programme (CPDP) which was implemented by 1000 teacher educators in the 12 pilot COEs;
- 3. Strengthen teaching practice by training the relevant officers to implement the teaching practice toolkit affecting 20,000 student teachers;
- 4. Strengthen relationship between Colleges of Education and SUBEBs- for the first time linkages between pre-service education and in-service education has been created to aligned supply and demand of teachers through joint admissions of students into the colleges of education based on basic education needs.
Teachers Recruitment and Deployment:
Through TDP, NSF supported Kaduna State to design steps through which the government recruited, inducted and trained 33,000 new teachers and head teachers for primary schools in the State and developed Terms of Reference for the recruitment of Education Secretaries for Kaduna State resulting in improved systems.
Mentorship and Coaching:
Conducting mentorship and coaching for SSITs and SSOs on school improvement including school support visits (SSVs) and head teacher support leading to more effective school leadership.
Training:
Trained the newly appointed Education Secretaries in Kaduna State and master trainers to conduct interviews for the new teachers; conducted refresher training for the State School Improvement Teams (SSIT) and School Support Officers (SSOs) in Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Jigawa and Zamfara States resulting in an improved capacity.
OANDO FOUNDATION: FROM JUNE 2016- DECEMBER 2018:
NSF Developments supported Oando Foundation to implement the Teacher Training component of the Adopt-A-School Initiative (AASI) in twenty states of Adamawa; Akwa Ibom; Bauchi; Cross Rivers; Ebonyi; Enugu; Ekiti; Kaduna; Katsina; Kwara; Lagos; Niger; Ogun; Osun, Ondo, Oyo; Plateau; Sokoto; Taraba, and the Federal Capital Territory on learner centred pedagogical skills, reading in local language, content knowledge of English Language, Mathematics and Science and Technology.
1. Using a blended approach NSF trained 2,170 teachers on learner-centred pedagogy, classroom management, materials development and subject content knowledge;
2. Trained 171 School Leadership Teams (Head Teachers and Assistant Head Teachers) members on school leadership and management; and
3. Trained 120 School Support Officers (SSOs) as master trainers to continue to train and support teachers and headteachers through School Support Visits (SSVs).
GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP FOR EDUCATION (GPE/NIPEP) FROM JULY 2018- DATE
NSF Developments Limited is currently providing technical assistance to the Kano State Universal Basic Education Board and the GPE/NIPEP to reform Early Childhood Care and Development Education in twenty schools across the State. This reform is integrating STEAM education with literacy and has a strong digital literacy component. The reform is a whole school approach, which includes the provision of appropriate infrastructure including water and sanitation facilities, decongestion of classes, and development of teaching aids from available resources within the community. ECCDE teachers are trained on how to develop and use the resources and also how to set up activity corners and establish routines for young learners. School Support Officers are trained to support teachers and conduct School Support Visits (SSVs) to the participating schools.
Enugu State:
September 2018, NSF supported the Enugu State Universal Basic Education Board and Enugu State College of Education Technical to train master trainers on digital literacy:
Ministry of Defence: June – August 2019, NSF Trained
1. 25 Education Officers on 21st Century school leadership and management and how to integrate STEAM Education with school curriculum.
2. 30 Middle Management Officers on Risk Management.
Digital Literacy:
NSF trained 36 master trainers in Enugu on how to use of technology for teaching and learning and improved their pedagogical skills, content knowledge in literacy and numeracy, and digital literacy to enable self-study and access to Open Education Resources (OER). Digital literacy is central to the work we do with teachers. Teachers are supported to use technology to access open education resources (OER) to enhance their knowledge and become more innovative and creative.
WORLD BANK FUNDED STATE EDUCATION PROGRAMME INVESTMENT PROJECTS (SEPIP): JUNE 20 – DATE,
NSF Strengthening:
1. Quality Assurance process in Borno State and trained 20 master trainers who trained 80 School Support Officers as Quality Evaluation Officer who would then train 800 head teachers on school self-evaluation;
2. Trained 40 Early Childhood Care and Development Education (ECCDE) teachers, 10 School Support Officers, and 10 Quality Assurance Officer for Yobe State.
Principle: NSF’s core principle is working with strategic partners to leverage skills and competencies to deliver effective and efficient services. In this regard, we strengthen government systems and processes to enable effective delivery of education services.
