UNESCO Funding Solutions Aim to Enhance the Federation’s Teacher Professionalization Ambitions

Published 19 May 2025

Buckie Got It

St. Kitts and Nevis News Source

UNESCO Funding Solutions Aim to Enhance the Federation’s Teacher Professionalization Ambitions

Basseterre, St. Kitts and Nevis, May 15, 2025 (UNESCO National Commission) – In less than one year since the signing of an agreement with the Open University of Tanzania (OUT), the St. Kitts and Nevis Ministry of Education is now poised to offer the Federation’s teaching force the opportunity to pursue remote-based studies to obtain a Bachelor’s Degree in Education.

Under the leadership of Dr. Kertney L. Thompson, Chief Executive Officer, St. Kitts-Nevis TVET Council Secretariat, plans are accelerating to operationalise the terms of this game-changing teachers training initiative, which originated at, and was endorsed by, UNESCO, the specialised UN agency in Paris.

Following fund-raising efforts engaged by the Permanent Delegation of St. Kitts and Nevis to the UNESCO in Paris, led by Ambassador David Doyle, sufficient resources have now been secured from UNESCO sources to cover the OUT tuition charges for some 20 teachers, who await registration with the Open University of Tanzania.

The SKN-OUT agreement, signed in November 2024, foresees offering accredited specialised courses designed for teachers leading to a Bachelor’s Degree in Education.  This is backed by UNESCO-enabled funded ‘scholarships’ provided by the Ministry of Education to eligible teachers across the Federation.  Certain adaptations to the OUT curriculum were made to ensure alignment with the needs of the Federation, as a small island developing state, and in areas like special needs education.

St. Kitts and Nevis Minister of Education, and Deputy Prime Minister, Dr. Geoffrey Hanley, noted that “the overall objective in forging an agreement with the Open University of Tanzania was to raise the professionalization of the St. Kitts and Nevis’ teaching force by scaling-up the basic qualifications of existing teachers, to ensure that they are better trained and qualified to undertake teaching at all levels in our education system.”

A large proportion of teachers lack a basic university-level undergraduate degree or professional qualification before embarking on a teaching career

“The OUT solution is a cost-effective, time-efficient and robust response to the urgent need identified by the Ministry of Education, in investing the country’s teachers with an appropriate skill-set at both academic and pedagogical levels”, concluded Minister Hanley.  He added that the Ministry’s outreach to the Federation’s teaching force to offer the Open University of Tanzania’s training solution had resulted in “over-subscribed levels of interest in registration”.

The Open University of Tanzania is a full-fledged, autonomous and accredited public University, established in 1992, offering certificate, diploma, degree and postgraduate courses through the open and distance learning system which includes various means of communication such as face-to-face, broadcasting, telecasting, correspondence, seminars, e-learning as well as a blended mode which is a combination of two or more means of communication. The OUT’s academic programmes are quality-assured and centrally regulated by the Tanzania Commission for Universities (TCU).

The OUT-SKN agreement has the full and active support of UNESCO, which has worked since 2011 with the institution and in partnership with UNESCO-International Bureau of Education (UNESCO-IBE), in strengthening the capacities among stakeholders in education and training provision, management, research, monitoring and evaluation. 

Minister Hanley hailed the appropriateness of the OUT programme, structured at different exit levels, and designed to strengthen the capacities of curriculum developers, teacher educators, graduate serving teachers, school inspectors, examination officers as well as educational planners and policy makers at local and regional level; in order to enhance their competencies in understanding, leading, researching, planning, designing, implementing, monitoring and evaluating the curriculum and decision making about curriculum and education in general.

Minister Hanley commended special envoy to UNESCO, Ambassador Doyle, for his initiative in launching the negotiations with OUT and negotiating funding in a relatively short timeframe. noted Ambassador Doyle:

“This UNESCO-inspired initiative, will significantly scale-up the professionalization of the country’s teaching force to a minimum level of academic achievement, in line with UNESCO’s objectives and toolbox to mobilize international and national efforts to empower, recruit, train and support teachers within resilient education systems for a collaborative, innovative and cohesive teaching profession”.

The Federation’s negotiations at UNESCO HQ in concluding the OUT agreement was largely facilitated by Zulmira RODRIGUES, Chief of the Section for Small Island Developing States (SIDS) section at Paris HQ, who stated:

“The St. Kitts and Nevis agreement with the Open University of Tanzania presents a tangible expansion of the UNESCO Accelerator Programme 5 in support of the transformation of Education Systems in SIDS in the Digital era, via Harnessing Digital Technologies for Education and Sustainable Development of SIDS, and is also fully aligned with the UNESCO-SIDS   Global   High-Level Dialogues on   Disaster Risk Reduction, whilst using an intersectoral approach”

She added: “The OUT teachers training initiative in St. Kitts and Nevis constitutes a pilot experience from which a policy for teacher training using digital technologies can be developed, and by documenting this exercise, a best practice case can be made to extrapolate this exercise in other SIDS across the globe in the near future. The OUT–St. Kitts and Nevis collaboration is also a great example of South-South collaboration, building on a previous support from UNESCO to this Tanzanian institution to build capacities for quality education leveraging digital opportunities”.

H.E. Nerys Dockery, Secretary General to UNESCO National Commission of St. Kitts and Nevis echoed similar sentiments, stating, “This initiative has all the potential to be transformative, both in terms of the impact made in enhancing the skills and training levels of our nations teaching force, as well as through the innovative utilization of digital technologies as a medium for knowledge transfer.  I wish to extend high praises for the diligent work of Permanent Representative of St. Kitts and Nevis to UNESCO, His Excellency, Ambassador David Doyle, for his diligent efforts to further the development objectives of the Ministry of Education.  I wish all the pioneering student–teachers participating in this first cohort every success as they advance their studies.  I also celebrate another step towards strengthening ties with partner countries in Africa in areas of mutual benefit”.

The local focal OUT-SKN project coordinator, Dr. Thompson, commented: “

“Having worked closely with TVET Teachers in the past with the TVET Enhancement Scholarship Programme which cost the Federation over US$2 million for 20 teachers, I am extremely excited for this opportunity for our teachers to scale up their qualification at such a reputable international university as OUT in line with the Federation efforts of professionalizing the teaching force in such an inexpensive manner.

I also want to extend my appreciation to Ambassador Doyle for spearheading this initiative and to UNESCO for its support in developing our teaching force. The oversubscription of applicants is a testament to our teachers’ commitment to upscaling their qualification and more specifically their skillsets to be better prepared and better equipped to teach our nation’s children”.