SABIER

The project consists of three major components. They are:

1. Creating, curating, sourcing OER content that meets the needs of elementary students aligned to both Ghanaian and South African standards. A special emphasis is on incorporating materials edited and adapted for and translated into the local languages in addition to the use of English language materials. The courses will be openly licensed and shared via MoodleNet.

2. Implementing the OER content in the classrooms on open source MoodleBox software on portable servers that do not require internet access.

3. Creating professional development courses for teachers to support their implementation of the OER curriculum. These Prof Dev courses will be conducted on an open source Moodle system; the courses will be openly licensed and shared via MoodleNet.

Our goal was that by October 31, 2023, teachers at two schools in rural Ghana and one in a township in the Western Cape, SA, would be participating in ongoing professional development. We already met that goal and are setting new goals to include more schools.

Nomvuyo Mgoqi, who was an Education Specialist at the University of Cape Town, is leading teacher for professional development in the Western Cape with support from Kathryn Kure of the STEAM Foundation NPC. Peter Amoabil leads teachers for both schools in Ghana with support from Dan McGuire of SABIER.

This project supports the attainment of the UN Sustainable Development Goals and UNESCO’s Education for Sustainable Development (ESDs); it fosters inclusive participation; and it’s an innovative application of Open Educational Resources and curriculum design.

Ghana and South Africa face similar problems in providing education at all levels but especially at the elementary level. A particular problem in both countries is the availability of appropriate reading material. Both countries have national requirements that instruction is to be provided in the mother tongue of the children for at least the first three years and then gradually transition to the dominant language, usually English. Ghana and South Africa have eleven official local languages each for a total of twenty different languages.

The Catch 22 is that neither country is able to provide materials in the local languages. Teachers are left to make it up on their own with chalk and chalkboards. Our project provides a solution. Editable digital books are provided via a portable server that does not require internet access. Students access the server via inexpensive WIFI only devices. Teachers are trained in the process of translating and creating appropriate assessments in both English and the local languages – Dagbani in Ghana and isiXhosa in South Africa. This project is replicable nationally in both countries and for all of the various local languages.  Over 9 million students are potential beneficiaries in just these two countries.