Why Dr Rarieya is on building teacher capacity in East Africa

Based in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, the Aga Khan University’s Institute for Educational Development (AKU-IED-EA) has been one of the leading centres in East Africa, working to improve the quality of education. At the core of these achievements is the Institute’s Dean, Dr Jane Rarieya who brings more than a decade of experience in higher education as a fellow of the Commonwealth Centre for Education at Cambridge University, UK and a Trustee for Children in Freedom Trust, UK. In a recent interview in The Citizen, Dr Rarieya spoke about her background as well as the challenges of the teaching profession. “Despite the limited funding for education, we at IED are focused on efficiently managing the resources we have. Our biggest contribution has been developing the capacity of teachers through our master’s programme, targeting in-service teachers. We work with governments across the region, training teachers who return to their countries to support their education systems. In Tanzania, for example, our graduates hold influential positions. This allows them to make a real impact on the education sector,” she explained.