Learning Entrepreneurship and Agriculture Practically

Newly qualified O-level teachers and BTVET (assistant) instructors and in-service O-level teachers and school leaders deliver effective, gender-responsive agriculture and entrepreneurship education. The Learning Entrepreneurship and Agriculture Practically (LEAP) programme constitutes VVOB’s commitment to the realisation of Target 4.4. of SDG4 and Goal 1 of the Uganda Joint Strategic Framework (JSF). Indirectly, the programme also contributes to the achievement of JSF Goal 5. More specifically, LEAP aims to improve the quality of agriculture and entrepreneurship teaching – and, hence, learning – in Uganda’s lower secondary (O-level) and secondary business, technical and vocational education and training (BTVET) schools. The programme introduces a model of effective, gender-responsive agriculture and entrepreneurship education that combines study and career guidance, project-based learning for agripreneurship, and work-based learning and that links schools to the agriculture world of work for the delivery of these three components. Over the course of the programme, 250 pre-service BTVET (assistant) instructors, 1,770 pre- and in-service O-level teachers and 250 in-service school leaders in the catchment areas of the National Instructors College Abilonino (NICA) and National Teachers Colleges (NTCs) Kabale, Mubende and Unyama will be equipped with the competences to do so, reaching 628,460 O-level learners and 13,715 learners in secondary BTVET. Thanks to LEAP, these educators will benefit from quality pre-service and continuous professional development (CPD) opportunities provided by NICA and the three NTCs. While the programme focuses on strengthening the capacity of these selected professional development providers, VVOB also supports the Ministry of Education and Sports and the Uganda National Institute for Teacher Education (UNITE) to foster collaboration, dialogue and adaptive learning aimed at designing a nation-wide scaling strategy. This strategy will be informed by evidence about the pre- and in-service professional development programmes offered by the colleges and about schools piloting three-component model.