Twenty-nine students from the University of Dar es Salaam have been recognized for their exceptional teaching skills at the 1st teaching skills competition. The competition, which was co-organized by the School of Education (SoED) of the university and the Sino-Africa Joint Center for Educational Research (SA-JoCER), aimed to enable student teachers to showcase their skills, competencies, and creativity.
Competition Details and Benefits
The teaching skills competition was aimed at second and third-year students studying education. Ten different subjects were selected from secondary school syllabuses, including biology, chemistry, physics, mathematics, civics, history, geography, Kiswahili, English, and Chinese language subjects. The competition aimed to raise awareness of the importance of practice and improving teaching styles.
The director of basic education in the Tanzanian Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology, Venance Manori, commended the University of Dar es Salaam and the Zhejiang Normal University of China for organizing the competition. He believes that the competition will improve the teaching skills of Tanzanian teachers. The dean of SoED, Eugenia Kafanabo, said the competition might be an entry point to bring all the relevant stakeholders together as an alliance to contribute to the quality of teacher education. The SA-JoCER coordinator, Eilleen Xu, expressed the belief that the competition might bring together all relevant stakeholders to improve the quality of teacher education.
Positive Outcomes and Student Achievements
One of the third-year students pursuing a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Education, Madaha Ndaki, expressed delight in winning in the Chinese language teaching skills category. He said his victory would motivate him to be competent in teaching the Chinese language to Tanzanians after completing his studies because it could open doors of employment with Chinese companies operating in Tanzania.
Overall, the competition was successful in achieving its goal of promoting teaching skills and creating awareness about their importance. The 29 students who won the competition can be proud of their achievements and will be able to apply their skills in their future careers as teachers. The collaboration between the University of Dar es Salaam and the Zhejiang Normal University of China, as well as the involvement of the SA-JoCER, has created opportunities for student teachers to showcase their talents and improve their skills.
