In India we have had numerous requests to expand our programme from both our educational partners and from teachers in regions adjoining those where we now operate. Meanwhile we are working with Ministry of Education and Sports in launching programmes in Uganda. In addition, we have been requested by Self Help Africa to consider launching our programme in other African countries which are Irish Aid (the Irish government’s programme of assistance to developing countries) Bilateral Partners.

While we instinctively want to respond to these demands, we are determined nonetheless to retain our focus on our current programme and to ensure that we do not compromise our ability to deliver on our goals by spreading our resources too thinly – hence our strategy is one of step-by-step progression tempered by ongoing consolidation.

Our longer term strategy

Expansion of Programme
Towards the end of 2011 we will begin investigating opportunities for extending the programme in other geographical locations and with other prospective partners such as Self Help Africa and local educational authorities in India. Any such steps will however only be taken if we are certain that we have all the resources to ensure that any such expansion will not be at the expense of our current programme.

Administration, processes and expertise
In 2009 Comhlamh, the Irish Volunteering and Development Workers Organisation, carried out an audit on Global Schoolroom and confirmed that our operations and procedures are of a high standard. However we want to further develop our structures by establishing a more permanent management and administration team. We have appointed a part-time Finance and Office Manager and a Volunteering Manager. We intend to expand our Board of Directors to harness additional skills and have set up a panel of experts with international reputation to ensure that all our curricula and methodologies measure up to best international practice. We are also establishing working groups made up of alumni and practitioners in certain fields of expertise to work with us on a regular basis as part of a voluntary management team, with responsibility for driving specific areas of the programme.

Accreditation
We place the highest importance on ensuring that our programme is accredited both in Ireland and in countries where we work with local teachers. We intend to keep accreditation to the forefront of our agenda and ultimately to ensure that our programme is locally accredited to reflect the professional qualification achieved by participants. With this in mind we are building on the links already established with Don Bosco University in Guwahati and other universities in India’s North East in order to secure recognition locally for our Programme (preferably as a B.Ed). We also hope to put in place accreditation for the Global Schoolroom programme with one of the Ugandan Universities with which we are currently in discussions.

Curriculum development and course content
To ensure that the quality of the education and training provided is second to none and embodies the very best practice worldwide, in 2011 we carried out a full in-house module review and put in place a module enhancement programme facilitated by the School of Education, UCD.

We are also setting up a board of studies and an external examiner appointed by UCD.

In addition our panel of educational experts will review and research the Global Schoolroom programme.

In order to ensure our programme is reviewed to reflect changing local requirements a full review of the volunteer training programme is also taking place along with a consultation with those we are working with on the ground and with the relevant government bodies in India and Uganda .

Development Education
We want to see the hugely beneficial personal experience and skills gained by volunteers (and the opportunity they had to be immersed in the culture of Africa and India transferred to their fellow teachers in their staff rooms and to their pupils in their classrooms.

With this in mind, we have launched a Development Education Programme in collaboration with the Department of Education and Professional Studies in the University of Limerick. This initially takes the of a research programme to inform the direction and detail of the development education strategy.

An analysis of the Global Schoolroom programme in India as part of a social research project in association with the School of Education, UCD, is also taking place.
All of this will assist our network of alumni to ensure that teachers who have participated become advocates for Global Schoolroom and ambassadors for development education more generally.