American educational organisation AmidEast, with support from the GE Foundation, has started offering a new training programme for English teachers in six countries - Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Morocco, Palestine, and Tunisia.

The programme is currently being piloted in Egypt, with additional pilots to be conducted in Palestine and Jordan in the summer and subsequently in Iraq, Morocco, and Tunisia.

AmidEast developed the professional certificate in English language teaching (PCELT) as a vehicle for improving the quality of English language teaching in schools in the Mena region.

Support from the GE Foundation has enabled AmidEast to accelerate the implementation of this initiative in order to make it available to the region’s teachers, particularly in public school systems that stand to benefit most from increasing their pool of competent English language teachers. 

With English language proficiency linked to expanded opportunities for youth and improved business performance in the region, the need for qualified English teachers is now more critical than ever.

The initiative seeks to address the severe shortage of certified English language teachers at a time when Mena educational systems cannot meet this demand and few training options exist in the region.

In a recent survey carried out across the Mena, 94 per cent of the English teachers polled (representing all stages, from primary to university) conveyed a clear need for new, rigorous teacher certificate programmes in their countries.

Even those teachers with previous certification expressed interest in such training, recognising the need to upgrade their skills and improve their job prospects through an internationally recognised programme such as PCELT.

AmidEast will deliver PCELT in partnership with World Learning/SIT Graduate Institute, a pioneer and global leader in teacher education.

PCELT is based on SIT Graduate Institute’s highly regarded and accredited Tesol programme, now adapted to the needs of current and prospective English teachers in the region. 

The 120-hour PCELT program is unique in its flexible design and adaptable content that takes into account different classroom environments and diverse learner needs in the region.

PCELT will help raise the overall standards for the teaching of English in the region’s schools and universities by providing a cutting-edge curriculum that blends international best practices with topics of particular relevance for teachers throughout Mena.

The GE-funded PCELT pilot phase will enable AmidEast, to train 12 cohorts of teachers representing a broad range of teaching contexts and learner needs; to create a pool of PCELT-certified master trainers from the local communities; to adapt the comprehensive curriculum to the diverse realities of teaching in the region; and, to begin to measure the potential impact of such a programme on English language learners with different personal, academic, and professional goals.

Following this pilot phase, AmidEast will be prepared to deliver PCELT throughout the region, building on the organisation’s extensive experience in English language training and long-standing relationships with regional educational institutions.

Theodore H Kattouf, president and CEO, AmidEast, said: “English communication skills are now more than ever a qualification that opens doors for citizens of all ages in this region. We are pleased to announce this new partnership to make a real difference in teacher training in the Mena region at this historic moment.”

“We are proud to support AmidEast’s efforts to advance English language learning with a high-quality program for teachers that is grounded in international standards and suited to the needs of the region,” said GE Foundation president Bob Corcoran. “By focusing on teacher training, we can help build capacity in countries where qualified English teachers are in great demand in order to increase student’s language proficiency.” – TradeArabia News Service