The Uganda National English Language Teachers’ Association (UNELTA), with support from the United States Embassy Kampala, is implementing a 1-year project to equip teachers and learners with language skills necessary to strengthen their socioeconomic competence necessary for entrepreneurship and economic opportunity. Under this project, UNELTA is conducting a series of training sessions to guide teachers on basic concepts and guidelines to initiate and implement, with their learners, creative micro-businesses or non-profit projects in their schools or communities. On a competitive basis, three best-implemented initiatives will be selected for awards totalling to $700 at the end of the project period.

The inductive training was conducted on February 17 and 18, 2018. During this training, the teachers deliberated on the practical English language and business skills necessary for initiating and operating small-scale entities. Affirming that these skills are relevant to their own personal and professional development, as well as to improving the academic and socioeconomic competence of their learners, the teachers went back to initiate micro-projects with groups of learners in their respective schools and communities. The UNELTA project team visited these initiatives.

On June 16 and 17, UNELTA conducted the project review training to chart ways of sustaining strengths, address identified challenges and explore new possibilities. It is hoped that after the session, the teachers and students implementing micro-projects will have improved knowledge and skills to make their projects better.

During the session, June birthday “babies” cut cake(!) along with Sarah Sanderson, the English Language Fellow based at Mbarara University of Science and Technology.