Teaching Opportunities at the Gashora Girls Academy of Science and Technology
TEACHING OPPORTUNITIES: With its goal of creating a model secondary school of science and technology for the Rwanda Ministry of Education, GGAST is seeking 2 full-time international teachers whose circumstances would allow them to work at the School in return for the cost of international airfare, modest dormitory housing (appropriate only for single people), health insurance, and a monthly stipend of $1000 USD. We are particularly interested in two profiles: 1) an experienced chemistry and biology teacher with STEM curriculum development experience; and 2) an experienced Math and statistics teacher also with cross-departmental STEM experience in curriculum and pedagogy development. These lead teachers would also help to establish training programs for the Rwandan teachers.
An hour south of the capital of Kigali and located on a beautiful 25-acre lakeside setting, Gashora Girls Academy of Science and Technology opened in February, 2011 with its first class of 90 Senior 4 (sophomore) girls who are among the very best and brightest of Rwanda's young women. We will add another class in January, 2012 and by the 2013 school year GGAST will be educating 270 girls in the three grades of “senior secondary.”
The campus includes 3 student dormitories, a dining hall with attached kitchen, 3 science labs, a computer lab and wireless campus, a library, other classrooms, soccer, basketball and volleyball facilities and 2 faculty dormitories. The project also includes, in partnership with Washington State University, a demonstration farm/garden designed to produce healthy food for the community as well as cash crops to contribute to the school’s financial sustainability.
The one-year job description (renewable for a second year) would include teaching 3-4 sections of 30 girls each, being an advisor to approximately 12 girls, supervising an afternoon club, sport or activity, being available for extra help/tutoring on a regular basis, and regular supervisory duties required in a boarding school.
Job requirements: At least 3 years of teaching experience, ideally with some mentoring/supervisory experience; prior international experience preferred; ability and willingness to contribute to extracurricular programs required; ability to thrive in unpredictable situations; effective and supportive colleague and team player a must. Patience and a sense of humor essential to be successful!
If you do not have teaching experience you will not be hired for a paid teaching position. You may wish, therefore, to consider a volunteer position which would require you to raise at least $3000USD to cover your expenses for a year. Please indicate whether you are applying for the paid or volunteer position in your cover letter.
Peter Thorp is the founding Head of School. Peter brings to GGAST 23 years of boarding school experience (5 years as head of Cate School and 18 years at Fountain Valley School) as well as the start up experience of founding Gateway High School, a public charter school, in San Francisco.
Additional background: Rwanda Girls Initiative (RGI) is a Seattle-based NGO dedicated to girls secondary education. Research and statistics underscore that supporting girls’ education has the highest potential return on investment:
• Only 13% Rwandan girls matriculate to secondary school; • When women and girls earn income, they reinvest 90 percent of it into their families, as compared to only 30 to 40 percent for a man; • Each extra year of secondary schooling boosts a girl’s future wages by 15-25%; • When a girl in the developing world receives seven or more years of education, she marries four years later and has 2.2 fewer children (an important statistic for Rwanda, the most densely populated country in Africa).
The founders learned that the traditional “aid-based” international school model needed major improvements. Specifically, schools with strong ties to their communities were far more likely to succeed, than schools simply “dropped” into communities. The founders realized that a sustainable secondary educational model in Rwanda would require a business model that engaged the community and ultimately turned over responsibility to local authorities. With that in mind the Gashora Community Center was dedicated on May 19, 2010.
RGI/GGAST has 4 specific goals: • To prepare students to pass the national examinations in their respective A Level courses of study and to be well prepared for university study in Rwanda and throughout the world; • To employ the best teachers to work with the girls and to provide teacher training for Rwandan teachers; • To connect to the women in the local community by offering courses in health, computer skills, micro-lending and investment opportunities, sustainable agriculture, etc. at the School’s Community Center; • To become financial sustainable and independent of RGI within 7 years and by so doing to provide a replicable model for the Ministry of Education.
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