ACT Alliance member Finn Church Aid (FCA) this month signed an official agreement with the Eritrean National Commission for Higher Education in Asmara, Eritrea,to help support a revitalisation of teacher education in Eritrea.

Eritrea faces a critical shortage of trained teachers and training institutions are in need of radical reform, and in recognition of Finland’s international reputation for quality education, the Eritrean government has entered into a three-year programme (January 2015 – December 2017) with FCA.

Finn Church Aid will work side-by-side with Eritrean educators to strengthen teacher education programmes in all training institutions in Eritrea.

“The new agreement represents a welcome opportunity to renew partnership with Eritrea,” said Antti Pentikäinen, Executive Director of FCA. “Strengthening the teacher education is a great entry point to develop the education system as a whole.”

FCA will also support the planning and development of the first Innovation Centre in Eritrea. This new initiative will bring together innovation experts from Finland, Eritrea and East Africa.

The vision of the Innovation Centre is to develop new and local solutions to address pressing challenges in Eritrea, such as energy provision, better learning opportunities, education for marginalized populations in hard-to-reach areas, job creation, and so on.

The initial budget for the programme is 1.5 million euros for the next three years. The work is financed by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland.