With COVID-19 restrictions easing across the country, schools are taking necessary steps in preparing for their safe reopening.
To ease and support their reopening process, the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation, Inc. (RAFI) and the Global School Leaders (GSL) have joined forces to provide the necessary support to school leaders following the nationwide shutdowns due to the global pandemic.
The partnership will implement the Global School Leaders Upya Program, a module designed to equip partner organizations in various countries with skills to facilitate learning and provide ongoing support to school leaders. “Upya” means ‘renewal’ in Kiswahili, an appropriate term as schools reopen to the new normal.
The Upya program builds an online community that provides the right architecture for sharing best practices, resources, and ideas. Partner organizations and schools will gain access to curated content and resources designed to prepare schools for their safe reopening and help them establish remote learning mechanisms to deal with learning disruptions due to the pandemic.
“During the COVID- 19 pandemic, school leaders from across the world have had to address problems they have not been trained to solve. School leaders have had to shoulder the responsibility of looking out for the well-being of students and teachers, ensuring remote learning happens, and keeping the community involved in their schools. GSL created the Upya program to help them lead their schools through COVID-related challenges. As schools in the Philippines move to reopening, we are honored to partner with the RAFI team in training the first batch of school leaders in Cebu in the coming months. Together we will help these school leaders ensure the social and emotional well-being and continuous learning of students,” said Azad Oommen, Co-Founder Global School Leader.
RAFI aims to train 100 school leaders in Central Visayas, impacting over 3,000 learners in the region.
“We look forward to working with the Global School Leaders in implementing the Upya Program. RAFI is committed to responding to developing “future-ready leaders” who are responsive to the rapid changing education landscape. We are excited to build a thriving community of school leaders ready to journey with our learners in the new normal,” said Marie Sol Gonzalvo, Executive Director of the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation, Inc. Social Wellbeing Cluster.
In partnership with the Global School Leaders, the RAFI Center for Leaders will design virtual learning session geared towards the needs of school leaders in times of a global pandemic. The partnership will run for three years.
Global School Leaders is an international non-profit organization focused on mobilizing key stakeholders to invest and participate in school leadership training. We work with funders, governments, and NGOs in low and middle-income countries (LMIC) to strengthen their education systems.
The RAFI Center for Leaders provides learning and development programs that equip leaders and enable communities through world-class, safe, powerful learning experiences. The RAFI CFL headquarters are located in the scenic mountains of Balamban, Cebu at the Kool Adventure Camp, the country’s first and fully dedicated adventure education facility.
