Graduate students from Kenya, Malawi and Uganda immersed in EARTH’s educational model

Filed Under: EARTH News
Date: September 5th, 2012

From August 28 to September 7, eleven graduate students from Moi University in Kenya, Bunda College in Malawi and Makerere University in Uganda will be at EARTH University for a comprehensive introduction to EARTH’s practices, educational model and programs. During their time at EARTH the graduate students will be participating in classes, field practices and community development activities with farmers and communities, gaining direct experience in rural value-chain development and promotion.

Their visit represents the first action in a year-long collaborative agreement between EARTH and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to provide the three African universities with assistance in strengthening their capacity in experience-based education and community engagement. The participating institutions form part of the Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM), a consortium of 29 universities in Eastern, Central and Southern Africa.

EARTH University provost, Daniel Sherrard commented: “It’s a real pleasure to have these students on campus; their enthusiasm for learning about new approaches to education is contagious, and they’ve formed strong connections with our undergraduate students from their countries.”

In addition to the experiential learning trip for the eleven graduate students occurring this month, EARTH will coordinate a study tour for 10 RUFORUM faculty members and host a group of Vice Chancellors and Deans of RUFORUM member institutions. As part of the project, EARTH faculty will also travel to East Africa to participate in workshops to share, refine and design implementation strategies for strengthening rural entrepreneurship training and promoting experiential and student-centered learning.

 

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