WORLD BANK SDP PROJECT COMMENCES TRACER STUDY

Under this activity, there has been development of Science Teacher programmes by the Faculties of Science and Education. Additionally, two cohorts of Education Science students have already been enrolled at Chancellor College. In order to support the increased number of students, construction of 4 lecture theaters and 7 laboratories will commence soon and some laboratories equipment and stationery have already been purchased. The project is also supporting refurbishing and partitioning of a section of the library ground floor and basement. It is expected that 22 academic and technical support staff will be trained under the project. And so far, 11 of these have already proceeded for training within the region. 

Currently, one of the crucial activities under the project is the running of a tracer study, with the aim of evaluating how Education Science students are faring after graduation. The steering committee of the project met at Nkopola Lodge, Mangochi, on 20th August, to review the results of a pilot tracer study, and to make final modifications to the data collection tools that are to be used in the first phase of the actual tracer study. These include questionnaires that will be made available to former students who enrolled in the Bachelor of Education Science programme between 2012 and 2015, as well as current and potential employers of these students. The graduate questionnaire is currently accessible on the Chancellor College website.

Dr. Bob Chulu, who is the coordinator of the tracer study and Monitoring and Evaluation coordinator of the SDP project, explains that the tracer study is important because it will allow us to determine the marketability of our programme. Future plans of the project are to continue collecting such data for program improvements. 

The questionnaire can be completed in 30 minutes and in recognition of such time spent filling the questionnaire, there is an option for the respondents to provide their contact details, upon which they will be awarded two copies of their academic transcript for the programme. If you know some graduates of the programme (BEDS 2012 – 2015) please, pass this information to them. We appreciate your help.