English Language Teachers

The English Language Improvement Programme (ELIP) was set up by the Ministry of Education in 2002 to tackle the low levels of English proficiency amongst students and teachers. English Language Improvement Centres (ELICs) are now being established in teacher training institutes and universities across the country. These ELICs will plan and develop curricula for ELT and English for specific purposes. As an ELIP trainer you’ll plan and implement training courses in ELICs to improve English Language skills and support the continuous professional development of teachers.

What does the role involve?

• Carrying out English language learning needs assessments of academic and support staff
• Providing English language training to academic and support staff and students
• Providing additional training in teaching methodology and materials development
• Participating in ELIP workshops and conferences, working in a team with other VSO volunteers and Ethiopians to evaluate and improve the programme

Skills, qualifications and experience required

You’ll be a qualified teacher with at least three years’ teaching experience. You’ll have strong student centred and active learning methodologies and experience in mentoring other teachers. With strong leadership and communication skills, you’ll be creative, flexible and able to work in close partnership with colleagues. As you’ll be working alongside other volunteers and Ethiopian colleagues, there’ll be plenty of professional and personal support.

And the rest...

Landlocked Ethiopia is situated in North Eastern Africa, bordering Eritrea, Sudan, Kenya, Somalia and Djibouti. The Simien Mountains are arguably the most spectacular mountain range in Africa, and Lalibela, with its 13th century rock-hewn churches, the medieval castle of Gondar, and the multitude of different tribes of the Omo Valley make for a very different experience from most other African Countries. You’ll be based in Robe, a town of approximately 40,000 people in south-central Ethiopia. You’ll most likely live in a single story house with electricity and water supplies close to the university campus.

We’ll ask you to commit to 24 months to make a sustainable contribution to our development goals. In return, we’ll give you comprehensive financial, personal and professional support. We'll provide you with extensive training before your placement, and our financial package includes a living allowance, return flights, accommodation, insurance and more. When you return to your home country, we'll help you to resettle and many of our returned volunteers stay involved with us long after their placement ends.

Rwanda’s education system saw two-thirds of its qualified teachers killed or exiled during the 1994 genocide. The country has made extraordinary progress since then. Economic growth has recently been the second highest in Africa and primary school enrolment has risen from 950,000 in 1994 to 1.67 million today.

Education was prioritised in Rwanda as a means to rebuild a nation devastated by years of civil conflict and repression but the quality of education often remains poor. Student to teacher ratios are high and there’s a lack of qualified teachers. Working at the ES Mushubi Lower Secondary School, you’ll equip students with the English language skills they’ll need to progress to upper secondary level. You’ll also help your local colleagues, who are mostly teaching without qualification, to improve their teaching methods.

What does the role involve?

• Teaching English to students in the school and facilitating in-service training for local colleagues through regular English workshops
• Sharing teaching resources and methodologies with local English teachers and helping them to strengthen the school’s English department
• Raising awareness of inclusive participative education
• Incorporating social issues, such as HIV and AIDS and gender across classroom teaching and in-service teacher training

Skills, qualifications and experience required

You’ll be a graduate with a formal teaching qualification such as a CELTA, Trinity TESOL, and have at least 2-3 years’ classroom teaching experience. You should be able to work independently and have good communication skills. Patience, flexibility, sensitivity and enthusiasm are essential for all VSO volunteers.

You’ll need to be able to work with limited resources, and maintain social networks with colleagues, friends and local leaders. Command of intermediate French is also needed and basic Kinyarwanda will be useful for your daily social and professional life – you’ll receive lessons when you arrive in country.

And the rest...

Known as the ‘Land of the thousand hills’, Rwanda is one of the smallest and most beautiful countries in Africa.  You’ll be based in the small town of Mushubi in the south of Rwanda which has a cool and pleasant climate all year round. As for food, the staple Rwandan diet is beans, rice, grilled bananas and fast food favourites such as spicy fried meatballs and goat shish kebabs.

We’ll ask you to commit to 12-24 months to make a sustainable contribution to our development goals. In return, we’ll give you comprehensive financial, personal and professional support. We'll provide you with extensive training before your placement, and our financial package includes a living allowance, return flights, accommodation, insurance and more. When you return to your home country, we'll help you to resettle and many of our returned volunteers stay involved with us long after their placement ends.

In Vietnam children with special educational needs face exclusion due to lack of accessible education services and predominant social attitudes regarding disability. This becomes more significant after 2005 statistics revealed that there are over 1.1 million children with disabilities in Vietnam and 75 per cent of these do not go to school. As an ELT teacher at the Hanoi University of Education, you’ll work directly with lecturers based in the Faculty of Special Education to strengthen English language skills, allowing them to access better resources on special education to improve the quality of education offered to children with special needs.

What does the role involve?

• Leading teaching and training programmes focusing on English language skills for lecturers based in the Faculty of Special Education
• Developing suitable resources to aid learning
• Providing training on how to access online teaching resources that will enhance the Special Needs Education curriculum taught at Hanoi University
• Observing lectures and providing feedback English language use and flagging areas for improvement

Skills, qualifications and experience required

You’ll have a degree level qualification as well as a formal teaching qualification such as a TEFL and at least two years’ experience teaching English. You’ll also need an interest in the needs of children with disabilities and have excellent interpersonal and communication skills. Patience, flexibility and a sense of humour are important qualities in all VSO volunteers, as these will help you to successfully integrate into your new community.

And the rest...

Vietnam is a long, thin country in South East Asia, bordering Cambodia, Thailand and Laos. The country has a beautiful coastline that stretches over 3,000 km along the South China Sea while the interior has brilliant green rice paddies and impressive mountains, some covered in dense, misty forest. You’ll be based in Hanoi, the capital, a vibrant and lively city with a variety of restaurants, bars and cultural places of interest. Vietnamese cuisine is quite similar to Thai food - curries, soups and noodle dishes, with soy sauce, lemongrass and often lots of chillies!

We’ll ask you to commit to 12-24 months to make a sustainable contribution to our development goals. In return, we’ll give you comprehensive financial, personal and professional support. We'll provide you with extensive training before your placement, and our financial package includes a living allowance, return flights, accommodation, insurance and more. When you return to your home country, we'll help you to resettle and many of our returned volunteers stay involved with us long after their placement ends.