Why Every ICT Teacher Should Join ITAU

The ICT Teachers’ Association of Uganda (ITAU) is a gathering of teachers of ICT in Uganda across all levels of education. With the initial idea started in 2017 by a group of visionary ICT teachers, the association whose patron is Hajji. Bbuye Abubaker, has grown into a strong body with a membership of over 1000 as of December 2019.

This year, 2020, the executive is
banking on the lessons of 2019 and intends to double membership by the end of
the year.

However, it is common to bump into a
teacher of ICT who has never heard about ITAU. Also, majority of the teachers
are secondary school teachers leaving a big number of primary school and
tertiary level instructors out.

As the saying goes, “Iron sharpens iron”, it is imperative that as teachers of ICT, we need to come together. This article explains the benefits of membership to the ICT Teachers’ Association.

Capacity Development Workshops (CDWs)

The ICT Teachers’ Association has
prepared several Capacity Development Workshops in which various topics have
been presented. In May 2019, the association started the year with a 2 day
National capacity development Workshop at Kololo SS where Hon. Nyombi Tembo was
chief guest.

Hon. Nyombi Tembo was guest of honour at the ICT Teachers’ National CDW of 2019 at Kololo Senior Secondary School.

This was followed by regional Capacity
Development Workshops in the Eastern, Western, Northern and Central regions of
Uganda. The Western region CDW was hosted by Kyebambe Girls while Dr. Obote
College hosted the one for Northern region. Busoga College Mwiri hosted the
Eastern region CDW while the climax was at King’s College Budo which hosted the
Central Region.

Read also: Workshops to attend in 2020

The year 2020 will be busier as more
CDWs have been lined up even up to sub regional level.

Access to Teaching Resources

It is a fact that every teacher has a
unique approach to teaching. As professional teachers, we are also advised to
use a variety of references when preparing lessons. The gap in experience is
also wide with many members having only a year or so of experience.

The availability of resources among members is a good pool of resources which teachers can benefit from in order to enrich their lessons. The association has notable authors as members like Mr. Atwine Solomon, Mr. Tuhame Moses, Mr. Rogers Mukalele and Mr. Kichui Shadrack.

Access to Exams and Tests

Just like notes, a teacher’s other role is to expose his/her students to a variety of assessment. It therefore becomes imperative for the teacher to look out for tests and exams from colleagues in the same field of ICT.

From a pool of 1000 teachers, you can
never run short of exams for your students to try. This also gives you an
insight on how fellow teachers are assessing their students.

One of ITAU’s founder members Mr. Rogers Mukalele is the owner of Sharebility, a dedicated website where teaching resources and exams are shared from different schools, teachers and examination bodies.

A screenshot of the sharebility website run by Rogers Mukalele.

Opportunities to Diversify Your Income

Teachers of ICT also get exposed to professional opportunities in the field of IT. For example, the ICT Teachers Association has introduced members to the WordPress community in Uganda. This has helped teachers diversify their sources of income.

Rogers Mukalele interacts with guests at WordCamp Kampala in November 2019.

Personally, I attended my first WordCamp in 2018 at the invitation of Rogers Mukalele (ITAU National Coordinator). Today, due to inspiration from that 2 day event, I am a proud co-director of E-zone Web Services, a web design and hosting business entirely owned and run by ICT teachers.

Exposure to Job Opportunities

Members of the ICT Teachers’
Association are exposed to several job opportunities that are shared on the
social media pages and association website. This has helped colleagues in the profession
get job opportunities.

School administrators who are also
members of ITAU are exposed to a pool of teachers from which they can scout for
staff. The conversations in the social media plaforms give employers a hint on
what kind of staff suits their environment helping them make informed
decisions.

Leadership Opportunities

ITAU has a clear leadership structure
from National up to regional level. With a 2 year term for the executive,
members of ITAU are given a chance to show their leadership qualities.
Elections are held at every second AGM to fill the posts at National and
regional committees.

Some of the members of the ITAU executive after their meeting on 8th Match, 2019.

This experience is a stepping stone
for future leadership opportunities at their places of work or even at national
political level.

Membership to the SACCO

The ICT Teachers Association of Uganda
runs a SACCO whose major purpose is to provide financial liberation to members.
The ICT Teachers’ SACCO seeks to extend financial services to the fraternity
with friendly terms which in turn helps in both professional and material development.

Motivation from Others

Whereas it is evident that all of us
are teachers of ICT, some members have taken it further by diversifying their
sources of income. Such members are a great inspiration to others in the field.
Members get encouraged to try out other avenues within the profession or
related to the profession.

The proprietor of Amazing Grace Stationery Mr. Bogere Geofrey (In shirt) is also a member of ITAU. In T-shirt is the write, Dumba Stephen.

For example, Mr. Mwondha is a great inspiration
for those who may wish to take on facilitation as an extra source of income.
Mr. Mwondha David, a teacher of King’s College Budo is a much sought after
facilitator who has featured at ITAU CDWs. He is an examiner not only in Uganda
but the East African Region.

Building Your Career

Every teacher of ICT was once a
newbie. The knowledge you have as a teacher is gained through various avenues including
student years, at work and through membership to fraternities like ITAU.

It has been said before that iron
sharpens iron. The journey we go through to grow as teachers of ICT can be
smoother if we share with others in the profession. It is even imperative to
associate with those of the same mind if we are to build our careers.

Help With Computer Laboratories

Among the members of the ICT Teachers’
Association of Uganda are some who have gained expertise in the management of
computer labs. This helps teachers deal with technical problems in their computer
labs thereby reducing on their schools’ maintenance budget.

Read also: Hardware every computer lab should have.

Last year’s CDWs had a topic on
maintenance of computer labs where teachers were taught basic lab procedures
and solving common problems.

Dumba Stephen was facilitator on computer lab management at the National CDW of 2019 at Kololo Senior Secondary School.

Answers From Experienced Teachers

Sometimes, teachers get a biting issue
whose answers may not readily be available in available books. A question
paused on the ITAU platforms can easily be answered by another teacher almost
instantly.

Sometimes, some questions cause a
debate and by the end of the day, a professional answer is got.

Practicing Your Writing Skills

The ICT Teachers Association runs its
website where content is created by registered members. Teachers with the love
for writing are given an open opportunity to hone their writing skills by
posting articles to the platform.

This in turn brings in more opportunities within and outside the association. For example, I started writing on this platform in May 2019. With reviews and encouragement from readers, I was able to get opportunities to write for SML News Uganda, an online news agency and Muzungu Blog Uganda, a tourism blog promoting Uganda to the outside world.

Promoting Personal Business

The ICT Teachers’ Association of
Uganda is a perfect avenue for teachers to promote their skills and businesses.
One such example is Mr. Mukisa, who doubles as a photographer.

Mr. Mukisa was very helpful in the
photography of the regional CDWs at Kyebambe Girls, Busoga College Mwiri and
King’s College Budo.

Emma da Computer guy is another member of ITAU who promotes his School Management System on the associatin’s platforms.

Stephen Dumba
E-zone School of Computing
+256 772 111 223 / +256 752 111 223