In early 2025, Kentalis International Foundation launched a new collaboration with OSNET to improve the quality of education for deaf and hard-of-hearing learners in Tanzania. This effort focuses not only on learners in special schools, but also on the growing number of deaf students in mainstream classrooms.
Project: Multiplying Learning Opportunities for Tanzanian Teachers
Phase 1
The first phase of the project, Multiplying Learning Opportunities for Tanzanian Teachers, supports teachers through targeted training based in the Reading Method for Early Literacy (RMEL), an interactive approach that fosters early reading skills in young deaf learners.
Addressing a Growing Need
Since 2009, the number of children with hearing loss attending school in Tanzania has increased by 30%. Many are placed in mainstream schools, where teachers often lack the training to meet their specific needs. Even specialized educators may not be familiar with the latest teaching strategies for deaf learners. The first phase of this project helps bridge that gap, giving educators the tools to make learning accessible and inclusive.
A Blended Learning Approach
To kick off the project, 12 professionals from various regions in Tanzania were selected for an intensive train-the-trainer program, delivered through a combination of e-learning and in-person workshops.
Over a three-month period, Kentalis International Foundation's project leader Eva Geneste and experts Ank Willems and Wilma Wessels traveled twice to Tanzania. In the first phase, held in Morogoro, 12 selected teachers were trained to become future trainers. A month later, in Moshi, these newly trained educators co-led sessions for additional teachers under supervision.
Wilma Wessels reflected on the experience: "Our training methods, which are interactive and playful, were at first unfamiliar to the participants. But as the week progressed, enthusiasm grew."
The initiative also made a significant impact through inclusivity. Both groups included deaf educators who participated using sign language and with the help of interpreters, emphasizing the importance of representation in training sessions.
Building Long-Term Impact
Kentalis International Foundation and OSNET are working together to expand the reach of e-learning in Tanzania. As part of this project, a dedicated section of Kentalis International Foundation's e-learning platform has been configured for OSNET, allowing the organization to manage access for its members independently.
OSNET is an organization with several hundred members active in inclusive education. By providing OSNET with its own section on our e-learning platform, they can grant access to their members and manage this indepedently. This way, we aim to scale our e-learning platform and increase our impact.
This scalable model not only empowers OSNET’s hundreds of members across Tanzania but also lays the foundation for future regional initiatives.
Curious about the topics covered in the e-learning platform of Kentalis International Foundation? Learn more about our courses here.
Phase 2
In the second phase of our project 'Multiplying Learning Opportunities for Tanzanian Teachers', Kentalis International Foundation and OSNET continue to strenghten professional development for teachers in Tanzania, enabling them to better support deaf and hard-of-hearing learners.
A key focus of this phase is the preparation and translation of a Video Interaction Guidance (VIG) training program. To ensure successful implementation, all VIG materials will be translated into Swahili and adapted to the Tanzanian context. This phase also includes the development of an enhanced Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) system, allowing us to more accurately track progress and assess the impact of our activities in Tanzania. In addition, Kentalis International Foundation and OSNET will jointly design a concrete and actionable plan for phase 3, during which the VIG training will be implemented.
Meanwhile, the pilot of OSNET’s dedicated space on our e-learning platform will continue. This ensures that Tanzanian teachers, selected by OSNET, can keep benefiting from our online learning materials throughout the project.
Phase 3
Following the translation and contextualization of all VIG materials, in the third phase of the project, Kentalis International Foundation and OSNET have conducted an on-location VIG training in Arusha, led by experts Eva Geneste and Dominique Smit-Meijer. During this week, having taken place in May 2026, 8 videocoaches, who have been trained in RMEL during phase 1 of the project, were trained in using VIG as a supplementary tool. VIG is an effective coaching method that uses video footage to help teachers improve their teaching. Using VIG as supplementary tool enables the coaches to focus their video coaching specifically on improving the implementation of the RMEL in classrooms.
Immediately after the first day of training in Arusha, the participants had the opportunity to put their newly acquired skills into practice at two primary schools. The teachers at these schools had already been trained earlier this year by our partner organization OSNET, also in the RMEL. By analyzing the video footage together, the teachers were able to refine and strengthen the way they apply the reading method with their deaf students.
In July 2026, the Kentalis International Foundation team will travel back to Tanzania for a last on-location training week.
Project Facts:
- Timing: February 2025 – July 2025 (phase 1); November 2025 – March 2026 (phase 2); March 2026 - July 2026 (phase 3)
- Location: Online (Netherlands), Morogoro, Moshi and Arusha, Tanzania
- Funded by: Stichting Wees Een Kans, Stichting Vrienden van Effatha (phase 1 and 3); Segal Family Foundation through OSNET (phase 2)
- Partner: Organization of Special Needs Education Teachers (OSNET), Tanzania
