While access to education is important, the quality of that education is crucial
(Government of Ireland, 2006: 43). Poor quality of education is one of the factors related to the withdrawal of children from school in developing countries (Shabani, 2005).

Improvement in the quality of education is a goal of Education for All (Shabani, 2005) and is also a goal for the education systems in Uganda (DCI, 2004) and Lesotho (Government of Lesotho, 2005).

The current programme will improve the quality of education by strengthening teacher education. Improvement in the quality of teacher education is central to the improvement of education generally: it is not only the imperative of translating a target into sufficient numbers of teachers, but the support for teachers and teaching quality which will finally lead to the attainment of universal primary education (UNESCO, Institute for Statistics, 2006: 3).

The Education Sector Strategy Plans in Uganda (Government of Uganda, 2004/2005) and Lesotho (2005) both emphasise the importance of improving the curricula and pedagogy in teacher education institutions. The link between teacher education and poverty reduction is highlighted in Lesotho’s Poverty Reduction Strategy: ‘To ensure quality delivery of basic education, pre-service education will be improved and more in-service training will be provided for poorly qualified teachers (Kingdom of Lesotho 2004/5: 83).

The Centre will support the development and implementation of the new Bachelor of Teacher Education at Kyambogo University, Uganda. It will work with Lesotho College of Education and with the Ministry of Education and Training in the achievement of the Government’s stated priority of developing teachers through training, education and management in the national quest for Education for All, and in the policy objective of improving the quality and effectiveness of pre-service and in-service teacher education (Government of Lesotho, 2005).