The objectives of the Centre will be achieved through the establishment of programmes of research and professional development following careful needs assessment. Capacity building will also be enhanced through the recruitment of postgraduate students, North and South, and the development of cross-national research clusters and professional linkages.

The Centre is developing capacity among teacher educators in Ireland to engage in educational research and teacher education in developing countries, thus increasing their capacity to support the work of Irish Aid. The activities of the Centre will be sustainable as they will support existing initiatives of partner countries in teacher education. The Centre brings together specialists from the primary and post-primary sectors and can therefore respond to needs across both sectors.

Between 2008 and 2010 the Centre will develop a programme of work in teaching and learning and educational research with the following partners: Kyambogo University, Uganda and the Teacher Education Department and Monitoring and Evaluation Unit in the Educational Planning Department of the Ministry of Education and Sports in Uganda and Lesotho College of Education, and the Ministry of Education and Training, the Kingdom of Lesotho.

The National Centre for Global Development through Education will provide a hub for North-South cooperation in the enhancement of teacher education and educational research. The Centre will develop the capacity of Irish institutions to engage with their counterparts in developing contexts and to assist them in the enhancement of education systems in the South.

The proposed programme contributes to Irish Aid’s goal of poverty reduction as there is a clear link between education and poverty reduction:
Education is central to development. It is the primary vehicle by which economically and socially marginalised adults and children can lift themselves out of poverty, better understand and improve their health, create sustainable livelihoods and obtain the means to participate more fully in their communities (Government of Ireland, 2006: 43).

The importance of education for the reduction of poverty is indicted through the inclusion of achievement of Universal Primary Education as one of the Millennium Development Goals (Government of Ireland, 2006).