Aga Khan University Dar es Salaam Exchange Calls for Overhauling East African Teacher Training to Include AI Literacy and Digital Ethics

On August 26, 2026, the Aga Khan University's Institute for Educational Development, East Africa (IED, EA) held a Regional Learning Exchange in Dar es Salaam with policymakers, researchers and school leaders. The meeting proposed that East African teacher training institutions make AI literacy, adaptive assessment and digital ethics core required modules rather than electives. It also called on ministries of education to audit existing teacher training college curricula and for licensing boards to require demonstrated digital competency before certification.

The meeting moves the AI education debate from student tools to teacher preparation and certification systems: if East African ministries follow the mandate to audit curricula and add digital competency to licensing, teacher supply standards and training market entry conditions would change, affecting how schools buy AI teaching tools and teacher training products. The meeting also noted that without data interpretation training, AI learning analytics tools remain inaccessible to the average public school teacher, which directly shapes adoption thresholds for education products in public systems. The conclusions are reform demands from a regional exchange, with no evidence yet that ministries have started audits or changed certification rules, so actual scope and timelines remain to be seen. If digital competency is added to teacher certification, teacher colleges and in-service training curricula must be redesigned, shifting demand for teacher training products. The usability of AI learning analytics and adaptive assessment tools in public schools depends on teacher data interpretation training; without it, product adoption is constrained.