Student Engagement Policy

Pamoja Education’s mission is to support students in achieving their full potential through innovative teaching and learning within a global online community. We use online teaching methodologies to place the learner at the centre of the teaching and learning process. This mission is underpinned by two principles which are also fundamental to our engagement policy: 

• Pamoja Education is committed to providing a caring and supportive education service to students. 
• Students are responsible for doing their best to fulfil the requirements of the course.  

It is expected that Pamoja students will adhere to Pamoja's academic calendar as well as their own school calendar. Please note therefore that: 

• Weekly participation in online classes is critical to each student's academic success. Failure to participate in weekly activities negatively affects both a student's academic performance and the experience of the class. 
• Participation in the online courses can be verified through the student's access to the secured host site. As a result, the student’s participation is monitored by Pamoja's School Services through the platform.  

The Pamoja Education Engagement Policy focuses directly on student engagement which is the foundation of their active participation in the course. A student's weekly engagement is measured through log-ins, interactions and submissions. Pamoja Education courses require students to fulfil three essential expectations: 

(a)   Student log-in: Students are expected to access all the course material on a weekly basis in order to be registered as engaged in their online course. A student who has zero log-ins for a week is Not Engaged for that week. 

(b)   Interaction with the course content: Students are expected to complete all the lessons for each academic week. Lesson completion is monitored by the green ticks within the platform for each course – a green tick represents a successfully completed lesson. Students who do not complete all activities may be classified as “Insufficiently Engaged”. 

(c)  Submissions: Students are expected to complete and submit all formative and/or summative assessments by the specified deadline. If assignments are not submitted on time, a student will be registered as Insufficiently Engaged. If a student does not submit assignments regularly or misses any summative assessment in the reporting period, they will be classified as Not Engaged. 

Recording Engagement 

Engagement is recorded in several ways through various audit tools accessible in Pamoja's platform. Optimum engagement can be defined as a situation where the student shows a level of engagement that allows them to make the most of the online learning opportunities available to them, enabling them to achieve their maximum potential. Conversely, the student who is not engaged or insufficiently engaged is not making the most of the available learning opportunities and they are unlikely to achieve their potential. In the worst case, the student is unlikely to achieve success in their course. 

Engagement is monitored through Pamoja's platform, using the key parameters of student log-ins and submissions. Not Engaged students will be identified on a weekly basis, and teachers, students and Site-based Coordinators will be notified. 

Reporting Engagement 

School Services automated Engagement emails 

Pamoja's School Services will alert teachers and SBCs when a student has been identified as Not Engaged for a week. The automated engagement emails are sent to the teacher, student and SBC.  

Teacher issued engagement ratings 

Teachers report a student’s Engagement Rating (ER) on a regular basis throughout the course [see Table below]. 

The ER is assessed based on evidence throughout the reporting period and starts afresh with each successive period. 

Any student reported as Not Engaged for two consecutive teacher-issued Engagement Rating reporting periods will be placed on Academic Review.