# Education and Training in Applied Remote Sensing in Africa: The ARCSSTE-E Experience
## 4 Best Practices  
Educational institutions in Africa often face challenges that hamper their ability to deliver on their mandates. ARCSSTE-E faces similar challenges, but it has devised innovative ways to tackle some of these challenges. ARCSSTE-E has learned a number of lessons since the commencement of its PGD programme. Some of these best practices, as gleaned from the feedback from participants, are highlighted in this section. (i) _Selection of Participants_: At the inception of the programme, selection was based on nomination from an identified government agency in the country and endorsement of application by the government ministry in charge of foreign affairs. This led to the selection of students with poor academic performance  
Figure 7: The self-identified areas of work applications in remote sensing by the alumni of ARCSSTE-E who responded to the post-training survey conducted in 2019 (N = 38). and/or students without the stamina to withstand rigorous postgraduate education. In the recent past, applicants have applied directly to ARCSSTE-E and they were selected based on merit. However, they still need endorsement from the relevant Ministry in charge of Space Science and Technology in their home country. During the course of the programme, selected participants are taken on an official visit to their respective embassies in Nigeria. (ii) _Women's Participation_: ARCSSTE-E strives to encourage the participation of women in the PGD programme by collaborating with local, national and international organisations. So far, of the 474 alumni, 66 are female (Figure 2). A total of 85% of these women opted for RS/GIS, while very few have participated in the other course options. The present 2019 cohort has 19 female participants, which represent over 40% of the PGD students that are enrolled for RS/GIS. This is the highest number of female participants that ARCSSTE-E has ever recorded since the inception of the PGD programme in 2001. The reason for this upsurge is due to the collaboration between ARCSSTE-E and the Nigerian National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA). These female participants are scientific officers, which were recruited by NASRDA, to promote the implementation of the Sustainable Developmental Goals of the United Nations (UN-SDG 5) on gender inequality in the space industry in Nigeria. These fresh university graduates were required to participate in the training programme of ARCSSTE-E, and achieve the PGD certificate before they could join the work force in the Space Applications Division of the Nigerian Space Agency since remote sensing and GIS are not offered in an undergraduate course in many Nigerian universities. (iii) _Seasoned African Instructors_: It has been observed that a major problem confronting education in applied remote sensing in Africa is the dearth of well-trained African teachers [17]. Feedback from students indicated that the instructor played a key role in influencing the learning experience of the students. The teaching style and the quality of the instructor were rated as very important factors. The subject expertise of the teacher, the ability to link the different parts of the course in a logical flow, and the ability to effectively communicate knowledge by presenting what is generally conceived as difficult scientific concepts in simplified and readily comprehensible format, enhanced the learning experience of the students. (iv) _Innovative Instructional Methodology to Promote Learning_: There are many challenges that are associated with education and training in applied remote sensing in Africa. A major problem is the inability of students to \"see\" the phenomena being taught. This often results in a failure to understand fundamental principles and an inability to relate the training to real-life problems [17]. In teaching the Fundamentals of Remote Sensing and GIS, ARCSSTE-E employs a training methodology that includes the use of instructional videos, digital animations, and models to help students to \"see\" the phenomena being taught.