Give careful thought to how much time to allocate for the training course. The appropriate length of time will depend upon several factors:

• any official policies or regulations that specify length of time for training;

• number of hours required to teach the desired knowledge and skills in the curriculum;

• availability of the trainees to attend the number and length of sessions; resources of the agency doing the training, i.e., budget, staff time, etc.

The experiences of three projects¹ that have already trained THPs may provide helpful guidelines to determine the duration of official training for THP curricula.

Duration of official training time for TBAs:

• One project conducted the training for 15 days in two stages (10 + 5), at a training centre, for a total of approximately 90 hours.

• One project conducted the training for 19 days in three stages (11 + 4 + 4), at a training centre, for a total of approximately 114 hours.

Duration of official training time for herbalists and other healers:

• One project conducted the training in two 1/2 day sessions per week for 5 months, in the community, for a total of approximately 120 hours.

It should be emphasized that in all the above 3 cases additional time was given for follow up and problem solving sessions in the field after and between the official "classroom" training.