Annex - LEARN Project Fact Sheet.pdf

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THE TWIGE PROJECT

USAID/RWANDA’S LEARN PROJECT

Improving literacy for all Rwandan children by the end of Primary 3

The TWIGE (“Let’s Learn”) Project supports the Government of Rwanda to improve literacy outcomes for all Rwandan children by the end of Primary 3 (P3). Through improvements in education quality, TWIGE Project activities will strengthen human capital and citizen capacity to advance Rwanda’s Journey to Self-Reliance.

DEVELOPMENT CHALLENGE

Rwanda boasts an impressive 98.5% net enrollment rate in primary schools, and the Government of Rwanda has demonstrated strong commitment to improving Rwanda’s human capital with a focus on early literacy in the National Strategy for Transformation 1 (2017-2024) and the Education Sector Strategic Plan III (2018/19-2023/24). Despite this, recent student learning data indicate persistently low quality of learning in the early grades. The 2018 Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA) found that 70% of Rwandan children in school have not learned how to read by the end of P3, stymying their trajectory of learning and inhibiting their ability to contribute to Rwanda’s Journey to Self- Reliance.

TWIGE PROJECT RESULTS

The TWIGE Project aims to achieve Development Objective 2: Improved Learning Outcomes of USAID/Rwanda’s Country Development Cooperation Strategy (2020-2025).

The TWIGE Project seeks to improve literacy outcomes for all Rwandan children by the end of P3.

This will be accomplished by strengthening the capacity of Rwandan systems to provide quality learning environments with the support, instruction, and materials that children need while they are in school, at home, or in the community. TWIGE will focus on learning for children with disabilities to ensure project approaches reach all children. Through all of these improvements, TWIGE will

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simultaneously seek to improve children’s socio-emotional skills, which will amplify learning improvements and build resilience in the face of unforeseen challenges. In order to improve learning outcomes by the end of P3, the project includes a focus on early childhood development and pre-primary education.

TWIGE RESULTS FRAMEWORK

Project purpose: Improved literacy for all Rwandan children by the end of P3

Children develop improved socio-emotional skills to facilitate their learning and resilience

Result 1.

All children have safer, healthier, and more stimulating home and community environments

Result 2.

Children with disabilities have improved access to quality learning opportunities

Result 3.

School and classroom environments are safer, more inclusive, and better focused on learning

Result 4.

Teaching workforce has improved quality, motivation, and respect

Result 5.

Children enter P1 with improved school readiness skills

Result 6. Teaching and learning materials are higher quality, more accessible, and more readily available

Result 7. Education systems and finances are more effectively managed

IMPLEMENTATION APPROACH

USAID/Rwanda will achieve TWIGE Project results through a set of complementary – ongoing and new – activities to strengthen homes, communities, schools, and the overall education system’s ability to ensure all children can read by the end of P3.

Ongoing activities implemented during the period 2016-2021 include USAID Soma Umenye (“Read and Know”), which supports the Ministry of Education to implement an intensive and comprehensive program to improve classroom instruction in Kinyarwanda reading in the lower primary grades (P1-

3) in all public and government-aided schools, and USAID Mureke Dusome (“Let’s Read”), which strengthens partnerships between schools and communities and fosters a culture of reading, so that children have more home support for their learning, and more opportunities to practice reading outside of school.

In addition to a continued focus on foundational skills with an emphasis on Kinyarwanda literacy in P1 - P3, new activities will also aim to improve children’s socio-emotional skills as the building blocks for all future learning and expand to target children in the pre-primary grades (N1 - N3), including children in these age ranges that are not reached by public and government-aided schools.

Learning gaps begin before children enter classrooms in P1. 38% of children under 5 years are stunted in Rwanda, and access to pre-primary education is currently less than 30%. TWIGE will improve children’s access to quality formal and informal pre-primary learning environments staffed with educators who have the skills to support children’s learning.

In their homes and communities, children have low exposure to text and limited opportunities to practice reading skills, with many parents and caregivers still unsure of how they can support their children’s reading development beginning in early childhood. Families have limited access to affordable, age-appropriate reading materials, and coverage of community libraries is thin. TWIGE will address these issues by working with parents and caregivers to ensure they can support children’s language and literacy development continuum and strengthen opportunities for children to learn and practice reading in communities.

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In schools and classrooms, children have benefitted from significant improvements and investments from the Government of Rwanda, USAID and other development partners that have led to increased access to high-quality reading materials, enhanced teacher capabilities to teach reading, and strengthened systems for collecting and using student learning data to inform instruction. Despite these improvements, there is not yet sufficient data indicating learning gains, and the sustainability of these interventions is essential. Additionally, recent reports indicate that not all school environments are safe for children and some teachers use inappropriate forms of punishment, which negatively impacts learning. TWIGE will address these challenges by investing in school and classroom environments so that leaders and administrators are fully equipped with capabilities to ensure children feel safe and have improved early grade reading instruction.

Recently-established nationwide and local systems for teacher professional development and training, including coaching models, are promising but not yet fully functional to support improvements in the teaching workforce that will improve student learning. The Government of Rwanda has demonstrated renewed commitment to improving the teaching workforce through the 2020 Teacher Statutes. TWIGE will support Government of Rwanda efforts to strengthen local teacher pre-service training and professional development systems with an emphasis on foundational skills.

The Government of Rwanda 2018 Special Needs and Inclusive Education (SNIE) Policy constituted a major step forward in ensuring quality education for the most vulnerable children. The policy is currently in the early phases of implementation, and at present the basic education system is still not adequately supporting learning for the most vulnerable, especially children with disabilities. TWIGE will support implementation of the SNIE Policy by meeting the specific needs of children with disabilities, whether or not they are in mainstream schools.

The children’s book publishing industry has grown significantly over the past 5 years with support from USAID’s Mureke Dusome activity and other development partners, but the book supply chain is not yet able to provide widespread, affordable access to children’s reading materials. TWIGE will engage actors in the private sector to facilitate improvements across the book supply chain to ensure adequate and sustainable access to children’s books in Rwanda.

Current decentralized governance structures encourage efficiency in meeting local education needs;

however, District and Sector officials require additional support to fulfill their responsibilities, while citizens require additional support to participate in decision-making processes. TWIGE will support local officials to better understand and utilize learning data, and strengthen coordination between parents, schools, and communities.

The Government of Rwanda has made significant improvements in the collection and use of student learning data nationwide with support from USAID Soma Umenye and other development partners.

Continued strengthening of comprehensive assessment systems and improved alignment with a learning agenda shared by the Government of Rwanda, partners, and research institutions will ensure that data are used transparently to inform decisions at local and national levels. At this time, the full impact of COVID-19 on children’s learning remains to be seen. School closures and inequalities in access to distance learning programs affect struggling families the most.

TWIGE will address learning needs for children who may have fallen behind due to

COVID-19.