Implemented by Chemonics International, with local subcontractor Junior Achievement Georgia (JAG), the $12,565,635, six-and-a-half year Georgia Primary Education (G-PriEd) Project provided comprehensive assistance to the Georgian primary education system to improve reading and math competencies of Georgian and ethnic minority students in grades 1-6 and to introduce financial literacy through exposure to business skills.
The USAID/Morocco Reading for Success (RFS) umbrella project was developed to address the challenges that the Moroccan education system faces in Arabic reading instruction and the system’s documented lack of reading results. Following the first research phase of RFS, USAID launched the second phase of RFS: the Reading for Success – Small-Scale Experimentation (RFS – SSE) activity.…
The conflict in Syria has decimated local governance, livelihoods, and access to education. With funding from the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs and other international donors, the Injaz II program assisted children and youth in Northeastern Syria with limited or no access to education since the start of ISIS occupation. Recognizing…
Aleze looked down the hill near the food distribution center as he ran the red dirt through his hands, again and again. It was wet and soft, and left a red residue on his hands as he let it fall slowly onto the stained ground. His father’s French faded to the background and the screeching sound of…
The critical importance of early experiences to a person’s life is well established. Early childhood (birth to age 8) is an amazing time of growth and learning when young children are developing the skills to roll over, crawl, walk, talk, synthesize information, think critically, and much, much more. During this time brains are developing more…
From March 25 to 29, education and literacy experts from Chemonics will participate in the 2018 Annual Conference of the Comparative and International Education Society (CIES) in Mexico City, Mexico. The event brings together more than 3,000 researchers, students, practitioners, and policymakers from around the world to discuss high-priority issues in this sector. In addition…
Despite strides made since 2007, Afghanistan’s education sector continues to face a variety of challenges around infrastructure and service delivery. To address these challenges, USAID’s Capacity Building Activity (CBA) is helping the Ministry of Education achieve its 2015-2020 National Education Strategic Plan goals. The activity is strengthening the ministry’s capacity to deliver higher-quality education services…
Although Honduras has made steady improvements in key education indicators, only 38 percent of students complete sixth-grade reading at grade level. Without access to high-quality books and reading materials, the percentage of students mastering the curriculum remains low across the board. USAID’s Quality Reading Materials Activity (QRMA) aimed to increase the availability of high-quality reading…
Low literacy rates are a persistent problem in the Global South. Even with the increased enrollment in primary schools, illiteracy rates have not shifted. To actually move the needle on literacy, we need to focus not just on getting students into the classroom but on helping teachers be more effective. One of the best ways…
Successful and sustainable gender sensitive policies that promote equity require commitment from all stakeholders and a thorough understanding of country context. STEP-UP Zambia, a USAID-funded and Chemonics-implemented education project, first assessed existing policies that could play a part in gender sensitive programming. They then worked with local institutions, stakeholders, and government counterparts to assess the…
In May, I had the chance to return to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Having previously worked on an ex-combatant reintegration project in the DRC from 2004 to 2006, I was eager to see the progress the country had made in recovering from its protracted civil war. I went to the DRC with…
The Democratic Republic of Congo government has created a 10-year national education strategy with two goals: increasing children’s access to education and ensuring that all children master fundamental reading skills by the end of Grade 2. To support the country’s goals, the ACCELERE! 1 project (“accelerating” in French), funded jointly by USAID and UK aid,…