FHI 360, Save the Children International, and Florida State University are working with the Rwanda Basic Education Board (REB) and the National Examinations and School Inspection Authority (NESA) to ensure that literacy instruction of Kinyarwanda (an official language in Rwanda) in pre-primary and lower primary schools is high quality, inclusive and effective. Building on previous projects funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) for improving literacy among primary school students, FHI 360 and its partners will carry out the USAID Tunoze Gusoma (Schools and Systems) activity to bridge gaps in access to educational resources and incorporate research-based instruction and assessments in classrooms, with the goal of ensuring that more children meet Kinyarwanda literacy benchmarks.
The project is expected to enhance the pre-primary education system to develop, promote and improve students’ emergent language and literacy skills, as well as strengthen the lower primary education system, school environment and classroom instruction to improve students’ literacy outcomes. FHI 360 is supporting the REB and NESA to strengthen literacy assessments and their use in decision-making.
A large part of strengthening the pre-primary and lower primary education systems is supporting teachers’ professional development. FHI 360 and its partners are developing and delivering pre-service and in-service professional development programs for teachers, which cover literacy instruction, assessment and remediation; blended learning; socio-emotional learning; and inclusive teaching practices. Working with the REB and NESA, FHI 360 is using social and behavior change strategies to positively influence teachers’ attitudes toward new teaching practices.
