Project title: Accelerated Learning Program (ALP)

Donor: ZIZI AFRIQUE FOUNDATION (ZAF) with Funding from SAFARICOM FOUNDATION (ZAF)

Project goal: Building competencies and helping pupils learn at the right level

Objectives: It seeks to ensure that each child can read with comprehension and reason with numbers

Target group

Pupils in grade 3, 4 and 5 who are not able to read a grade 2 level story and work out mathematics for grade 2 level

Currently 61 schools in Kanduyi Sub County have been brought on board progressively since January 2019.

 

Activities

1. Baseline assessment using UWEZO tool to identify schools to recruit in the program
2. Orientation of head teachers on the program approach, content and requirements
3. Recruitment and training of Teachers assistants on Teaching at the Right Level (TaRL) ALP approach and refresher trainings to improve/perfect the teaching skill
4. Assessment of learners to identify those eligible for the program, grouping and conducting camp sessions each 10 days with a break of 10 days. A complete module runs for 3 camps separated by 10 days’ rest period. A camp has a minimum of 40 pupils and maximum of 45 pupils
5. Review meetings and refresher training of teacher assistants, head teachers and curriculum support officers
6. Holding Quarterly county advisory group meeting with education stakeholders to share implementation progress and give oversight on implementation
7. Monitoring and supportive supervision visits to schools by program officers and development partners including mentorship of teacher assistants
8. Distribution of readers to schools to build a reading culture among pupils
9. Establishment of reading clubs for pupils who have graduated to story level

Impact/Results

1. Capacity and skills of 100 and above teacher assistants in literacy (Kiswahili and English) and numeracy improved and therefore able to help learners at different learning levels to mature to a level where they can comprehend and reason with numbers
2. Teacher assistants mentored and now able to document and organize sessions appropriately. They are also able to innovate objective activities for learning in the camps.
3. More than 8000 pupils/learners have benefited from the program. Out of the 8,223 who were in numeracy camps, 1128 were able to do operations and application questions with the rest moving from one level to the other (Number Recognition-Addition-Subtraction-Multiplication-Division-All Correct-Application). Out of the 6,741 who enrolled in Kiswahili camps, 2,762 reached hadithi level and out of 4,779 in English camps, 981 reached story level with majority moving from a lower level to a higher level in the camp (Hawezi/Beginner – Silabi/Letter – Maneno/Word – Aya/Paragraph – Hadithi/Story)
4. Through stakeholder meetings (SCDE, CSO, H/T, TAs, development and implementing partners) the program has been able to address programmatic issues to ensure smooth implementation and positive impact of the program.
5. Reading culture embraced upon schools as booklets and other readers have been distributed to schools to support this. This has also been encouraged through schools’ participation in the international library week to motivate pupils to read.
6. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the program designed interventions to reduce loss of learning including distribution of learning materials to learners at home (5 story books and a work book) totaling to 3960 sets with follow up monitoring by teacher assistants to support learning at home. Community based learning camps within homes and other local venues like churches continued during the recess period conducted by the teacher assistants. Holiday cluster sessions were also done during the October – November 2019 holiday enabling peer learning from teacher assistants in different schools.
7. Infrastructural support to schools to enhance learning including construction of one class, repair of 4 class rooms and stocking them with lockers and chairs. Construction and stocking of a library at Matumbufu Baptist Primary, one of the program schools.