NEWTON, MA | September 2, 2011
The U.S. Agency for International Development has awarded EDC $22 million over five years to assist the Ministry of Education in Rwanda in creating new national standards for literacy and numeracy. EDC will implement the Literacy, Language, and Learning Initiative, to be known as L3, which also aims to improve education in grades 1 to 4.
Building on EDC’s experience in strengthening early education, the new program will focus on improving early grade literacy in Kinyarwanda and English, and early grade numeracy, and will help provide children with the tools to develop analytical, critical thinking, and communication skills. In addition, EDC will introduce best practice methods to strengthen the quality of teaching and improve the availability and use of reading and instructional materials. English will be reinforced through a radio education program, pioneered by EDC and used in dozens of countries, to improve and expand education.
“Through the L3 program, EDC will help to strengthen teaching and learning so that children throughout Rwanda will leave primary school with solid literacy and numeracy skills,” said EDC’s Said Yasin, who will serve as chief of party for the program. “We will be helping the Ministry of Education set forth a vision of effective teaching and learning and then assist teachers to translate that vision into action.”
With funding through 2016, the program will reach 24,000 teachers in more than 2,800 schools and include efforts to improve equity in education, with attention to girls and other disadvantaged learners.
For more information on EDC’s international work and programs, go to www.idd.edc.org.
Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC), is a global nonprofit organization that designs, delivers, and evaluates innovative programs to address some of the world’s most urgent challenges in education, health, and economic opportunity. EDC creates and manages 350 projects in 35 countries. Visit www.edc.org.
