International development leader named Executive Vice President for Programs

May 3, 2018

3 min read

One of the leaders in global development, Earl Gast, has been appointed Executive Vice President for Programs of Creative Associates International, a role that will have him lead the implementation of all programs, the company announced today.

Gast, who was Senior Vice President since June 2016, will now oversee three Divisions—Education, Economic Growth and Communities in Transition—which currently have programmatic activities in more than 30 countries from Afghanistan to Honduras.

Gast spent more than two decades with the U.S. Agency for International Development. Appointed by President Obama and confirmed by the U.S. Senate, in April 2012 he was sworn in as the Assistant Administrator for USAID’s Africa Bureau, which at that time had program resources of more than $8 billion covering nearly 50 countries. After retiring from USAID, Gast was a Senior International Advisor at Covington & Burling, LLP, in Washington, D.C., where he co-led the firm’s Africa Practice.

Leland Kruvant, President and CEO of Creative, said the promotion of Gast from Senior Vice President to Executive Vice President for Programs is part of the company’s strategic plan and accommodates the organization’s growth resulting from new business.

“Earl is an exceptionally talented professional who combines unmatched development experience with superior management expertise,” says Kruvant. “Earl is well respected by our clients, partners and host governments.”

In this new role, Gast will have strategic and operational responsibility for programs, as well as building and maintaining positive relations with Creative’s current and future clients in the U.S. government, Europe and elsewhere. He will also lead Creative’s Africa and Middle East and North Africa strategies.

A successful career in global development

At Creative, Gast has led the Education Division and the Economic Growth Division, helping to refocus their efforts. Since then, the company has won new education contracts in Nigeria, Ethiopia and elsewhere.

During his tenure as USAID’s Assistant Administrator, Gast initiated new partnerships and Presidential initiatives, including Power Africa and Trade Africa, and leveraged funds from multiple global organizations to achieve greater scale and results. He also worked across U.S. government agencies and with the White House to draft the President’s Strategy for Africa.

Prior to his nomination as Assistant Administrator, Gast served as USAID’s Mission Director in Afghanistan, which was providing $4 billion in assistance to increase stability in the country.

Gast was one of the first USAID employees stationed in Iraq, where, as the mission’s deputy director from April 2003 to March 2004, he helped launch operations and manage a $2.2 billion reconstruction program in the country. After a successful tour in Iraq, he served as the USAID representative to the U.N. agencies in Rome in 2004.

From 2005 to 2008, Gast was the regional mission director for Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova, and from 2008 to 2010 he was named as USAID’s Senior Deputy Assistant Administrator for Africa.

Gast began his career with USAID in 1990 as a project development officer for USAID/Philippines.

He earned numerous awards and commendations for his dedicated service. Most prominently, he received USAID’s Award for Heroism in 2004 and, in 2003, the Distinguished Unit Award for his work in Iraq. Gast also received the C. Herbert Rees Award in 1999.

Gast earned a master’s degree in political science and Middle East studies in 1987 from The George Washington University.

He graduated summa cum laude from the University of Maryland in 1984 with a bachelor’s degree in history and criminal law. In addition to his native English, Gast speaks Russian and Arabic.

Ask the Experts: The rule of law in an African context

April 26, 2018

7 min read

Strengthening the rule of law is a challenge for many African nations grappling with the grave challenges facing their citizens, including mass displacement, food insecurity and conflict.

Leaders on the continent and the international community, however, are making rule of law a priority for the future and a key pillar of continued growth.

In 2013, the African Union adopted its Agenda 2063, a 50-year strategic framework for the socio-economic development of the continent. Its third of seven “aspirations” focuses on good governance, respect for human rights, justice and the rule of law. Among its target benchmarks for 2023: At least 70 percent of people consider the judiciary to be independent and fair, perceive that they have free access to justice and believe that there exists a culture of respect for human rights, the rule of law and due process.

To talk more in-depth about the rule of law in Africa and how it relates to women, I turned to Achieng Akumu, who is the Director of Advocacy Partnerships for Planned Parenthood Global. Akumu oversees a grant from Bloomberg Philanthropies for the advancement of women’s empowerment through health rights in Burkina Faso, Uganda and Senegal.

The following are excerpts of our exchange, which is the third in a series of interviews with fellow rule of law experts and practitioners.

Jenny Murphy: When donors talk about women’s issues, they have traditionally focused on violence against women and girls. But that’s only one part of a larger picture. In your work, where else do you see an intersection between rule of law and violence against women and girls?

Achieng Akumu: In regard to women’s empowerment, I can clearly see the effect of clashing laws and customs across Africa. Constitutions claim to respect women’s rights, but when it comes to actual enforcement, implementation and application, the political will is not there.

It’s about educating the public and getting the laws applied. We have to educate the population so they’re informed about their rights and they’re informed about how to exercise those rights. Whether it’s discriminatory practices based on HIV/AIDS or violence against women and girls, where do people seek their recourse? It’s not just about laws on the books and people having access, but also how people seek recourse that is fair and equitable.

That’s what women’s empowerment and the legal reform movement should center on ensuring that once people are educated and these institutions are in place, then access continues and improves over time, reaching all populations, not just some segments.

There is a real opportunity now with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), particularly SDG 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions. At the center of the SDG goals, apart from youth, there is a focus on a woman’s right to a good life. A good life for women is basically about being able to make choices.

Murphy: You have worked in Africa for many years, including as a rule of law advisor to USAID. Speaking more broadly, what do you see as the biggest challenges to rule of law in Africa?

Akumu: One of the most unfortunate trends has been conflict and terrorism activity. You don’t have as many conflicts on the continent as in the past, but there are still too many that displace enormous amounts of people. South Sudan, Central African Republic, Nigeria and Somalia display that there is no normalcy in people’s lives. So it’s still about conflict prevention and it’s about security sector reforms. In many countries you have various actors causing chaos and confusion and not allowing nation states to properly develop or people to access and live better lives.

You also have the very serious migration crisis, which is due to a lack of employment opportunities in these countries. And I hate to say it, but corruption is a serious issue as well. The wealth is not being shared or invested in critical sectors where you can have true economic growth and proper development for nation states.

One other piece that’s critical is the heads of state don’t limit themselves to constitutional terms. We’ve seen it in so many countries, such as Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The heads of state, despite constitutional provisions, have decided it’s not time for term limits, and that their country requires their leadership and their leadership alone.

Murphy: Can you talk more about the effects of a government that refuses to relinquish power?

Akumu: It is an unfortunate trend that has been adopted and is being practiced in Africa, and it has hindered democracy. And development is limited when everything is focused on trying to overcome those obstacles that hinder growth and don’t allow for democracy to take root. Rule of law development suffers because of the lack of enforcement and the lack of adherence to democratic principles.

I’m excited about what’s going on in Senegal, where they seem to have a progressive president. He’s trying to institutionalize democratic practices like accountability and transparency and really spur economic growth. But this is a continent of 54 countries, and I can only mention a few that seem to be moving in the right direction, such as Senegal, Botswana, Namibia and Ghana – and Ghana is still a question mark.

Murphy: With these complexities and challenges, how does a donor or implementer design programs that can move the rule of law forward?

Akumu: Political will is the currency here. If you don’t have political will, it does not translate across all sectors and rule of law cannot take root. Rule of law not cannot be isolated, compartmentalized or segregated. So design is very difficult, and I think for me, the question has always been about how we create that political will.

We know very well you can’t just work on rule of law or just work on the justice sector. Rule of law is about supporting all governments, all aspects of governments and all the institutions that are supposed to be part of governments. So, the design work has been flawed, whether you’re in Latin America, Africa or Southeast Asia.

What has worked for me is when we linked rule of law to economic growth. Because everyone wants to have a better life. When you have leadership that understands and appreciates that, you can link rule of law to those legal reforms that are needed for key economic activities. That’s where I always went. I always looked at the national economic development plans and tried to see where rule of law could fit in.

Murphy: Why is it so important for the development initiatives to understand and respond to the local context?

Akumu: You have to know the environment you’re working in, and you have to know the people on the ground and the local culture. The Western world has moved away from traditional or customary laws that still exist in Africa and in other parts of the world. On the continent, we have this mix of civil and common law, as well as the customary law, so the program design effort must take all of that into account.

When you’re working with rule of law in Africa, you can’t just think about the courts and the legislature and the executive. When you’re talking about enforcement, adaptation and adherence, there are all kinds of traditions and customs at the local level. Many people don’t relate to the formal laws and feel those are perhaps only for politicians or people who live in cities. So you have parallel systems in place in many countries to this day, in 2018.

It’s been an uphill battle to understand that you cannot just design an initiative and expect it to be in place and solve all the problems of a country in five to 10 years. All we can do is help plant a seed and ensure that the right people are in country, because the implementers should be local, and it should be the people that live this, breathe this.

Murphy: What do you see as the biggest challenges to rule of law development in the next few years?

Akumu: It comes down to proper investments and investing in people improving their lives. Mismanagement of funds, corruption, poor decision-making and lack of education have not allowed for progressive rule of law development to take root. Of the 54 countries on this continent, I can only name about five that have done it right, where people are living good lives, there’s real dialogue, key institutions are involved and all those pillars of democracy come together.

You can find the first two installations of the Ask the Experts Q&A series and more info about Creative’s rule of law work here:

Q&A with Hamid Khan, Deputy Director of the Rule of Law Collaborative at the University of South Carolina
Q&A with Don Chisholm, Director of the Justice and Citizen Security Office at the U.S. Agency for International Development in Mexico
Read more about Creative’s approach to rule of law

Editor’s note: The opinions expressed by the interviewees are theirs and do not necessarily imply endorsement by Creative Associates International.

Being a role model is key motivator for female educators in Nigeria

April 24, 2018

By Natalie Lovenburg

5 min read

Female educators working in non-formal learning centers in Northeastern Nigeria are more motivated than men to teach at-risk students out of a sense of being role models, though the women are more frequently discouraged from teaching because of family pressures, a new study found.

Researchers from the SAIS Women Lead practicum program and American University School of Nigeria (AUN) found that 100 percent of women felt that being a role model was their main motivation, compared to 88.7 percent of men, for their work as learning facilitators. Creative Associates International partnered with the two universities on the project.

Unfortunately, nearly 30 percent of women were discouraged from teaching by their families or communities, compared to only 8.3 percent of men.

These are two of the key research findings released April 17 during a presentation by SAIS and AUN called “Enabling and Empowering Female Learning Facilitators in Northeast Nigeria.”

Learning facilitators are adults who have been selected by communities to educate children, particularly at-risk students such as internally displaced Nigerians. During five days of intense training, facilitators are taught how to create a friendly and welcoming learning environment for the often-traumatized children, incorporating group activities and recreation, a break from the usually more formal lecture-type settings of most Nigerian classrooms.

The facilitators are shown techniques that create a student-centered environment, instead of relying on lectures, notes on the chalkboard and memorization.

Three SAIS researchers Georgia Jewett, Emily Weiss and Shuting Yow focused on examining girls’ education, specifically looking at how to increase the impact during the short- and long-term by assessing the barriers to entry that females face in becoming educators. They also developed recommendations on how to overcome these barriers for Creative to replicate on a larger scale.

With a goal of identifying effective approaches to ensure the inclusion of women in the classroom, the team of SAIS graduate students worked closely with Creative and AUN on a nine-month research project. The research was led by Kent Davis-Packard, Ph.D., SAIS Women Lead Coordinator and SAIS Adjunct Professor of Middle East Studies and Global Theory and History.

SAIS researchers Emily Weiss, Georgia Jewett and Shuting Yow. — SAIS researchers Emily Weiss, Georgia Jewett and Shuting Yow presented their findings from a nine-month research project that assessed the barriers that females in Nigeria face in becoming educators.

Recruitment and resources: two key elements

When presenting their findings at Creative, the SAIS researchers highlighted that ensuring quality education in Northeastern Nigeria is a significant challenge. Resources are spread more thinly and learning facilitators and teachers are not properly equipped to handle the learning crisis – especially for female educators.

When recruiting learning facilitators or teachers in the country, qualified female candidates are often quite small. Retaining female teachers is Nigeria is fraught with access barriers. Cultural norms, early marriage, poor infrastructure, lack of transportation and resistance from male colleagues keep female educators out of the educational system, said the researchers.

When discussing specific interventions to bridge the gender gap, Emily Weiss, one of the graduate students, said, “while the existing education projects effectively rely on bottom-up community initiatives to recruit teachers, rural women often lack access to professional and social networks. As a result, they miss important opportunities to connect with recruiters.”

To solve this bottleneck, the three researchers suggested decentralizing the recruitment process and employing more women in recruitment drives to better identify qualified female candidates with a personal stake in improving access to education for girls in their community.

Along with decentralizing the recruitment process, the researchers recommended establishing relationships with local colleges, fostering women in leadership positions and peer support networks, and increasing school security as approaches to ensure women’s participation in education.

Despite the array of challenges, the researchers found that “being a female learning facilitator gave women a sense of purpose” and Creative’s non-formal learning center approach was having positive results in communities. They noted that cultural attitudes are shifting toward women working outside of the home.

“There is a lot of optimism from both men and women around more women in Nigeria entering the workforce to contribute to the household income and boost the country’s economic growth,” said Weiss.

The researchers noted that Creative’s existing programming has increased female learning facilitator participation, particularly in rural areas, and can continue to enable and empower women in Nigeria with ongoing analysis and evidence-based interventions.

Surveys and interviews provide details

To address this gender gap in Northeastern Nigeria, the SAIS and AUN researchers traveled to Northeastern Nigeria in January 2018 to gather qualitative and quantitative data on both the barriers and incentives the female learning facilitators face day-to-day.

Led by Professor Chiedo Nwankor, Visiting Research Associate and Adjunct Lecturer of African Studies at SAIS and advisor of the graduate students in Nigeria, the team surveyed 114 teachers, led focus group discussions with over 147 participants, and conducted 24 key-informant interviews with traditional and religious leaders, government officials and education specialists.

Nwankwor said that by including local AUN students in the data collection activities, local capacity has grown and increased the chances of programmatic success and sustainability. The Nigerian students were able to develop practical research skills including rigorous interview techniques and data analytic methods.

Bridging the education gap

Of the 57 million out-of-school children in the world, more than 10.5 million of them are in Nigeria. In Northeastern Nigeria, the attendance rate at the primary level is 43 percent for girls and 46 percent for boys. Comparatively, 85 percent of girls and boys equally attend school in the Southern region of the country.

Based on the disparity of education in the two regions, the research focused on the USAID-funded and Creative-implemented Education Crisis Response and Northern Education Initiative Plus project in the Nigerian states of Adamawa and Bauchi. These programs are part of Creative’s expertise in education in conflict.

The research findings will help shape effective program approaches and help tackle Nigeria’s gender divide. Out of 144 countries, Nigeria is ranked 122 in addressing gender-based disparities across four key areas: health, education, economy and politics, according to the Global Gender Gap Report by World Economic Forum.

Professor Chiedo Nwankor, Visiting Research Associate and Adjunct Lecturer of African Studies at SAIS. — Professor Chiedo Nwankor, Visiting Research Associate and Adjunct Lecturer of African Studies at SAIS and advisor of the studetns, shared the importance of the research findings and how to improve education programming in Nigeria.

During the research presentation, Professor Nwankwor said, “Women and gender issues should not be put last. By the turn of the century, our hope is that gender equality is normalized in Nigeria and around the world.”

Joining the discussion, Charito Kruvant, Founder and Chairperson of the Board at Creative, said, “To address the most complex global issues like gender inequality, it is critical to collaborate with academic institutions that have the tools and knowledge to have the most impact.”

Social Emotional Learning’s importance

The researchers highlighted the benefit of including Social Emotional Learning into education curriculum, especially in emergency environments. Respondents said it was “very important” to have Social Emotional Learning training to address sensitive subjects like gender equality, sexual trauma and female hygiene with students.

The research findings also pointed to the positive impact of establishing Community Coalitions to engage with residents. The project made deliberate efforts to include women in the Community Coalitions, especially in leadership positions, and to give them a chance to contribute to decision-making in their communities.

In their presentation at Creative, the SAIS researchers examined a range of approaches in supporting women professionally, economically and socially by refining education program models.

Nigeria: New textbooks turn the page for mother tongue literacy

April 13, 2018

1 min read

Millions of Nigerian children do not have access to quality education. Lack of teacher motivation and parent support, paired with insufficient learning and teaching materials have contributed to this education gap. Paving a path to quality basic education, the USAID-funded Northern Education Initiative Plus has developed an early grade reading program called Mu Karanta! (Let’s Read!) to help students learn to read in Hausa, their mother tongue language, and then transition to English. See how the program is opening opportunity though literacy.

An equal future: A father’s hope for his daughters

The Northern Education Initiative Plus Program in Nigeria collaborates with teachers, parents and communities to prioritize educating children – especially young girls.

Read full story

Reshaping education, one textbook at a time

For 10-year-old Yazidu Sahabi, an early grade reading program called Let’s Read! in northern Nigeria is enhancing his motivation to improve literacy skills to put him on a path to success.

Read full story

New education policy briefs to help improve learning in Nigeria

In collaboration with federal and state government partners, the Northern Education Initiative Plus project developed the three policy briefs.

Read full story

Nigeria: A New Chapter for Literacy in Northern Nigeria

April 13, 2018

1 min read

The Northern Education Initiative Plus program is expanding access to education for children in Nigeria, while also improving the quality of instruction in the country’s remote northern regions of Bauchi and Sokoto.

Documentary on Nigeria wins top honors in international film festival

April 11, 2018

3 min read

USAID, VOA & Creative collaborated on breakout film

Washington, D.C. – The film “Boko Haram: Journey from Evil” earned the top honor in the international documentary category from the prestigious New York Festivals World’s Best TV & Films.

The one-hour documentary on Nigeria, which competed against entries from more than 40 countries, was honored in Las Vegas April 10 during the National Association of Broadcasters’ annual convention. Award-winning British-Nigerian actor David Oyelowo, best known for his role as Martin Luther King Jr. in the 2014 film “Selma,” narrated the documentary.

Funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Office of Transition Initiatives and jointly produced by Voice of America and Creative, the documentary profiles the heroic efforts of everyday Nigerians who are building up their communities in the face of attacks by Boko Haram, a terrorist group that has killed, kidnapped and displaced millions of people in Nigeria and surrounding countries.

“This compelling documentary was a collaboration among organizations that saw the power of telling the stories of resilience and hope,” said Leland Kruvant, President and CEO of Creative. “It is an honor to be part of this important project.”

Photographer Fati Abubakar accepts award. — Photographer Fati Abubakar, whose work in Borno state was portrayed in the film, accepts the award at the New York TV and Film Awards on April 10.

“A Labor of Love”

VOA Producer Beth Mendelson traveled with her colleagues to Las Vegas to receive the award.

“My deep appreciation to the New York Festivals for this incredible recognition for the documentary,” said Mendelson at the award event in Las Vegas. “This was indeed a labor of love. You rarely in your professional career get an opportunity to produce a film that is so timely and has the global impact of Boko Haram: Journey from Evil.”

Joining Mendelson at the awards ceremony was photographer Fati Abubakar, who was profiled in the documentary. She traveled from Maiduguri, Borno State in Nigeria, which has been a focal point of Boko Haram attacks. Her portraits of the people of Borno demonstrate the resilience and strength of citizens and communities against Boko Haram.

“The documentary has captured the true image, literally and figuratively, of our community,” says Abubakar. “Our community has faced terror and achieved triumphs. We are living and thriving despite an eight-year conflict and I am very hopeful that we will rebuild. Thank you for sharing our stories with the world.”

In Nigeria, USAID is supporting education, economic, humanitarian assistance and stabilization projects, among other initiatives. Since 2014, USAID has made considerable impact against insurgent groups Boko Haram and ISIS-West Africa to help counter and prevent the factors that allow violent extremism to flourish, including feelings of marginalization and lack of economic opportunity.

USAID is funding a project called the North East Regional Initiative that focuses on stabilization and building resilience in communities located in the Nigerian states of Borno, Yobe and Adawama. The documentary was produced as part of the North East Regional Initiative.

Voice of America producer Beth Mendelson holds up the Gold Award. — Voice of America producer Beth Mendelson (center) holds up the Gold Award with colleagues from Voice of America and one of the film’s protagonists Fati Abubakar (second from right).

Beyond the headlines

“Boko Haram: Journey from Evil” goes beyond the headlines to bring viewers an intimate portrait of life in Nigeria’s conflict-affected northeast. It follows the stories of an activist fighting for the return of the kidnapped Chibok girls, photographer Abubakar who documents hope, a huntress turned rescuer and a psychologist working to deprogram former fighters—each pushing back against the terror and destruction in their own way.

The documentary also provides a never-before-seen look inside Boko Haram’s ranks, where young boys are indoctrinated to become fighters and digressions are punishable by severe violence and death.

An insiders’ view of facilitating early grade reading reform in Africa

March 30, 2018

By Natalie Lovenburg

5 min read

Students who fail to acquire basic reading skills by third grade are more likely to fall behind, fail or drop out of school. Experts say poverty, underqualified teachers, language challenges and lack of access to textbooks keep children from receiving a quality education.

“Early grade reading lays the foundation for continuous learning, future schooling, employment and overall economic success,” said Creative Associates International’s Karen Tietjen, Director of Instructional Systems and Governance, at the Comparative and International Education Society (CIES) conference on March 29.

On the CIES panel session called “Rolling-out and Scaling-up: The Insiders’ View of Reading Reform,” Ministry of Education representatives from Senegal, Nigeria, Mozambique and Kenya took up the topic of national early grade reading reform in their countries.

On the panel session called “Rolling-out and Scaling-up: The Insiders’ View of Reading Reform,” Ministry of Education representatives from Senegal, Nigeria, Mozambique and Kenya took up the topic of national early grade reading reform in their countries.

After student assessments revealed a literacy crisis in their countries, the ministries of education partnered with the global development community to improve learning outcomes.

The panelists said early grade reading reform must look at curriculum development, teacher training and professional development, textbook printing and delivery, among other key aspects of a robust educational system. This will be most successful when reforms are spearheaded by local ministries of education, said Tietjen, who chaired the interactive panel discussion.

“At the end of the day, it is up to the individual ministries of education to make sure a reading reform program is implanted, accepted, developed and rolled-out throughout the country,” she said. “Trying to change a whole way of thinking and ensuring commitment to reading reform can be daunting.”

Despite the challenges, early grade reading programs in many African countries “are picking up the pace and education decision makers are taking hard questions head on,” said Tietjen.

“They have vision, support and the tools for change,” she added.

Panelists illustrated the reform process through case studies, including Northern Nigeria and Mozambique, explained below.

Curriculum: Getting to the heart of reading reform in Northern Nigeria

Nigeria has one of the highest numbers of out-of-school children in the world. It is also home to diverse populations and languages and ongoing conflict, including the Boko Haram insurgency in the northern parts of the country.

“In Nigeria, there are more than 500 languages, which is a big challenge in our education system – especially in choosing which language to use in the classroom,” said Margaret Lawani, Ph.D., Director of the Language Center at the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council. “Effects of the Boko Haram Insurgency and poverty add to learning barriers and keep children out of the classroom.”

Highlighting an education project called the Northern Education Initiative Plus, Lawani said the project uses the local language of Hausa, which is the “language of the environment” to boost learning outcomes. She outlined the education project’s reading reform strategy by ensuring government and community commitment to quality early grade reading learning and teaching materials, as well as equipping teachers to use the curriculum.

The Northern Education Initiative Plus project is training and equipping more than 45,000 teachers and learning facilitators who can reach children in formal schools and non-formal learning centers. Photo by Natalie Lovenburg.

Funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Nigerian government-led project is being implemented in formal and non-formal schools in the country’s Sokoto and Bauchi states, with the goal of improving reading skills for more than 2 million primary grade learners. It is led by Creative Associates International, in close partnership with Education Development Center, Florida State University and Overseas Strategic Consulting.

The project works hand-in-hand with the Ministry of Education to implement a Hausa early grade reading program for first to third grades called Mu Karanta, with a transition to English in fourth grade called Let’s Read!.

Learning materials are provided free of charge, ensuring every student has access to quality education regardless of their circumstance.

“Many parents in Bauchi and Sokoto can’t afford to pay for learning materials,” explained Lawani. “The Northern Education Initiative Plus project has distributed the Mu Karanta books free of charge and literacy issues are being addressed.”

Along with the mother tongue learning and teaching materials, the project works with government counterparts to improve planning, budgeting, governance, transparency and accountability and to mobilize community involvement in ensuring their children gain reading skills.

Lawani said that this community collaboration and ownership of reading reforms by federal, state and local government education officials is a critical factor in strengthening education systems, especially in a conflict and crisis-affected, multilingual environment like this.

Rethinking ineffective reading policies: A look at bilingual education in Mozambique

Home to more than 20 languages, bilingual education is not a new phenomenon in Mozambique.

From 1993 to 1997, Mozambique’s National Institute for Education Development implemented the first-ever rollout of bilingual early grade reading reform in the country.

But since then, Mozambique has lacked a coordinated policy approach for both Portuguese and local language instruction, said Armindo Ngunga, Ph.D., Vice-Minister of the Ministry of Education and Human Development in Mozambique.

And despite the introduction of mother tongue language in the classroom, learning gains haven’t proved to be sustainable.

In fact, Mozambique faces one of the highest illiteracy rates in the Southern and East Africa regions. A recent early grade reading assessment found that more than 90 percent of second graders in two northern provinces of Nampula and Zambézia could not read two words in Portuguese, the national language.

“Today, there are serious literacy challenges in Mozambique,” said Ngunga. “We learned that kids are going to school but they aren’t learning.”

One reason for the poor performance is the difficulty in making the case for mother tongue or multilingual education, he explained.

“There are challenges in convincing decision makers who speak Portuguese and don’t speak mother tongue languages to prioritize multilingual education,” said Ngunga.

As a result, schools have gaps in resources like mother tongue learning materials, and teachers aren’t trained to effectively teach in multilingual environments.

Working alongside the Government of Mozambique to fill this learning and teaching gap, the five-year early grade literacy program called Let’s Read (Vamos Ler! in Portuguese) is building a bilingual education framework for national expansion. It aims to improve reading and writing skills for more than 800,000 students in 2,800 schools.

The program is funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development, and implemented by Creative Associates International, in close partnership with World Education, Inc., Overseas Strategic Consulting, American Institutes for Research and blueTreeGroup.

Ngunga emphasized that in order to achieve the goal of boosting literacy in the languages children hear, speak and read at home, the program needs close collaboration and strong partnerships with and among government stakeholders. He added that this reform could have larger benefits for the country, beyond education.

“Mozambique fought for its independence and won,” said Ngunga. “We have realized that we will not achieve economic independence without first achieving intellectual independence.”

Attending CIES?

To visit Creative’s CIES 2018 Special Report hub, click here. For a full schedule of Creative’s CIES 2018 panels, including panelists, times and locations, click here. In addition to the panel sessions, stop by booth 54 to engage with education experts and to learn more about Creative’s global projects. Follow us on Twitter @1977Creative for live updates.

New doors open for literacy reform in Nigeria, say experts at CIES

March 28, 2018

By Natalie Lovenburg

4 min read

MEXICO CITY — More than 30 percent of school-aged children in northern Nigeria do not have access to basic education. Lack of teacher motivation and parent support, paired with insufficient learning and teaching materials have contributed to this education gap.

An integrated approach is needed to achieve optimal reading outcomes and strengthen education systems in complex environments like Nigeria, said a panel of experts at the Comparative and International Education Society (CIES) conference on March 27.

“The lack of formal reading national policies in Nigeria has resulted in teachers who are unprepared to teach primary school curriculum and students who are unable to gain literacy skills,” said Creative Associates International’s Semere Solomon, Senior Director of Africa Strategy.

For Solomon, who manages an education project in Nigeria called the Northern Education Initiative Plus, this is where a “whole child, whole teacher, whole school and whole system” approach can make a difference.

Nigerian girls in window of classroom. — The Northern Education Initiative Plus project is applying a “whole child, whole teacher, whole school and whole system” approach to address critical supply and demand factors that affect learning, teaching, parent engagement and responsiveness to children’s needs. Photo by Natalie Lovenburg.

In the panel session called “Pre-Service, In-Service and Policy Reform: A Three-Legged Stool for Improved and Sustained Early Grade Reading Outcomes,” Solomon said the Northern Education Initiative Plus project is witnessing positive change through a “packaged approach to increasing access and the quality of education.”

Effective community mobilization, literacy policy reform, multilevel government collaboration, improved learning and teaching materials and mentoring and coaching of teachers are all key ingredients in applying a sustainable, holistic approach, said Solomon, who served as the panel’s discussant.

Funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Northern Education Initiative Plus is being implemented in formal and non-formal schools in Nigeria’s Sokoto and Bauchi states with the goal of improving reading skills for more than 2 million primary grade learners.

Creative implements the program in close partnership with Education Development Center, Florida State University and Overseas Strategic Consulting.

Now in the second of its five years, Northern Education Initiative Plus has developed a comprehensive program called Mu Karanta! (Let’s Read!) for helping students learn to read in Hausa, their mother tongue language, and then transition to English. The project has distributed more than 1.9 million reading materials to students and teachers. In all activities, government partners take the lead.

“Leadership of the project is in the hands of the federal, state and local officials,” said Solomon. “With constant collaboration and ongoing consultation, the Nigerian government is facilitating the process of strengthening the overall education system.”

The early grade reading project is creating a forum where all education counterparts can come together to address local problems using evidence-based research, he added.

At the global education CIES 2018 conference, Creative’s Semere Solomon highlights the Northern Education Initiative Plus project’s early grade reading approach.

Fostering better learning outcomes with policy

Representing the Northern Education Initiative Plus project with Semere Solomon, Bilyaminu Bello Inuwa, Hausa Reading and Standards Specialist, outlined the project’s reading policy development process.

“From the project’s Early Grade Reading Assessment, we found that more than 90 percent of children in Nigeria could not read a single word,” said Inuwa. “We pointed to that evidence when collaborating with the Nigerian government to design early grade reading policies.”

Leadership of the project is in the hands of the federal, state and local officials. With constant collaboration and ongoing consultation, the Nigerian government is facilitating the process of strengthening the overall education system.
Semere Solomon, Senior Director of Africa Strategy at Creative

To improve early grade reading outcomes, the project has facilitated a participatory process with policymakers to implement a policy mapping exercise, create three policy briefs and develop a road map for designing a National Reading Framework.

The three policy briefs –focused on the global best practices of reading programs often referred to as the “5 Ts” (Teaching, Time, Tongue, Text and Testing) – provide recommendations for improving early grade reading.

The close collaboration with the government on policy reform has proved to be effective.

“We have seen some key education shifts in Bauchi and Sokoto states,” said Inuwa. “After ongoing dialogue and presenting evidence, the Nigerian government agreed to amend the first to third grade school timetable from five to ten periods per week to language – both in Hausa and English.”

The former reading policy mandated only 30 minutes each week of language instruction and “that little amount of time is not going to take your kids anywhere,” said Inuwa.

For students to learn how to read, teachers must be proactive and provide adequate time for them to master the English language and their mother tongue language, he added.

He also emphasized that sustainable change to improve literacy education requires systemic action.

“Reading policies have to be in place in order to get consistent, sustained improvements in the delivery of an integrated early reading program, and improve the Nigerian educational system as whole,” he said.

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One in five children is not accessing education: UNESCO report

March 12, 2018

By Natalie Lovenburg

4 min read

During the past five years, the global growth of the number of children in classrooms has been stagnant, according to recently published UNESCO Institute for Statistics data.

About 263 million children—one in five children— adolescents and youth worldwide are out of school, the U.N. agency reported. Since 2012, the number of school-aged children and youth in classrooms around the world has increased by only about 1 million a year.

“These new figures show starkly the size of the gap that needs to be closed to ensure universal access to education,” said UNESCO Director General Audrey Azoulay in a press release. “We need much more comprehensive and targeted approaches together with more resources to reach those children and youth who are denied the right to education, with a special emphasis on girls and on improving the quality of education for all.”

Sub-Saharan Africa remains the region with the highest out-of-school rates for all age groups, and accounts for more than half (34 million) of the 63 million out-of-school children of primary age, according to the report.

Countries with the highest out-of-school rates also tend to be among the poorest countries in the world. Poverty levels are also closely linked to gender disparities in education.

The UNESCO data stresses that a business-as-usual approach will not succeed in achieving universal primary and secondary education by 2030.

Young boy in Nigerian classroom speaking. — To meet and sustain the growing demand for education, today’s teaching and learning approaches must be effective, efficient and able to address the needs of diverse populations in complex environments.

Ensuring education amid crisis

This call for new approaches is particularly critical given the swelling rates of displaced persons and refugees across the globe, including millions of school-aged children and youth, points out Eileen St. George, Director of Education in Conflict at Creative, who read the published report.

For these out-of-school children and youth, gaps in education can be compounded by the trauma of conflict and displacement. Years out of school can set learners back in literacy and life skills; unhealed trauma can negatively affect their life outcomes.

“To keep children and youth in the classroom – especially in conflict and crisis environments – we need increasingly innovative approaches to minimize disruption to learning,” says St. George, adding that non-formal community-based learning centers can help to provide basic education to displaced learners when formal schools are not an option.

Regardless of the forum for education, a sense of normalcy and security is particularly critical to the development of these vulnerable learners, she adds.

“It is essential for schools to create a safe environment for students to receive a quality education and to heal through psychosocial support and Social Emotional Learning,” she says.

In conflict-affected countries like Afghanistan and Nigeria, Creative is implementing multiple education projects that integrate Social Emotional Learning activities into their curriculum.

“By providing Social Emotional Learning support in the classroom, educators in complex settings like Nigeria and Afghanistan, can create a powerful learning environment that fosters healing, support, motivation and ultimately success of vulnerable children and youth,” says St. George. “However, to achieve this we must also turn our attention to the well-being of teachers, enabling them to effectively nurture the children and youth in their classrooms.”

Empowering girls through education

UNESCO also finds that around the world, girls continue to face barriers in receiving an education.

The UNESCO figures show that in sub-Saharan Africa, girls of every school-age group are more likely to be excluded from education than boys. For every 100 boys of primary age out of school, there are 123 girls denied the right to education.

Traditional attitudes and cultural beliefs, poverty, early marriage and pregnancy and violence against women and girls, are among the many barriers that keep girls from accessing quality education.

Karen Tietjen, Director of Instructional Systems and Governance at Creative, points to the USAID Read to Succeed project’s “whole school, whole teacher, whole learner” approach as an example of an effective way to counter school dropouts – especially for vulnerable girls.

Creative’s “whole child, whole teacher, whole school, whole system” approach addresses critical supply and demand factors that affect learning, teaching, management, parental participation and responsiveness to children’s needs.

“When girls stop going to school because of household responsibilities, early pregnancy or other barriers, they are closing the door to a brighter future,” she says. “The Read to Success project in Zambia provided psychosocial tools and counseling support needed to help learners succeed in school and in life.”

Tietjen says the education project trained guidance and counseling teachers who also mobilized a cadre of energetic and effective youth allies to help support vulnerable students.

Called Agents of Change, these groups of adolescents worked side by side guidance and counseling teachers to deliver important messages to their fellow classmates about staying in school, practicing healthy behaviors and making smart choices.

“With a support system, we witnessed vulnerable Zambian girls staying in school despite dealing with social, economic and psychological challenges outside of the classroom,” says Tietjen.

“When girls have the opportunity to access quality education, they are empowered to gain the knowledge and skills needed to help break the cycle of poverty for themselves, their families and communities,” she says.

New education policy briefs to help improve learning in Nigeria

January 26, 2018

By Boco Abdul

4 min read

A new policy brief series offers Nigerian policymakers and education officials evidence-based policy recommendations to improve the conditions to increase early grade reading outcomes.

The three briefs – which focus on the global best practices of reading programs often referred to as the “5 Ts” (Teaching, Time, Tongue, Text and Testing) – provide recommendations for:

The briefs are based on evidence gathered from monitoring and evaluation, Early Grade Reading Assessment results and the analysis of existing policies at the federal and state level.

In collaboration with federal and state government partners, the Northern Education Initiative Plus project developed and presented the three policy briefs at Policy Action Planning workshops in Nigeria’s Bauchi and Sokoto states in December 2017.

They are one piece of the U.S. Agency for International Development-funded project’s efforts to support formal and non-formal schools in Bauchi and Sokoto states to improve the reading skills of more than 2 million primary grade learners. It is implemented by Creative Associates International and other partners, including Education Development Center, Florida State University and Overseas Strategic Consulting.

Paving a path forward through policy

At the Policy Action Planning workshops, the project’s early grade reading experts presented a number of policy recommendations for long-term improvements to basic education, particularly for early grade reading.

“The presentation of the policy briefs in the workshops sparked concern among the stakeholders,” says Joy du Plessis, Senior Reading Specialist at Creative. “In order to achieve the goal of children being able to read in Hausa in the early grades, the education systems in northern Nigeria needs further strengthening.”

The participants in the workshops included representatives from the Federal Ministry of Education, Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council, State Ministries of Education, Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria, State Ministries of Education, State Universal Basic Education Boards and Local Government Education Authorities.

Mansur Abubakar, Director of Planning, Research and Statistics on the Bauchi State Universal Basic Education Board, says the policy briefs include critical information that will help guide the next steps in improving early grade education in the state.

“The Policy Action Planning workshops identified many issues with our schools that we knew existed but had not researched on or had no evidence to back them,” says Abubakar. “We now understand that an effective reading program requires a deliberate and systemic approach.”

Abubakar says the policy briefs are informing efforts to place teachers in areas where they are needed most, reallocate resources based on evidence and ensure early grade reading reform efforts can be sustained.

Moving forward, federal and state governments will reform teacher education at pre- and in-service levels to attract qualified teachers into the school system, address teacher absenteeism, and increase instructional time. They also will support the Federal Ministry of Education’s policy of teaching young students all subjects in the local language of Hausa.

“We now have an action plan, allocating responsibility to the different actors,” says Abubakar.

Reshaping policy to boost education

The workshops and policy briefs complement the Northern Education Initiative Plus project’s overall efforts to reform Nigeria’s education system.

“The workshops built on previous activities conducted by the project in the policy arena including policy mapping, developing the reading policy framework and holding reading policy dialogues,” says du Plessis.

She adds that the project has presented the briefs to all key stakeholders with a focus on concerete actions that will not only improve early grade reading and the transition to English but also primary education more generally.

Over the last two years, the education project has acheived some key policy shifts in education. For example, both Bauchi and Sokoto state education officials agreed to amend the first to third grade school timetable from five to ten periods per week to teach Let’s Read! (Mu Karanta! in Hausa) lessons, the curriculum developed by the project. The books equip grade 1 to 3 students to read in their local language of Hausa.

The project is also assisting the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council, the agency responsible for curriculum development, to develop a road map for designing a National Reading Framework.

To continue the progress, the project’s reading policy experts presented memos in support of making Early Grade Reading part of the national curriculum before the the Joint Consultative Council on Education, Nigeria’s second highest decision making body on education.

Education Crisis Response: Healing communities, one classroom at a time

January 19, 2018

1 min read

Education can be a source of healing and stability during conflict. At the height of violent extremists’ attacks in northern Nigeria, more than 2.5 million people were forced to flee their homes. With more than 1 million children among the victims, a clear path forward was needed to ensure learning continued in a safe environment.

Over the last three years, the Education Crisis Response project has responded to this need by providing more than 80,000 displaced or out-of-school children and youth with basic literacy and numeracy skills and psychosocial support in safe and supportive environments, called non-formal learning centers. The project was funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development and implemented by Creative Associates International, the International Rescue Committee, the Nigerian government and local non-governmental organizations.

As the project comes to a close, look inside the communities that made it possible for learners to find a brighter path forward.

Nigeria: Delivering stability & hope through education

January 11, 2018

1 min read

Expanding access to education opportunities for vulnerable, displaced students ages 6 to 17, the Nigeria Education Crisis Response project is responding to the devastation with hope. Through education, the project helps to provide a sense of stability to traumatized communities.