Thousands of out-of-school Nigerian children readied for formal school

August 17, 2017

3 min read

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Thousands of out-of-school Nigerian children readied for formal school

By Boco Edet Abdul

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Meet Hadiza Hamza, one of these students who transitioned to the classroom

SOKOTO – Until recently, Hadiza Hamza was one among the millions of children not attending school in northern Nigeria.

A resident of the Malamawa community in Nigeria’s Sokoto state with limited access to formal education, Hamza and her six siblings attended Qur’anic schools and assisted their parents during the farming seasons.

Now, she sits at the back of a fourth grade classroom at Malamawa Primary School, pointing at words in a passage and reading aloud with fellow students.

How did she get here?

Hadiza Hamza reading a book. — Hadiza Hamza enrolled in a basic literacy program in a community-based non-formal learning center in Sokoto state and is now making progress toward her dream.

Last year, Hamza enrolled in a basic literacy program in a community-based non-formal learning center, introduced by the USAID-funded Northern Education Initiative Plus project. Implemented by Creative Associates International’s Instructional Systems team, the project is providing access to quality education and improving reading skills for more than two million school-aged children in formal and non-traditional schools.

“I wanted to be educated but I never had an opportunity till a center opened in our community,” Hamza says. “I could learn to read and write conveniently.”

To-date, the project has enrolled more than 36,000 children—who, like Hadiza Hamza, were once out-of-school— into 800 non-formal learning centers across educationally disadvantaged communities in Bauchi and Sokoto states.

In addition to reaching students ages 5 to 17 with quality education, the project also trains educated community members as learning facilitators to teach literacy, numeracy and life skills in Hausa, the mother tongue language spoken in Sokoto and Bauchi, and help students transition to English.

Mohammed Yusuf Gama, Access & Fragility Officer Sokoto state, coordinates all the access and fragility activities for the Northern Education Initiative Plus project and helps build capacity for 10 local government access and fragility coordinators and NGOs to establish non-formal learning centers.

“Our non-formal learning centers introduce education to most out-of-school children and after completing our basic literacy program facilitates their entry to formal schools,” says Gama.

Hadiza’s journey to quality education and formal schooling

During the six-month program, children like Hamza attend classes for a minimum of six hours every week. They receive textbooks developed by the USAID-funded Northern Education Initiative Plus project as well as writing materials to aid their learning.

When a non-formal learning center opened in her small community, Hamza asked her father, who is an Islamic Cleric, to enroll her.

“I enjoyed attending classes,” she says. “I loved my books. I liked the pictures, especially the airplane. I know one day I will travel in it when I become a teacher.”

Hamza is making progress toward her dream. In March 2017, she wrote and passed an exit examination certifying she had completed the basic literacy program, which meant she could continue her studies in fourth grade at a nearby formal school.

Asmau Hazma and family of Hadiza Hazma. — Asmau Hazma sees her daughter Hadiza as a role model for the family.

The exam was conducted by the regulatory body for non-formal education in Bauchi and Sokoto states, the State Agency for Mass Education.

Almost 90 percent of 31,631 children tested on literacy, numeracy and life skills subjects taught during the basic literacy program passed and qualified to be mainstreamed into formal schools.

Looking forward, the project has mobilized school authorities at formal schools in anticipation of the arrival of these new fourth grade students when classes begins in September. The Northern Education Initiative Plus project has also worked to build ownership and commitment of the quality basic education initiative among federal, state and local government.

Eager to continue learning after passing her exam, Hamza convinced her parents to allow her to start attending classes in fourth grade back in March before she formally enrolls in the new school year in September.

Her mother, Asmau Hazma, sees her daughter Hadiza as a role model for the family. She is eager to support her daughter’s dream of furthering her education.

“I am a very proud mother. Seeing how Hadiza can now read and write has made me realize the value of education,” she says.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/12″][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/4″][vc_widget_sidebar sidebar_id=”sidebar-primary”][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Creative welcomes YALI fellow and entrepreneur from Zambia

August 15, 2017

3 min read

A Young African Leaders Initiative Mandela Washington Fellow will spend six weeks working closely with Creative’s Economic Growth Division, learning from its experts and sharing his unique perspective as a young leader in Zambia.

At 22, Njavwa Mutambo is among the youngest of the 1,000 YALI fellows, selected for their positive contributions and innovations in their communities and countries. Mutambo is co-founder of Musanga Logistics, an on-demand delivery app that seeks to transform the transportation of goods, promoting efficiency and economic growth.

Earl Gast, Creative’s Senior Vice President and Senior Director of the Education for Development and Economic Growth Divisions, says the team is honored to have Mutambo spend part of his summer with Creative.

“YALI is empowering the next generation of African leaders who will shape the future of the continent.” says Gast, who has been involved in YALI since its inception in 2010. “We hope that Njavwa’s time at Creative will give him new tools and knowledge to help him succeed. We’re also excited for the opportunity to gain valuable insights from a young person who has already made such an impact on his community.”

An entrepreneur with a dream of “Africapitalism”

Mutambo says he knew early on in life that he wanted to pursue a career in business.

A self-taught entrepreneur, Mutambo launched his company in 2016 in the Zambian capital of Lusaka. Musanga Logistics’ website and app connects users who want to send packages – such as restaurants, small retailers and individuals – through independent couriers, similar to U.S. services like Uber.

Mutambo says the service, which already uses more than 100 registered couriers, is helping other small businesses by significantly lowering the cost of shipping to buyers. He hopes the next big step will be to spread out into the more rural provinces and connect small-holder farmers with truck drivers who can bring products into the city for sale.

Ultimately, he dreams of being in 25 major African cities in the next 10 years.

Mutambo says he sees his business success as a driver for positive change in his community, a philosophy known as “Africapitalism.” The concept was coined by his mentor and renowned entrepreneur and investor Tony Elumelu, Chairman of the Nigeria-based investment firm Heirs Holdings.

“In Africa right now, we desperately need to create jobs, and by creating jobs you’re increasing the social welfare of our people,” says Mutambo. “The best thing we can do for these people is find them employment.”

Mutambo says he feels blessed to have been selected as a fellow out of tens of thousands of applicants. Further, only 100 of the 1,000 fellows were selected to participate in a professional internship after completing a six-week academic and leadership component at American colleges and universities.

His internship at Creative will not only help Mutambo make valuable connections, it will also give him a close-up look at how Creative is using data and working to strengthen small businesses and markets around the world.

Mutambo says that based on his experience as an entrepreneur, he would encourage other young African entrepreneurs to strive for more.

“Why are we settling for what we have? Why should African people not ask for something better?” he says. “You get in life what you have the courage to ask for.”

Nigeria: A path to healing for students displaced by Boko Haram

July 26, 2017

1 min read

Hundreds of thousands of children and youth have been displaced by the Boko Haram insurgency. As they try to move forward with their lives and education in host communities, the USAID-funded Nigeria Education Crisis Response project provides social emotional learning support to help them heal.

How to heal: In Boko Haram’s wake, social emotional learning helps displaced children

Can classrooms help students heal? Meet the learners, educators and government partners who are proving the power of social emotional learning to support students as they build new lives after escaping Boko Haram.

Read full story

Healing by the numbers

By providing social emotional learning support in the classroom, learning facilitators in northern Nigeria are creating a powerful learning environment that fosters the success of all children and youth.

Click the photos below to learn more about social emotional learning’s positive impact.

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How to heal: In Boko Haram’s wake, social emotional learning helps displaced children

July 26, 2017

By Natalie Lovenburg

8 min read

Alhaji Bukar Shettima remembers clearly when in 2015 Boko Haram came into his neighborhood in the Borno state capital of Maiduguri. The violent insurgents first attacked a nearby Air Force base before turning their unwanted attention to his home and neighborhood located in front of the military installation.

As a respected teacher and director of a school, he knew that Boko Haram—which roughly translates to “Western education is evil”—would kill him and his family.

Standing outside of Shettima’s home, two young insurgents used their AK-47s to spray his home with bullets that tore through the walls and roof. He and his terrified family kept their heads down and prayed for a miracle.

Suddenly, the two attackers and the rest of Boko Haram stopped their offensive and retreated as the Air Force had mobilized a counter attack. A massive explosion about 50 feet from Shettima’s home killed the insurgents. It was then that the educator and his family could leave their home.

Educators and students in Borno state have been hit the hardest by Boko Haram ongoing offensive against the government and citizens.

“As a result of the insurgency, the education sector—especially the basic education sector—has lost about 530 teachers and over 4,000 to 5,000 classrooms were destroyed,” says Ali Bukar Dogo, Director of School Services on the Borno State Basic Education Board.

With vivid flashbacks of Boko Haram insurgents dragging teachers and students out of a classroom to brutally kill them playing on repeat in a young and impressionable mind, erasing the traumatic and stressful memory seems unattainable.

Susanna Hussein with the Nigeria Education Crisis Response works closely with crisis-affected and traumatized children and adults with mental, physical and social-emotional effects.

“Some people have lost their beloved ones. Some lost their properties. Some lost their homes; they are displaced,” says Hussein, who is based in Maiduguri.

Throughout northeastern Nigeria, more than 2.5 million people have fled their homes—leaving an entire generation of Nigerian children stripped of their rights to an education.

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.

Two Nigerian boys smiling in classroom. — Through its non-formal learning centers, the program has supported more than 88,00 displaced children and youth with wraparound services like social emotional learning support as well as basic education. Photo by Erick Gibson.

The three-year project is 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.

In close and ongoing collaboration with government, civil society and local communities, the project has reached more than 88,000 children in 1,483 non-formal learning centers with wraparound services like social-emotional learning support for internally displaced out-of-school children in five Nigeria states: Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe and Yobe.

In Borno—the birthplace of the violent extremists—the emotional and physical devastation is overwhelming.

Like in all states where the Education Crisis Response project works, in Borno a baseline assessment was done to test the mental stability of internally displaced teachers and children who were once in formal schools.

“The results found adult teachers—over 93 percent—were mentally destabilized, and the children were more than 50 percent destabilized mentally,” Hussein says of the Borno study. “That informed the reason why Social Emotional Learning is very important in learning through the Education Crisis Response project.”

Social Emotional Learning is one of three pillars of the curriculum in the non-formal learning centers, which are community-based classrooms that allow internally displaced children to receive state-accredited education.

Developed by the Nigeria Education Crisis Response in collaboration with leading academics, Social Emotional Learning helps traumatized children develop social competencies needed to manage their feelings, establish healthy social relationships and increase their senses of self-esteem, efficacy, motivation and purpose.

“Learning facilitators, using the ‘Healing Classrooms’ model, are trained how to infuse Social Emotional Learning into every aspect of education,” says Julia Finder, Technical Manager for Education in Conflict at Creative.

“In addition to social emotional-specific lessons and activities, the facilitators incorporate the same ideas into the broader curriculums to foster a positive and structured learning environment,” says Finder.

In a place like northeastern Nigeria, given the high numbers of children that have been negatively affected by Boko Haram, Social Emotional Learning is an important aspect to creating a sense of normalcy.

“With this concept [Social Emotional Learning], I have seen the results of working with people that have been derailed as a result of sudden attacks by insurgencies,” says Hussein, who has a medical and humanitarian assistance background and has witnessed severe trauma.

Hussein says she feels confident about the future of the teachers and students affected by the attacks.

“It is not the end of life,” she says. “As long as one is living, there is hope.”

How Aisha found her future

Fleeing the rugged area of Gwoza city in northern Nigeria, close to the Mandara Mountains between the Nigeria and Cameroon border along the Lake Chad Basin where Boko Haram is notorious for its attacks, 17-year-old Aisha Mohammed and her family escaped when the terrorists attacked their community.

Throughout the conflict—now in its eighth year—hundreds of thousands of Nigerians have migrated to Borno state’s capital city of Maiduguri.

For Aisha Mohammed and her family, building a new life in a new city was uncertain. They have had to overcome significant obstacles before finding stability again.

After settling into small, crowded space, shared by her immediate family and relatives, Mohammed enrolled in one of Education Crisis Response project’s non-formal learning centers for displaced children and has been learning and healing in a safe environment for nearly three months.

“When we are out playing, l forget about everything,” she says.

Emotionally scarred by Boko Haram attacks in her home city, she just wants to escape the recent past in her new community. Education is playing a vital role in helping to rebuild her self-confidence and hope for the future.

“My determination is to study,” she says.

The Education Crisis Response project’s Social Emotional Learning lessons help traumatized students—both boys and girls—better understand what they have experienced and provides useful tools to cope with complex and conflicting emotions and feelings.

“In school, they taught me how to understand my emotions,” shares Mohammed. “Now, I feel better.”

Through the project’s proven curriculum, she is learning basic education like reading and math, as well as receiving social emotional support which is helping to replace cruel memories of the insurgency’s terror with positive and fulfilling activities.

In each of the more than 1,400 learning centers, classroom sizes are small to ensure greater attention for the students, particularly since students like Aisha Mohammed have been absent from formal education for a year or two.

Despite the hardship, she is looking forward to the future with self-assurance, a newfound excitement and sense of purpose.

“After my studies, I want to help women like myself who were helped,” says Mohammed. “That is my only ambition.”

The teachers who teach students to cope

As tens of thousands of internally displaced families poured into Maiduguri, school teacher Salamatu Ibrahim felt she had to do her part to help them. When she heard about the Education Crisis Response project’s need for facilitators, Ibrahim saw the opportunity to support the out-of-school children.

Though she had years of experience as a professional teacher, she nonetheless had to go through the intensive training to prepare for emotionally traumatized students.

Compared to her traditional classes, these students require a great deal of support.

“You have to be patient with them, and you have to be like a guide to them,” she says.

A learning facilitator at Zajiri Primary School with three years of teaching experience with private schools in Maiduguri, Ibrahim explains it requires special care to work with distressed children.

The internally displaced students who arrive to the community-run non-formal learning centers are initially distracted, she says. Some may be jumping and running around the classroom, while others are withdrawn and sitting to the side.

“If they are tired, and they want to go home, then they will go home,” she says. “But later on, as we teach them Social Emotional Learning, we can slowly control the class and we impart knowledge into their mind that when you’re in the class, you don’t have to have excuses to leave.”

By limiting the size of the classroom to no more than 50 pupils, Ibrahim and other facilitators can more easily help the students to transition into a new routine.

Ibrahim is one of 2,176 learning facilitators trained by the Education Crisis Response project on how to uniquely support traumatized students with specialized activities and interventions, such as Social Emotional Learning.

Woman Teacher teaching Nigerian children. — More than 2,176 non-formal learning facilitators have been trained in social emotional learning, which they incorporate into their teaching in addition to literacy and math. Photo by Erick Gibson.

Learning facilitators, who are trained to be sensitive through the Nigeria Education Crisis Response project, play a crucial role in supporting the mental health and psychosocial well-being of learners.

“In different schools they [teachers] do beat student,” she says, referring to a common practice of corporal punishment, which is strictly prohibited in the non-formal learning centers.

Ibrahim says engaging in stimulating and valuable activities like singing, dancing and playing memory games with her vulnerable students helps them forget the unsettling experiences that they have endured.

She explains, “What you have to do is you have to be part of them, and show them that what they went through is not the end of life.”

Along with creating a safe environment for learning, Social Emotional Learning focuses on helping all students resolve conflicts and challenges, adhere to classroom rules, be socially aware of fellow classmates and be more resilient.

Wakail Mala Buka, master trainer for the Nigeria Education Crisis Response project and lecturer at Kashim Ibrahim College of Education, trains the local learning facilitators like Ibrahim.

In addition to training the learning facilitators, Buka has also lead the charge in providing quality teaching materials in both English and the local language of Kanuri. With the help of other Nigerian education experts from the government, civil society, academia and elsewhere, he has integrated the core Social Emotional Learning competencies into the curriculum.

Nigeria: Education Crisis Response Program treats internal wounds

July 25, 2017

1 min read

Nearly 90,000 school-aged children in Northern Nigeria who have been displaced by violent extremists are receiving critical social emotional support through the Education Crisis Response program, which is funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development.

West African student leaders share tools to engage youth in development

July 24, 2017

5 min read

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4 ways to meaningfully engage youth in development, from West African student leaders

By Evelyn Rupert

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text]Youth can and should play a greater role in shaping their futures through peacebuilding and development, a panel of West African student leaders said during a discussion at Creative Associates International headquarters.

Creative welcomed 20 university students from five countries – Mali, Senegal, Ghana, Nigeria and Cameroon – on June 17, with six of the students participating in a panel discussion about youth-led development efforts in their countries.

The students are visiting the U.S. for nearly a month as part of the State Department-funded Study of U.S. Institute on Social Entrepreneurship and are hosted by California State University, Chico.

“Youth play a very, very key role in peacebuilding and development in my country, but I think the major obstacle is making people aware of what we’re doing,” said Kachi Dominic of Nigeria, one of the panelists.

Welcoming the students, Creative CEO Leland Kruvant, stressed the organization’s commitment to seeking out and listening to youth voices throughout project planning and implementation.

“We share the optimism that Africa is the place on Earth where the most exciting and fastest pace of change is going to be happening over the next decade or two,” Kruvant said. “And we all need to get together to find ways to harness the exciting power and the intelligence and the energy of all those young people who are going to be doing great things.”

The diverse panel shared their experiences as young leaders working for positive change, and gave insight into how development efforts can benefit from the talents, creativity and drive of the young people in the communities they seek to serve.

Here are their top four recommendations.

West Africa Student panel of speakers. — Panelists with Creative’s Grace Akukwe (far right), Workforce Development and Youth Employment Practice Area Director. Photos by Jillian Slutzker.

1. Foster entrepreneurship

Having developed their own social enterprise business plans as part of the exchange program, the youth panelists – several of whom have already launched social change start-ups – are eager to create the conditions so their peers can do the same.

But for this to happen, there needs to be an early focus on entrepreneurship in schools and communities, they said.

“I think one problem for youth in entrepreneurship is that they may not know at all what entrepreneurship should be about. How should I start, and what is the value of my ideas?” said Amina Diambo, a Senegalese student who launched a fashion line with her mother with the hope of changing perceptions about Africa.

Diambo and other panelists called for educational institutions to start teaching entrepreneurship early on, particularly in areas where unemployment is high. Small businesses can then in turn become job creators for others.

“If we can include social entrepreneurship in the system, in the education curriculum, it will provide many students with the idea even before graduation, and then when they graduate they will be thinking about creating their own businesses,” said Yoro Cisse, an English student and leader of a mentorship program in Mali.

As an example, in Nigeria, Creative is implementing education programs that also provide students with marketable skills, which can provide youth with an income and help them become more confident in their futures.

2. Teach tech

What else can help to unlock the creative potential of young people to solve community problems? Technology.

In Africa, nearly 75 percent of people are not using the internet, according to the International Telecommunication Union, a United Nations agency. Ghana has one of the highest rates of internet use, while Mali and Cameroon are among the lowest.

Increasing young people’s access to technology and equipping youth with skills like coding to utilize that technology can unlock new possibilities for youth, particularly women, to contribute to positive change, said panelists.

“One thing that can help young people develop their countries is technology. If you teach somebody how to code, you show them how to change other people’s lives. Ideas matter,” Diambo said.

Learning how to write code should not be a goal in itself, said Dominic, but can teach valuable problem-solving skills.

“We introduce coding as the end, not the means to an end. We tell them they should learn coding, not that they should learn to solve problems,” he said. “We have to start teaching these kids how to solve problems first, then give them the tools.”

Nigerian student Mirabelle Morah. — Nigerian student Mirabelle Morah (center) answers a question during a panel at Creative Headquarters.

3. Transform education

Another major obstacle inhibiting young people from reaching their full potential and contributing to society is lack of access to education and challenges within education systems, said the panelists.

Millions of children in West Africa are out of school. In Mali, 39 percent of primary school-age children are not attending school, according to UNESCO. School enrollment figures can drop even further in rural areas.

Even at the college level, many schools struggle with lack of resources and overcrowding, according to the panelists.

In addition to knocking down these barriers to quality education, the students said that there also needs to be a change in the way students themselves approach their education.

Kinge Emmanuel, an entrepreneurship student in Cameroon focused on agricultural job creation, said he sees many peers studying to get a degree, not to learn.

“Students are taught just to have a certificate,” he said. “In 99 percent of the universities, they are just being trained to study and pass an exam, and believe me, if people were taught more based on a problem-solving approach, we would go a long way.”

Increased teacher training could also help instructors better engage their students and help them retain information, said the youth.

For example, through two projects funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development, Creative has established thousands of non-formal learning centers for school-age children in Nigeria and trained learning facilitators. In Borno state, at the epicenter of the Boko Haram conflict, more than 7,100 primary school teachers were recently trained on how to better engage their students, particularly those dealing with trauma.

4. Give youth a platform and listen

If you want to instigate real and lasting change for young people, take a good look at who is sitting the table, said the panelists, noting that youth are often overlooked in decision-making. Addressing this challenge falls to both leaders in government and civil society and young people.

Dominic said youth must work to break into spaces traditionally reserved for older adults – government, policy, development – and seek out leadership roles.

“The most important thing we have to do is to change the cultural narrative that currently exists in the country. You can’t talk about trying to solve the problems when you don’t change the system that bears the problems,” he said.

He said youth need to make their voices heard – particularly in politics – to hold leaders accountable and shape the future of their nations. And adults, for their part, need to listen – a difficult but critical culture shift in cultural contexts where youth are not traditionally involved in decisions.

“I think youth, to overcome these challenges facing their country, should try to speak up against the status quo,” he said. “Youth in my country are being stagnated by a cultural perspective that makes them incapable.”[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/12″][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/4″][vc_widget_sidebar sidebar_id=”sidebar-primary”][/vc_column][/vc_row]

New project to strengthen early grade literacy skills in Morocco

July 19, 2017

4 min read

A new early grade reading and writing program will support the Government of Morocco to develop a national literacy program to improve literacy skills in grades 1 through 4, Creative Associates International announced.

Funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development and led by Creative Associates International, the Reading for Success – National Program for Reading will support the development of quality Arabic language reading materials.

Reading for Success – National Program for Reading aims to improve classroom instruction; expand remedial and extra-curricular reading opportunities at school, at home and in the community; and improve national learning and assessment systems for reading and writing.

Starting with focused support of more than 8,500 schools in the regions of Fez-Meknes, Rabat-Kenitra, Souss-Massa and Oriental, the USAID program aims to equip the Moroccan government with the expertise and tools to replicate, scale up and sustain early grade literacy in all 12 regions across the country.

Partnering with the Ministry of National Education, Professional Training, Higher Education and Scientific Research, Creative will help to establish a reading-supportive policy, investment and programmatic framework, backed by an informed analysis of reading assessments and evidence-based best practices supported by years of on-the-ground collaboration.

“We’re pleased to build on a successful history of collaboration with the Ministry of National Education and Vocational Training and local partners in improving child and youth learning and to make a positive impact in Morocco’s schools, families and communities,” says Karen Tietjen, Director of Instructional Systems and Governance at Creative.

In recent years, Morocco has made great improvements in advancing quality education. However, with only 77 percent of Moroccan youth ages 15 to 24 literate, the country continues to face literacy barriers.

Evidence shows the problem starts in the early primary grades. On the 2011 Progress in International Literacy Study, Moroccan Grade 4 students scored the lowest among 45 participating countries.

Poor reading skills contribute to the high repetition and dropout rates in primary school and undermine the academic performance of students who remain in school. Most children enter primary school unfamiliar with Modern Standard Arabic, the language of instruction.

Few early grade teachers are trained to teach reading and lack appropriate materials and techniques. Unfortunately, not all parents are involved in reading support, and few out-of-school opportunities exist for students to practice and enjoy reading.

To tackle these challenges, Creative is implementing the Reading for Success – National Program for Reading program in partnership with organizations recognized for their expertise in early grade reading, measurement and assessment and digital delivery of education programs. These partners include the University of Oregon, Management Systems International and Al-Akhawayn University.

A legacy of effective partnership

The Reading for Success – National Program for Reading program builds on previous successful partnerships between Creative and the Moroccan government that delivered quality education and addressed a wide range of educational barriers. These programs have refined reading instruction, bolstered teacher professional development and strengthened institutions.

“Creative has a deep understanding of Morocco’s education sector by implementing programs in the country for over three decades,” says Abdelkader Ezzaki, Ph.D., Program Manager for the Reading for Success – National Program for Reading. “The program will deliver innovative approaches to reading and writing that will have positive, sustainable outcomes for Morocco’s education system.”

In the early 2000s, Creative implemented the USAID-funded Morocco Education for Girls Project that supported the Ministry of Education’s gender strategy.

Under the five-year Improving Training for Quality Advancement in National Education project, Creative worked with the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training to improve the professional skills of middle school teachers and stem the tide of dropouts by expanding school-level support and developing more relevant teacher training curriculum and improved delivery.

The project supported the in-service professional development of more than 3,000 teachers and more than 4,400 newly recruited teacher trainers received pre-service coursework. Creative’s team also designed and piloted the middle school reading program, working with the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training and regional education centers to develop reading kits for subject teachers, train a core group of master trainers and assess student learning outcomes.

Building on the middle school reading pilot, Creative implemented the Reading for Academic Skills and Individual Development in Middle Schools project with Morocco’s Ministry of Education and Vocational Training to help middle school students improve literacy skills for subject learning, strengthen teacher capacity to integrate reading comprehension methods into their content areas, and enhance teacher training and coaching programs for reading.

The project addressed specific needs of adolescent learners, such as low motivation and late-emergent reading problems, provided evidence-based reading instruction, and changed management to orient trainers to new roles and responsibilities. Through the project, students’ performance in reading improved over time, showing a 13.68 percent increase in reading test scores.

In addition to helping to secure gains in education, Creative implemented the four-year Promise Pathway project, which provided safe and productive employment alternatives for youth of legal working age, through vocational training and referral assistance that linked jobseekers with a network of service providers.

The Promise Pathways project provided services to more than 3,000 children ages 6 to 14 and over 1,300 youth ages 15 to 17, helping them find opportunities for education and safe employment and supporting their families to regain stability.

Most recently in 2016 to 2017, Creative supported the USAID-Human and Institutional Capacity Development assessment of the Ministry of National Education capacities in the areas of school management, extra-curriculum and student evaluation.

7,100 Nigerian teachers learn how to support students after trauma

July 17, 2017

4 min read

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7,100 Nigerian teachers learn how to support students – and themselves – after trauma

By Chima Onwe

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text]BIU, Nigeria — More than 7,100 primary school teachers in Nigeria are returning to their classrooms better equipped to help their students – and themselves – succeed in the wake of the conflict by violent extremists.

In five Local Government Areas of the northeastern state of Borno, a total of 7,169 primary school teachers participated in four-day training sessions, aimed at giving them tools to more effectively reach their students.

The training covered topics on psychosocial counseling, trauma healing, creating a child-friendly learning environment and incorporating social and emotional learning into curricula.

In a region where countless children have been affected by Boko Haram, teachers need these tools to support their students both academically and emotionally.

“In my 10 years plus as a teacher, I have never attended such kind of training,” said Shehu Abdullahi, a teacher in the community of Biu. “I wouldn’t have been able to pay for this training – it cannot be quantified in monetary value. I am eager to go back and practice what I learned in the classroom.”

The trainings were conducted throughout May and June by Nigeria Education Crisis Response – a project funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development and implemented by Creative Associates International in partnership with the International Rescue Committee and more than 40 Nigerian organizations.

The project aims to expand access to quality education for out-of-school and internally displaced children and youth 6 to 17 by establishing non-formal learning centers that offer accelerated education programs to put students back on a path to consistent school attendance. Across the five northeastern states where it operates, the project also provides support to formal schools.

The state of Borno is at the epicenter of the conflict with Boko Haram. Education institutions have been especially hard-hit. In coordination with the Borno government, the project set out to reach as many formal school teachers as possible with training to help the state rebuild its education systems.

“The training program is coming at the right time and will go a long way in assisting our efforts toward fixing the education sector in Borno state,” said Borno’s Deputy Governor Alhaji Usman Mamman Durkwa as the training began.

Nigerian teachers in classroom. — Teachers learn about well-being and social emotional learning at a training in Biu, Borno state. Photo by Chima Onwe.

Teaching resilience to overcome trauma

Boko Haram has disrupted and displaced millions of people across the region, and its attacks frequently target schools.

In addition to students falling behind on studies due to displacement or closed schools, those returning to the classroom may have endured loss and emotional trauma that can negatively impact their ability to learn.

Using the project’s “Healing Classrooms” approach, the training instructed teachers on how to strengthen students’ sense of control, sense of belonging and safety, feelings of self-worth, relationships with peers and adults, and learning engagement to improve overall well-being.

It also focused on how to infuse social and emotional learning in lesson work – guiding students on how to manage emotions, set goals, show empathy for others and make responsible decisions.

“The teaching methodology we were exposed to in the four days of this training is the fastest way to bring our pupils to speed with the insurgency we have experienced,” said Biu teacher Habiba Audu. “I will apply what I have learned to assist the pupils regain what they have lost.”

The training also gave teachers a chance to reflect on their own needs – more than 300 Borno teachers have been killed by Boko Haram. A baseline study in Borno found that more than 93 percent of teachers experienced trauma and subsequent emotional issues. Many had also been forced out of work, some for years at a time.

A portion of the training was dedicated to allowing teachers to think about how their own well-being and behavior can affect their students.

“We are grateful to the USAID Education Crisis Response Project for not only introducing this training to improve the emotional well-being and pedagogical skills of many of our formal teachers, but also for bringing in many of our out-of-school children into the educational system through the non-formal approach and alternative educational opportunity,” said Waziri Umar Ngurno, Secretary of the Borno State Universal Basic Education Board.

Nigerian children in classroom. — Young Nigerian students do collaborative classwork – group work is one way teachers are encouraged to keep their students engaged. Photo by David Snyder.

Network of training

The effort to reach thousands of teachers started small: A 28-person group drawn from the project, the government and universities first came together to develop training manuals.

Fifteen national trainers approved the manuals, and from there developed a training guide.

The guide was used to instruct more than 100 “master trainers” on how to facilitate the larger trainings for primary school teachers. That group then led the four-day sessions in five different Local Government Areas: Biu, Jere, Kaga, Konduga and Maiduguri.

Veteran teachers said that such a training was a new experience for them – in its sheer size, organization, and content.

“This training is the first of its kind, it is one year’s training wrapped in four days,” said Mohammed Madu Galadima, a teacher in Biu. “I have learned teaching methods that I can apply to teach my pupils, especially those that are traumatized.”[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/12″][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/4″][vc_widget_sidebar sidebar_id=”sidebar-primary”][/vc_column][/vc_row]

A new chapter for multilingual literacy in Mozambique

July 6, 2017

By Leopoldino Jerónimo and Natalie Lovenburg

4 min read

A Mozambican student sits under the shade of a towering Baobab tree with a textbook in hand, enthusiastically opens the cover and thumbs through each chapter to explore the captivating illustrations on display.

Despite the desire to understand the printed words, the curious learner can’t fully comprehend the letters and numbers on the page because he does not speak or read Portuguese. He speaks Echuwabo—one of 43 local languages in Mozambique.

Portuguese is the country’s official national language and the basis for teaching core subjects in school.

“Mother language instruction is an essential component to inclusion in education,” says Corrie Blankenbeckler, Senior Associate for Instructional Systems and Governance at Creative Associates International.

Schools in the country lack learning and teaching resources, including local language materials.

Let’s Read! (Vamos Ler! in Portuguese) is working with the Mozambique government to improve the reading and writing skills of children in first, second and third grades by developing bilingual literacy materials in the local languages of Emakhuwa, Elomwe and Echuwabo in the provinces of Nampula and Zambézia, where a baseline assessment revealed more than 90 percent of second graders could not read two words in Portuguese.

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.

The five-year, evidence-based program is building the Ministry of Education and Human Development’s institutional ability for bilingual early grade literacy instruction, as it expands the country’s early grade bilingual education program.

According to a 2016 United Nations report on education, as much as 40 percent of the global population does not have access to an education in a language they speak or understand, causing a high number of school dropouts and low completion rates at primary schools and pushing marginalized communities further into poverty.

These barriers hinder ethnically diverse students from possessing essential literacy and writing skills, needed to succeed in school and life.

“Illiterate youth then grow to be illiterate young adults, who are excluded from society with limited employment opportunities,” says Blankenbeckler, who provides technical assistance for the Let’s Read! program.

Literacy rates in Mozambique are higher than the average for the Sub-Saharan region, with an average rate of illiteracy among adults at about 53.6 percent, according to the Mozambique National Institute of Statistics.

“Education should ensure that all learners, regardless of the language they speak with their parents, have the same learning opportunities in order to reach their full potential,” says Blankenbeckler.

Mother tongue-based bilingual (or multilingual) education approaches can improve performance in the second language as well as in other subjects, according to UNESCO.

Pieter Potter, Let’s Read! Chief of Party, explains the program’s strategic focus of partnership, “As Let’s Read! works toward the goal of helping learners gain proficiency in reading and writing in local languages they already speak and understand, a close collaboration with the Mozambican government is essential to reaching the programs goals and long-term sustainability.”

To Potter, the close partnership with key stakeholders is succeeding.

“With only a year into the project, we’re already witnessing increasing interest, active participation and ownership for the program by the government,” says Potter. “This creates a strong foundation for the expansion of bilingual literacy and the transformation of bilingual education in Mozambique.”

Establishing ownership to create a path to success

Education and language experts recently gathered at the launch of the first Let’s Read! materials development workshop in Maputo, Mozambique, to collaborate and learn about the development of specific strategies for elaborating reading and teaching materials for the early grades.

During the four-day workshop in March, Armindo Ngunga, Ph.D, Vice-Minister of the Ministry of Education and Human Development, explained the government’s desire that children learn how to read and write, as quickly and effectively as possible through quality learning and teaching.

“Fluent reading and writing is one of the main challenges for education in Mozambique,” said Ngunga.

Ministry representatives participated in the materials development workshops, including Gina Guibunda, Ph.D, Director of National Primary Education, along with other high level technical and administrative representatives from the National Institute of Education Development, Adult Education, Teacher Training and the Provincial Directorates of Education and Human Development.

Ngunga reiterated the need for coordination between the different directorates in attendance and that all would be responsible for the joint effort to improve the quality of the early grade reading in the country.

He emphasized the need for ownership by the government and strong partnerships among stakeholders so that they can jointly achieve their goal of boosting literacy in the languages children hear, speak and read at home as an effective way to also achieve literacy in Portuguese later on.

“We want children to be able to master reading simple words and sentences in their own languages,” shared Ngunga. “If we can provide the lessons in the local languages of the children and teachers, information flows automatically and success is guaranteed.”

Creative, AEI & former OPIC head discuss the future of development in Africa

June 29, 2017

By Evelyn Rupert

4 min read

Proposed cuts in aid to Africa would weaken U.S. influence and set back advances on the continent, but there is room for reform in development, panelists said on Capitol Hill.

The White House’s proposed budget reductions to economic, health, education and peacekeeping will have a profound impact on the Africa’s future, said Earl Gast, Creative Associates International’s Senior Vice President and Senior Director of the Education for Development and Economic Growth Divisions.

Gast participated in a three-person panel discussion hosted by the Brookings Institution on June 26 that centered on how evolving U.S. diplomacy and foreign assistance budgets will affect Africa.

The proposed federal budget calls for more money on military affairs in Africa, but a reduction in humanitarian and development funding, from the current $8 billion to $5.2 billion in the 2018 fiscal year.

“The budget is sending the signal that we’re moving away from engagement in Africa, with African institutions, with African leaders and also that we don’t see Africa as an opportunity for economic investment,” said Gast, who was Assistant Administrator for the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Africa Bureau. He retired from USAID in 2014 after more than 20 years of service.

International development initiatives have helped African nations make significant improvements in education, infrastructure, health and more.

The U.S. has committed billions of dollars to combatting HIV/AIDS – particularly through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). Since PEPFAR’s launch in 2003 under President George W. Bush, the prevalence of HIV has declined in key countries, including by 34 percent in Malawi. There has also been a 60 percent decline in new HIV infections among children in sub-Saharan Africa since 2009.

The budget proposal would slash programs that buy antiretroviral drugs for those with HIV by nearly a fifth, or $1.1 billion.

Creative is currently implementing several projects in Africa with a focus on peacebuilding, early grade reading and education in conflict, such as Nigeria Education Crisis Response, which seeks to expand access and quality of education children displaced by Boko Haram. Many such projects are funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Gast said particularly worrisome are proposed reductions in humanitarian assistance, peacekeeping operations, agriculture and food security programs like Feed the Future, and economic growth and education projects such as Power Africa and the Young African Leaders Initiative. In addition, U.S. development assistance funding to 12 African countries would be cut entirely.

He added that based on the budget proposal, efforts appear to be shifting to countries with the most serious security situations and turning away from nations that are progressing in the right direction, such as Zambia and Mozambique.

But Gast argued that place-based development projects can contribute to reduced violence and improved security.

“Development programs can help … get at the community-level tensions, which is where violence occurs. And it’s reaching out to church groups, other social groups, educators, leaders, and educating them on conflict resolution,” he said. “It has to take place at the local level.”

Room for reform

Though the proposed budget cuts are cause for concern for African development, said Gast, the budget proposal and talk of restructuring also gives lawmakers and stakeholders a chance to make positive changes.

“I do think that there is an opportunity for reform,” he said.

He added that starting off development programs with solid and sustainable plans, while also allowing for flexibility as they progress, is key.

“Project design is absolutely critical to getting the project right at the very beginning, and also recognizing that along the life cycle of a project there are externalities that are going to require the project to take a different direction,” he said.

Panelist Danielle Pletka, Senior Vice President for Foreign and Defense Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute, argued that the door has to be open to examining the efficiency, effectiveness and sustainability of U.S. foreign aid programs.

She said that, in her assessment, the administration’s proposed budget does not outline a coherent strategy toward Africa, and called for a new underlying philosophy toward development.

“The right thing is to bring a new and different philosophy, whether you’re from the left or from the right, and then design what the programs ought to be around that, and legislate around that,” she said.

“We need to recognize the failures that have come before us, understand why those failures are in place, because otherwise we are not going to win at making the case that we need to remain engaged.”

Leveraging the private sector

All three panelists agreed that harnessing the power of the private sector is essential for sustainable economic growth.

Rob Mosbacher Jr., former CEO of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, said he’s seen a shift in development toward smaller-scale and more local economic growth.

“I think a better strategy, which is evolving, is a strategy in which we encourage more economic activity, not big projects that are very difficult, but economic activity that’s more focused on microfinance, on small- and medium-sized business, access to credit. On things that can help businesses that are there, not foreign direct investment,” he argued.

Gast added that he has seen promising signs of increased private sector development in Africa, but that there is still a need for government aid.

“In the absence of private sector investment, in critical areas like education and health, that’s where public assistance comes in, and we shouldn’t understate the importance that it plays,” he said.

After reading gains in Zambia, education expert explains how to sustain progress

June 28, 2017

5 min read

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After reading gains in Zambia, education expert explains how to sustain progress

By Natalie Lovenburg

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Q&A with Renuka Pillay, Director Read to Succeed project

Primary school students in more than 1,200 primary schools in Zambia are reading better than ever before.

There was an 809 percent jump in reading comprehension among second graders in schools supported by the U.S. Agency for International Development-funded Read to Succeed program, according to an early grade reading baseline assessment in 2012 to an endline assessment in 2016 conducted by the program.

Based the past five years, the program, which is implemented by Creative Associates International, has built capacity in the Ministry of General Education and improved reading using a phonics-based approach among learners in grades 1 to 4 in their local Zambian languages.

After years of successful collaboration, the Read to Succeed Zambia project will transition in June from the project team into the hands of Zambian government. Renuka Pillay, Project Director for USAID’s Read to Succeed project in Zambia, says that from day one sustainability has been at the heart of the project, with the Ministry of General Education taking the lead in policy changes that support student learning.

Pillay shares lessons learned for improving early grade literacy education based on Creative’s “whole school, whole teacher, whole learner” approach and preparing to sustain these gains.

With more than 16 years of experience implementing projects focused on education, psychosocial support, HIV mitigation, and post-conflict reconstruction in Zambia, Uganda, Tanzania, Pillay has supported learning materials development and policy dialogues with the Ministry of Education, among other critical areas.

Explore the special reports: “Zambia: Transforming education, creating a nation of readers” and “Zambia: Turning the page for better schools.”

USAID’s Read to Succeed project helped to ensure delivery of quality of education, with a particular focus on early grade reading. What did the project do to help ensure those gains are sustainable?

Renuka Pillay, Project Director for USAID’s Read to Succeed project in Zambia, has more than 16 years of experience implementing projects focused on education, psychosocial support, HIV mitigation, and post-conflict reconstruction, among other critical areas.

Pillay: Read to Succeed has five fundamental guiding principles called “The Five S’s” that informed the project from the very beginning and throughout its implementation at various stages. I feel the projects exit strategy and sustainability plan are all linked into these main principles.

Shared Goals. One of the first things Read to Succeed did was to develop shared goals with the Ministry of General Education. This was in regard to teaching literacy in Zambia primary schools.
Strategic Approach. One of the things the project staff developed was a National Literacy Framework with the Ministry of General Education. It is significant for a government to take on such an intervention – at a national level and one that a project proposes. It is a testimony to the way in which Read to Succeed works.
Systemic Approach. The way the project worked was to have government counterparts—from the Departments of Curriculum Development, Teacher Education and Standard and Quality—work on committees with them as members of the technical team to ensure the interventions were Zambian-led.
Scale-up Nationally. By ensuring there were opportunities in the design for scale-up, the project made sure to use government structures and to not create new structures. This helped to ensure that the model of training was in line with what the government could financially afford for future trainings and retooled the national trainers as facilitators.

Given that the main actors in the project were government officials from all levels–from the national, regional, provincial, district and zonal levels–they were all part of the existing system.

Under the leadership of Dr. Tassew Zweedie, Read to Succeed’s Chief of Party, the project ensured that government was in the driver’s seat. From the beginning and throughout the life of the project, there was a strong level of collaboration and capacity building in order to ensure a successful transition of ownership and each level of the government has a defined role moving forward.

The value is that the government and other key partners, who are also actors in education, found this process to be very inclusive and it shines a light on the way forward for other programs being implemented.

The Government of Zambia was at the forefront of Read to Succeed’s work every step of the way. In your view, what role should governments play in ensuring quality education for all?

Pillay: One of the most significant aspects of the project that we’ve learned is that bringing government officials to the table at the outset, works to improve the outcome of a project.

This opportunity for collaboration was evidenced within the technical working groups, which Ministry officials chaired. Furthermore, at the Provincial level there was integration of the Read to Succeed innovations into their respective work plans. This was a good indication of the ownership of the Read to Succeed interventions and the value was appreciated.

On the policy level regarding literacy, we need to ensure that countries set bench marks to measure achievement at different grade levels. The Read to Succeed project has worked closely with the government to propose suitable, realistic benchmarks for reading at Grade 2 level.

It’s critical for governments to engage among each other with efficacy and efficiency to ensure flow of funds at all levels: teacher recruitment and deployment; upgrading, promotions and rewards for educators; and quality assurance, etc. This closer inter-ministerial collaboration creates a more supportive system in which education reforms can be embedded to deliver quality education.

The Read to Succeed Project included outreach to orphans and vulnerable children and adolescent peer counseling to spread healthy behaviors and support vulnerable students. What is the connection between health and education? Why pair them together?

Zambian reading books. — The Zambian government and USAID have teamed up with communities, schools and parents to boost literacy through quality curriculum and improve overall school effectiveness.

Pillay: The integration and focus on school health, well-being and the education of children is a critical topic that warrants more attention. There needs to be a closer link between health and education.

With systems in Africa particularly, not having a robust early childhood development component is a challenge. The children are coming straight from the household to the classroom without any readiness skills, such as understanding one’s body. Nutrition can be a concern as can any sort of special needs, such a visual impairment.

Having early childhood education to prepare young students is often a neglected aspect in school systems. Issues stemming from this lack of early education roll up to the primary school cycle.

Applying a “whole school, whole teacher, whole learner” approach to education, like the Read to Succeed project did, involves and mobilizes the community, including parents and partners, to work together to tackle issues like gender barriers, nutrition, good hygiene and cleanliness.

This Read to Succeed project provided critical psychosocial care and support, called Learner Support and Services, for vulnerable children to have the more holistic well-being and to prepare them for adolescence. The success of this intervention is that the Agents of Change, who were trained by the project, were students of the school, who provided informal peer-support to others.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/12″][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/4″][vc_widget_sidebar sidebar_id=”sidebar-primary”][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Youth and development expert Clare Ignatowski joins Creative

June 22, 2017

2 min read

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Youth and development expert Clare Ignatowski joins Creative

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text]WASHINGTON, D.C. — Clare Ignatowski, a recognized expert in the intersection between youth issues and development, has joined Creative Associates International.

She will serve as Senior Technical Advisor for Youth and Systems Thinking in the Workforce Development and Youth Employment Practice Area. In this role, she will provide technical and thought leadership on youth across Creative’s areas of expertise and global programs, says Earl Gast, Senior Vice President and Senior Director of Creative’s Economic Growth and Education for Development Divisions.

“Clare’s wealth of knowledge on youth issues will be an invaluable resource for the entire organization,” says Gast. “We are excited to work with her to continue finding new ways to improve the livelihoods and opportunities of young people in the communities where we operate.”

Ignatowski will lead the Creative-supported Youth Systems Collaborative, which brings together diverse researchers and stakeholders in youth development for large-scale collaborative projects.

She has dedicated her career to studying youth development, workforce systems and education reform in international development. In her 15 years of government service, she worked with the Peace Corps, U.S. Agency for International Development and the Millennium Challenge Corporation.

She was a member of USAID’s Youth Policy Task Team, which crafted the agency’s overarching strategy to put youth issues at the center of development and get more young people involved in projects around the world. She also led the development of USAID’s youth conflict-sensitivity toolkit and designed youth strategies for projects in more than 20 countries.

Ignatowski is a research fellow with the Center for Africana Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, where she earned a master’s in education and doctorate in anthropology.

She says she looks forward to working across each of Creative’s three divisions –

Economic Growth, Education for Development and Communities in Transition – to better serve youth through Creative’s projects in crisis and conflict-affected countries.

“I appreciated Creative’s search for innovative approaches to meeting the diverse needs of young people in challenging settings,” Ignatowski says. “I look forward to expanding on Creative’s substantial experience in youth development and sharing lessons learned with the wider development community.”

From the Caribbean to Afghanistan, Creative’s projects put youth at the heart of development and strive to foster meaningful opportunities for learning, employment, healthy lives, and civic participation and leadership.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/12″][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/4″][vc_widget_sidebar sidebar_id=”sidebar-primary”][/vc_column][/vc_row]