Annual Program Report: USAID Soma Umenye Year 3: October 1, 2018 – September 30, 2019

The project's objective is to ensure that at least 70 percent of Grade 1-3 students are able to read grade-level text with fluency and comprehension. To achieve this goal, the project has focused on several key areas, including materials development and production. In FY2019, the project developed the revised P2 and P3 essential core, including teacher's guides, learner textbooks, read-aloud books, and supplementary readers. The project also received confirmation of a waiver from MINEDUC's Made in Rwanda policy, allowing for the printing of approximately 15 percent of student textbooks outside the country. The project has made significant progress in delivering materials to schools. A total of 469,134 P1 learner textbooks, 444,848 P2 learner textbooks, and 416,270 P3 teaching and learning materials (TLMs) were delivered to public and government-aided schools in Rwanda. The project also began printing approximately 3.3 million P1 decodable readers and 5,400 sets of 24 Andika Rwanda P1 readers, which will be distributed to all P1 classroom libraries in Year 4. In addition to materials development, the project has also focused on training teachers and school leaders. The project developed P2 and P3 teacher training modules in collaboration with the Rwanda Education Board (REB) and delivered training to 3,937 P2 Kinyarwanda teachers, 3,531 P3 Kinyarwanda teachers, and refresher training to 3,889 P1 Kinyarwanda teachers. The project also trained 3,635 school leaders in principles of school leadership, evidence-based approaches to early grade reading, and how to coach early grade reading teachers. The project has also made progress in systems strengthening, including the development of revised early grade reading learner benchmarks. These benchmarks were validated by the REB SMT in June 2019 and will enable Rwanda to compare reading progress with other countries in the region and increase its potential to provide data to report on the Human Capital Index (HCI) and Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4.1.1. Furthermore, the project engaged MINEDUC/REB and education officials at the district, sector, and school level through workshops on mapping existing datasets and indicators for the Education Sector Strategic Plan (ESSP) dashboard. The project also developed an outline of a planned ESSP dashboard illustrating the potential for MINEDUC to present national and district education data to enable tracking of progress towards ESSP goals. The project's achievements in FY2019 demonstrate its commitment to improving reading outcomes in Kinyarwanda for at least 1 million children in public and government-aided schools in Rwanda. The project's focus on materials development, training, and systems strengthening has laid the foundation for continued progress towards its goal of ensuring that at least 70 percent of Grade 1-3 students are able to read grade-level text with fluency and comprehension.