Egypt Literate Village Quarterly Report (April 1– June 30, 2018)

During the reporting period, the project team worked closely with various stakeholders to finalize the incorporation of Early Grade Reading Program (EGRP), life skills, and intergenerational activities into the Arabic curriculum for Upper Grades. The revised curriculum was approved by the Ministry of Education (MoE) and will be distributed to all community schools at the national level for the coming school year (2018-2019). To improve reading and writing skills of community school students, the project coordinated with MoE to launch a Summer Camp initiative for intervention community schools in Sohag and Beheira during July and August. The Summer Camp used content from the 'remedial program', previously developed under the USAID funded Education Support Program (ESP). The project conducted a 4-day training for 1,475 facilitators on the Summer Camp program in Sohag and Beheira, led by EGRP Master Trainers. The project continued its collaboration with the Ministry of Social Solidarity (MoSS) on providing training to newly selected facilitators in charge of initiating adult literacy classes. The project conducted a four-day training for facilitators on "Taalam Tahrar" curriculum in Sohag and Beheira, resulting in the training of 170 facilitators. The project also worked with village education teams and community school facilitators to enroll illiterate women in literacy classes, as well as identify appropriate venues for classes. A total of 300 classes were opened in Sohag and Beheira, enrolling 5,422 women. A 5-day training workshop was held by CAPMAS in April for 21 data collectors and 6 field supervisors from Sohag, Beheira, and Assuit, and 6 quality control personnel. Field implementation took place during the first two weeks of May in the three governorates, with 666 women interviewed to collect information on their household situation, education background, interests and needs, parental attitudes, and beliefs and behaviors on reading and education in general. Developing a culture of reading outside the school is an essential element of the sustainability of any reading intervention. The project selected a group of student ambassadors to serve as a link between the community school and the outside community. A total of 741 students from 412 targeted schools serving 388 communities were selected to play the role of student ambassadors in Sohag, while 85 teams of around 400 student ambassadors were formed in Beheira to participate and promote the campaign in 6 districts early next quarter. The project aims at strengthening the capacity of local Community Development Associations (CDAs) by providing mentorship and coaching to manage and sustain education activities for the community. The project team in Beheira worked on building and enhancing the capacity of CDAs to enable them to play a dynamic role in supporting education opportunities on the ground level. A total of 146 CDA staff received training in developing Village Literacy Improvement Plans and planning and management skills. The project also focused on delivering furniture to community schools. In Sohag, 412 community schools received the needed furniture, while in Beheira, 111 community schools received the furniture. Remaining schools will receive their furniture during the next quarter. Coordination meetings were conducted prior to the furniture delivery, with MoE officials in both governorates agreeing on the distribution plan and the needed supporting documents in addition to securing a safe place for storage. Regarding the development of the project Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) system, a scoping field visit was carried out early April by Souktel to verify that the system meets the project's needs as well as discuss the required system enhancements. This trip was followed by a four-day training at the LV project office to enhance the capacity of the project team in using the M&E system.