Innovation for Improving Early Grade Reading Activity-IIEGRA

Initially, the project started in June 2015 and was scheduled to run for three years with financial and technical support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The project began activities in 245 Government Primary Schools in seven Upazilas in Cox's Bazar and Khagrachari districts. Considering the needs of urban areas, the project was modified to expand activities in 17 additional districts. The project duration was extended to December 2018, and 1000 BRAC Primary Schools and 1000 Community Development Centers were established in January 2017. Additionally, 200 Government Primary Schools were newly included in the project in 2018 to enhance reading skills of early grade students. Under the leadership of BRAC, three other partners - BRAC Institute of Educational Development - BRAC University (BIED-BRACU), United Purpose (UP), and the Assistance for the Livelihood of the Origins (ALO) - are working together to achieve the project's goal. The project currently supports 231,023 beneficiaries from 445 Government Primary Schools, 1000 BRAC Primary Schools, and 1000 Community Development Centers. The goal of IIEGRA is to improve the mother tongue early grade reading skills of Bangladeshi students living in low-performing areas. The project's objective is to create access and improve early grade (I-III) reading skills of students living in selected areas through building the capacity of teachers and School Management Committees (SMCs). The project has a significant partnership management structure, which has made its activities more effective. USAID provides financial assistance and technical support to the project. BRAC is the main implementing organization, responsible for managing all project activities, monitoring, and supervision. BRAC Education Program is responsible for budgeting and controlling the project's costs. BRAC also maintains accountability to USAID by submitting reports and work plans regularly. BIED-BRACU leads the development of supplementary reading materials and Teachers' Guides, conducts training of trainers, teachers' training, and refresher training, and carries out baseline surveys, needs assessments, and impact studies. United Purpose engages the community through Upazila-level meetings, school-based orientations, and other activities. ALO, a Khagrachari-based organization, cooperates with BEP staff to organize community and IIEGRA libraries and assists Classroom Assistants in the Khagrachari district. The Directorate of Primary Education department is on board with IIEGRA, and the project interventions are being implemented in government schools with the approval of the Directorate. The Reading Advisory Committee, headed by the DG, DPE, provides guidance and monitoring support to the program regularly to improve the quality implementation of the project.