Northern Education Initiative Plus Quarterly Report

The program is implemented by Creative Associates International, with a contract period of October 26, 2015, to October 25, 2020. The program's geographic coverage includes Bauchi and Sokoto States, with a focus on increasing access to education, particularly for girls and out-of-school children. The program's main purpose is to strengthen government systems to increase the number of students enrolled in appropriate, relevant, and approved educational options. This is achieved through the implementation of intermediate results, which include increasing the number of educational options meeting school quality and safety benchmarks, strengthening systematic approaches to school management and supervision, and standardizing the non-formal learning center model to ensure education for vulnerable children and youth. The program also focuses on improving reading outcomes for primary grade learners in target locations. This is achieved through the implementation of intermediate results, which include improving state and local government policies, timetables, and standards for reading instruction and performance, developing and distributing decodable readers, teacher guides, and supplemental materials for early grade reading instruction, and providing in-service training to teachers in public and non-formal learning center classrooms. The program's implementation progress is monitored through regular progress narratives, implementation status updates, and performance monitoring plan updates. The program also integrates cross-cutting issues, such as gender equality and female empowerment, sustainability mechanisms, and local capacity development, into its implementation. The program's stakeholder participation and involvement are facilitated through regular meetings and activities with government officials, civil society organizations, and community members. The program also conducts lessons learned and shares best practices with stakeholders to ensure that the program's outcomes are sustained beyond the project period. The program's planned activities for the next quarter include conducting focus group discussions, in-depth interviews, and interactive voice response surveys to gather data on the program's outcomes. The program also plans to conduct a midterm evaluation to assess the program's progress and identify areas for improvement. The program's financial report and projections for the period of April 1, 2016, to December 31, 2016, are presented in Annex 1. The program's success story is presented in Annex 2, and the initiative's weekly report for May and June 2016 is presented in Annex 3. The program's institutional capacity assessment tool is presented in Annex 4, and the distribution of non-governmental organizations by local government areas is presented in Annex 5.