Quarterly Report: Time to Learn Project FY 2016 Quarter 1

The project partners with the Ministry of General Education (MoGE) to develop an effective, replicable, and sustainable model for improving reading performance and addressing the economic, social, and psychological complexities faced by OVC. This includes providing scholarships to assist OVC to transition from community to government schools. TTL's key purpose is to sustainably improve the quality of education in community schools and institutionalize, in a decentralized way, MoGE support to community schools to stabilize their operations. This is being done by providing educational resources, improving teacher skills and school management, and enhancing learner support through community and private sector participation. Addressing four key task areas, TTL assists the MoGE to promote a favorable environment for MoGE engagement at all levels to support community schools, promote HIV/AIDS prevention and provide a continuum of educational and financial support to enable OVC to participate in upper basic and secondary education, develop the capacity of local community groups and NGOs to advocate for opportunities for children in greatest need, and support opportunities to engage universities and other institutions in research related to promoting educational opportunities for OVC. During the reporting period, significant achievements were made, including the training of 1036 administrators (744 male and 292 female), 1305 teachers (721 male and 584 female), and the collection of endline data for the Vernacular Study. Additionally, 40 community schools were monitored after the Stepping Stone round 2 Phone Trainings, and 138 Zonal In-Service Coordinators (ZICs) were trained in eEGRA Instruct. The monitoring of 182 secondary schools also took place during this period. The Results Table provides a summary of the project's progress against its indicators and targets. The table shows that the project has made significant progress in training administrators and teachers, monitoring community schools, and providing educational resources. However, there are still challenges to be addressed, including the need to increase the proportion of students who can read and understand grade-level text and the number of learners in TTL-supported community schools with reading skill gains. The project's technical activities during the quarter in review included Round 2 of Stepping Stone Phone Trainings, monitoring of phone trainings, follow-up on the Private Public Partnership Event, and final Vernacular data collection. The actual activities done during the quarter in review included Round 2 Phone Trainings (Early Grade Reading Stepping Stone), which began at the start of the quarter and ran through the early part of November. The training aimed to improve reading instruction in community schools and was attended by DRCCs, ZICs, and Head Teachers. The project's administrative activities during the quarter in review included the submission of the revised Project Management Plan (PMP) to the project's Contracting Officer's Representative (COR) in late January. The revised PMP will be used to modify the Results Table to reflect the new version. The quarter also saw the launch of TTL's radio programs that focus on literacy and the final analysis of the year 4 performance evaluation and continued dissemination of the midline evaluation results. Overall, the first quarter of the FY16 year has set the tone for what is expected to be a successful year 5 of the TTL project and its interventions. The project's achievements during this period demonstrate its commitment to improving educational outcomes among OVC and its ability to make a positive impact in the lives of these children.