TZ21 Year 2, Quarter 1 Report, January-March 2012

The program aims to improve the quality of lower primary education with a particular focus on improved instruction in reading, mathematics, and science for higher learning achievement in Mtwara and in the islands of Unguja and Pemba in Zanzibar. The program is implemented under the Cooperative Agreement No. 621-A-00-11-00007-00 and awarded to Creative Associates International. The program's overarching goal is to provide technical and material support to the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training (MOEVT) in the Mainland and Zanzibar and to enhance the teaching and learning process using Information and Communication Technology (ICT). The program also strives to ensure a meaningful use of educational data by communities, schools, districts, regions, and national MOEVTs to enhance decision-making processes leading to and ensuring improved learning in reading, mathematics, and science in lower primary education in Mtwara and Zanzibar. The program promotes the new USAID/Tanzania Education Assistance Objective of "Improved lower primary education for higher achievement in reading, mathematics, and science." TZ21 will lay the foundation for this by working toward two sub-objectives or intermediate results (IRs): (1) Intermediate Result 1 (IR1): Strengthened professional development and resource support for schools, Teachers' Resource Centers (TRCs)/Teachers' Centers (TCs), and Teachers' Training Centers (TTCs), and (2) Intermediate Result 2 (IR2): Strengthened policies, information, and management systems. The program's underlying development assumption is that the quality of instruction for higher learning achievement in reading, mathematics, and science is a function of focused interventions on both (i) quality development through professional development, resources support, and use of ICT in classroom teaching, and (ii) quality assurance through a responsive policy and an informed decision-making process to implement education reforms. In line with these development assumptions, TZ21 is set to provide focused technical assistance and professional support to primary school teachers, school administrators, students, school supervisors, and education officers within the project geographical coverage. The program's area of coverage is Mtwara and Zanzibar, with target beneficiaries including pupils, teachers, head teachers, and education stakeholders in these regions. The program's reporting period is from January 1 to March 31, 2012, and the list of monitoring indicators includes 31 indicators, consisting of 3 standard, 3 context, and 25 customized indicators. Implementation of the program is being carried out by Creative Associates International as the prime contractor, with international sub-recipients consisting of the International Youth Foundation (IYF), Agile Learning (AL), Inveneo, School-to-School International (STS), and Education Impact (EI), as well as with Children's Book Project (CBP), a national NGO. The program also has five Global Development Alliance (GDA) partners, including Microsoft, Intel, Cisco, UhuruOne, and Zantel. The program's progress in the first quarter of 2012 is being reported, with details of project implementation, lessons learned, and challenges faced. The report also highlights the program's cross-cutting issues, stakeholder participation, project operations, management, and staffing, as well as project monitoring and evaluation.