Multiple paths toward sustainable policymaking: strategies for creating and implementing early grade reading policies in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Kenya, and Uganda

Group Submission Type: Formal Panel Session

Proposal

Objectives

1. Using early grade reading (EGR) projects in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Kenya, and Uganda as case studies, panelists in this session will articulate a variety of strategies for collaborating with national and sub-national partners and government ministries of education to create and implement effective and sustainable EGR policies and practices that improve learning outcomes.
2. Panelists will summarize common challenges faced while developing and implementing sustainable EGR policies as well as strategies for overcoming these challenges at various stages in the policymaking and program implementation process.
3. Panelists will consider the ways in which lessons learned from the different EGR approaches are generalizable to other contexts.

Summary

Since the launching of the Education for All initiative in 1990, the international community has focused on the goal of ensuring that all children have access to primary education. Considerable progress has been made toward achieving universal access to education; by 2016, 91% of primary-school-age children worldwide were enrolled in school. However, access to education alone does not guarantee quality educational outcomes.

Countries such as Afghanistan and Pakistan have made progress toward achieving access to education for all; however, the data indicate that there is still much to be done to ensure this education is quality. A 2013 Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA) conducted by USAID-Pakistan found that 33% of Grade 2 students were unable to read a single word of an Urdu language passage. By Grade 5, 45% of students were unable to read a Grade 2 story in their language of instruction. Similarly, a 2016 EGRA conducted by USAID-Afghanistan found that more than a third of Grade 2 students were unable to read a single word in Dari, while almost half of Grade 2 students were unable to read a single word in Pashto. Education is a basic building block of human capital; a child’s ability to learn in school and contribute to a nation’s productivity and development later in life is linked to the acquisition of foundational skills, including reading.

Given the importance of literacy acquisition, the national governments of countries like Afghanistan, Pakistan, Kenya, and Uganda, and their partners in the donor community, are increasingly prioritizing improving the quality of EGR instruction. Bringing about the scale of change in curriculum and materials development practices, education system management, teacher preparation, and community involvement necessary to realize these improvements often requires the creation and implementation of new EGR policies at a national level. It is crucial that these policies be locally-owned and sustainable once technical support from international partners is phased out. However, many of the countries struggling to improve quality within their education systems have low capacity for creating and implementing policy. In these cases, how can donor and implementer organizations work with their government partners to build capacity for EGR policymaking and implementation while also ensuring that new EGR policies are both effective and sustainable?

This panel will answer this question by looking at the approaches to EGR policy development and implementation taken in Afghanistan, Kenya, Uganda, and Pakistan over the past decade. Given the disparate contexts present in these four countries, the four approaches to EGR policy represented vary significantly. Afghanistan has only recently completed the EGR policy and adoption process, and Pakistan and Uganda’s work in this area is ongoing, while Kenya has an established policy supporting national EGR implementation. In addition, Afghanistan and Pakistan face significant challenges to policy creation and implementation at the provincial and district levels due to ongoing conflict and instability in both countries.

This panel will provide the opportunity to hear directly from Ministry of Education and national employees. Hearing from those familiar with the experience of each country will provide panel attendees with insight into challenges and successful strategies around policy planning, adoption, and implementation at various stages in this process. The panel will feature the voices of government officials and international implementing partners from all four countries, providing insight into the priorities and approaches of these key stakeholders in the policymaking process. Panelists will address how international implementing partners can best support national governments, including in low-capacity contexts, to initiate and lead EGR policymaking and implementation processes to ensure resulting policies are context-specific, effective, and sustainable. Each country presentation will serve as a case study, demonstrating the various paths that can be taken toward achieving the common goal of lasting and impactful EGR policy.

Key Questions
The panel will discuss the following key questions:
1. How can international donor organizations and implementing partners support national and sub-national governments to develop and implement EGR policies that ensure not just access to education but also quality educational outcomes?
2. What specific strategies can be used at various stages in the policy development and implementation process to ensure that an EGR policy yields positive learning outcomes and remains sustainable over time?
3. How have the governments of Afghanistan, Pakistan, Kenya, and Uganda, and their international donor and implementing partners, answered these questions, and how can the lessons learned from their experiences ensure scale-up, sustainability and applicability in other contexts?

Structure of the Session
Four panel presentations of 10 minutes each, with each presentation followed by discussant response (7 minutes) and open discussion.

Sub Unit

• General Pool

Individual Presentations

• EGR Reform in Afghanistan: Building Capacity for Locally-Owned, Sustainable National Policymaking - Susan Ayari, Creative Associates International; Shaifulhaq Rahimi, Deputy Chief of Party, Afghan Children Read; Mohammad Ibrahim Shinwari, Afghanistan Ministry of Education; Alim Ghafary, Afghan Children Read Contracting Officer Representative, USAID

• Creative Associates International: Pakistan Reading Project - Naeem Sohail-Butt, Chief of Party, Pakistan Reading Project; Qaiser Munir, Pakistan Reading Project

• RTI Uganda Early Grade Reading Interventions - Stephen Backman, RTI International