Strengthening Education Governance and Accountability for Foundational Learning Outcomes through Partner-Driven Technical Assistance in Nigeria

• In Event: Improving and Sustaining Learning Outcomes through Systems Strengthening: Why, How, and the Journey

Proposal

Leveraging Education Assistance Resources in Nigeria (LEARN) to Read is a five-year project funded by USAID to support sustainable improvement in reading outcomes for first and second grade pupils (P1-2) in Nigeria. The goal of LEARN is to strengthen and scale up early grade reading (EGR) best practices. LEARN to Read seeks to support the foundational skills of children in reading and to work closely with the Federal Ministry of Education and its agencies and some selected states – including Bauchi and Sokoto (designated as Legacy States); at least one state designated as Launching State; and other states (designated as On-Demand States). LEARN to Read will scale up technical assistance beyond Legacy States and infuse global best practices for the teaching and learning of EGR across the Launching and the On-Demand States. LEARN to Read will also leverage the experience and expertise in these states for better learning outcomes.

The program is building on lessons learned from prior reading programs in Nigeria to introduce a flexible, cost-efficient EGR intervention model that can be tailored to states’ contexts. LEARN to Read is working to ensure that the standards-based, context-appropriate assessment, materials, training, and administrative supports needed to improve literacy skills for more than 3.5 million P1-2 pupils are embedded within the federal policy, funding, and monitoring frameworks. State and local authorities are being supported to have the implementation protocols, capacity, and resources to carry out and sustain EGR reforms. LEARN to Read intervention strategies are promoting ownership, accountability, and use of data from the ground up, to help stakeholders at all levels (classroom, school, community, local, state, and federal), as well as the private sector, understand their role in improving education quality and learning. This capacity building will benefit over 230,000 school-community members including mothers.

During the session, LEARN to Read and the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) will discuss this technical assistance program and how it supports the government of Nigeria in strengthening the education systems. The presenters will describe how the program is providing technical assistance in key areas to enable EGR policy reform and implementation including planning and budgeting, data systems strengthening, evidence-based decision-making, and private sector engagement. The panelists will also discuss key systemic challenges, such as inadequate financial resources and frequent staffing changes, along with identifying how the program has capitalized on opportunities, from engagement in legislative oversight, to stakeholder engagement in policy reform and donor coordination. The panelists will discuss how the program’s learning agenda was linked to technical assistance activities in the Nigerian states of Bauchi, Sokoto, Adamawa, Ebonyi, Gombe, and Niger states. Finally, the panelists will highlight tangible ‘big wins’ and learning through the program, especially around coordination and relationship strengthening, curriculum implementation, and ultimately the initiative’s contribution to learning outcomes.

Authors

• Ossom Mmah OSSOM, Universal Basic Education Commission UBEC

• Leesa Kaplan, Reframed Learning LLC