General information

Title
Achieving Basic Competencies through Catch Up
ID
XM-DAC-2-10-8075
CRS ID
2022008075
Start date
End date
Activity status
Implementation
Budget
€5.918.629
Actor
VVOB - Vlaamse Vereniging voor Ontwikkelingssamenwerking en technische Bijstand
Country
ZAMBIA
Sector
Education - Basic - Primary education
Policy markers
Gender 1
Climate: Adaptation 1
Aid type
Core support to NGOs, other private bodies, PPPs and research institutes
Fragile state
No
Least developed country
Yes
Budgetline
54 20 356072 NGO Programs
Finance type
GRANT
Tied status
No
Flow type
ODA
Body

General

Teachers in government and community schools have the capacity to assess and teach basic literacy and numeracy skills through the Teaching at the Right Level (TaRL)/Catch Up (CU) approach to grades 3 to 5 learners. Zambia is experiencing a severe learning crisis. By the end of primary education, many learners perform at or below grade 1 level, showing that they acquired few skills and competences during their years in primary school (SACMEQ, 2011; CU, 2019). Learners’ lack of foundational skills threatens their overall academic performance and increases their likelihood of dropping out of school (Evans et al., 2019). One of the root causes of this learning crisis is that primary teachers are not well equipped to teach foundational skills in grade 1. In subsequent grades, Zambian teachers tend to strictly follow the grade-congruent syllabus. Yet, not having acquired the basic skills to follow that syllabus, many learners fall, and stay, behind. Remedial teaching is needed to provide those learners with an opportunity to catch up. Teaching at the Right Level (TaRL) is a highly effective, evidence-based remedial teaching methodology that offers learners in grades 3, 4 and 5 the opportunity to acquire basic skills in literacy and numeracy (Banerjee et al., 2007). Instead of grouping learners by grade, learners are grouped by level in literacy and numeracy – with separate groups per domain. Per group/level, teachers use learner-centred, level-appropriate, playful activities to help learners progress to higher levels/groups until they master basic literacy and numeracy skills. In 2016, the Ministry of General Education (MoGE) partnered with VVOB and others to pilot TaRL in Zambia, aptly naming it the ‘Catch Up’ project (CU). From 80 schools in 2016-2017, CU is now successfully implemented in six out of ten Zambian provinces. In view of significant progress in learning outcomes, MoGE plans to scale up CU to the whole country, requesting technical assistance in doing so. The proposed activity therefore aims to support MoGE in expanding CU to Central province, fostering the basic skills of an estimated 300.000 learners, and in developing strategies for nationwide reach.

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