July 2, 2020

Quote of the week "Worry is like a rocking chair: It gives you something to do but never gets you anywhere." -  Erma Bombeck.

Our RELI Africa external website is LIVE!!!

We are so excited to have you on this newly launched website which gives us an opportunity to tell our story to the World. Remember to sign up via reliafrica.org

Country Updates

Kenya: The country leadership team met on June 23 to prepare for the annual country conference. The conference aims to focus on the following areas: Session 1, July 6: Dissemination of the RELI Workplan 2020/21 Presenters: Thematic group leads Session 2, July 15: Learning amidst the COVID-19 - Innovations and spaces for participation Presenters: RELI member organisations Session 3, July 17: Re-opening of Schools – What can our contribution be? Presenters: Ministry of Education, Kenya The conference will also provide a platform for Special Interest Groups (secondary education, urban education group, technology in education, pastrolist education, language of instruction, and school leadership) to deliberate on their focus areas for joint collaboration. The Learner Centered Teaching thematic group met on June 23 to revise their 2 year work plan. They firmed up the objectives, developed learning questions and implementation matrix. The ALiVE (Assessment of Lifeskills and Values in East Africa) team met to firm up year one work plan and the overall project budget. The team will continue to pursue the development and validation of a tool for measurement of non-cognitive competences.

Uganda: On June 17, the Equity and Inclusion cluster in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Sports met to deliberate on the National Inclusive Education Policy (NIEP) and how it can be passed in Parliament. The concepts of inclusive education and quality education are inseparable and can only be achieved if the needs of all learners are addressed. The RELI members appreciate the need to realign the policy to encompass emerging issues such as the COVID -19 crisis and other emergencies.  The leadership team met on June 26 to share updates from thematic groups: Life skills cluster has made progress on assessment of life skills under the ALIVE project, the Equity and Inclusion group outlined its advancement on the National Inclusive Education Policy and the upcoming regional cluster webinar on Inclusive and Equitable Education- a dynamic collaboration between education partners and Implementers of education programs in East Africa. The Teacher development and support cluster is reviewing the lower secondary curriculum (a webinar is underway, as well as the teacher education curricula (a draft report on the findings and recommendations has been shared for members input). The team is also working on the Continuous Professional Development (CPD) pilot to motivate teachers through accountability systems for improved classroom practice. The leadership team also discussed the selection criteria for organisations wishing to join RELI Uganda, and the recently conducted survey on the RELI Uganda Response to COVID-19 report. The report recommended the need for comprehensive delivery of printed learning materials to rural and disadvantaged communities, support for children with special needs, and the need for a more coordinated approach to monitoring of the multi-media support for learning.

Tanzania: From June 25-30, members of the Teacher Development and Support (TDS) thematic group attended a Teaching at the Right Level (TaRL)-Jifunze numeracy training for primary school teachers who are implementing the Uwezo Jifunze initiative to improve literacy and numeracy skills among learners with learning difficulties. The training aimed to equip teachers with assessment skills to identify children who are lagging behind in numeracy and support them to learn in a timely manner. The group plans to launch its camp “Jifunze kwa hatua” using TaRL materials created by members with the support of HakiElimu and pilot them in two selected schools: Kandwi (Zanzibar) and Chemba (Dodoma). Plans to showcase results in many platforms and write-ups in a TaRL themed newsletter are underway.

Funding and Opportunity Tracking Resource  Following up on the survey that many of you were able to fill out, Wellspring Philanthropic Fund hired a consultant to help scan for funding opportunities. Her findings are available here.

Look out for this:

What we're reading this week: Covid-19 Webinar series Double tragedy for learners in informal settlements amidst pandemic by Catherine Asego Considerations for re-opening schools post Covid-19: Insights from Uwezo surveys in Uganda Listen to this: Comm-unity Civsource-Africa podcast: Returning to fundamentals in education. 10 immediate WASH in schools (WinS) actions - for school heads to manage the response to covid-19

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