basic orientation & program learning...

Basic Orientation & Program Learning Workshop

17-20 May, 2014

Center for Development Management (CDM), BRAC, Khagan, Savar, Dhaka

The report entails the orientation workshop of READ project targeted to its field staff at regional level. A 3-day workshop was held to educate PC, FO, STO and TOs about existing and forthcoming program activities and result assessment methods.


Table of ContentsBACKGROUND............................................................................3RATIONALE................................................................................3OBJECTIVES...............................................................................4OUTCOMES................................................................................4PARTICIPANTS...........................................................................4VENUE AND DURATION...............................................................4MODALITY.................................................................................5BUDGET.....................................................................................5SCHEDULE.................................................................................5REGISTRATION: 17 MAY, 2014....................................................6ACTIVITY: DAY 1, 18 MAY, 2014..................................................6ACTIVITY: DAY 2, 19 MAY, 2014..................................................8ACTIVITY: DAY 3, 20 MAY, 2014..................................................9

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ABBRIVIATIONSAUEO Assistant Upazila Education OfficerBCDM BRAC Centre for Development BDT Bangladeshi TakaBRAC Bangladesh Rural Advancement CODEC Community Development Centre DPE Directorate of Primary EducationFIVDB Friends In Village Development FO Field OfficerGIS Geographical Information System GoB Government of Bangladesh GPS Global Positioning SystemICT Information, Communication & IR Intermediate Result JCF Jagoroni Chakra Foundation M&E Monitoring & EvaluationMIS Management Information SystemMLE Multi Lingual EducationNCTB National Curriculum & Textbook BoardNGO Non Government OrganizationPC Project Coordinator PEDP Primary Education Development PNGO Partner NGOPO Project Officer/Purchase OrderRDRS Rangpur Dinajpur Rural ServicesREAD Reading Enhancement for Advancing SC Save the ChildrenSCI Save the Children InternationalSMC School Managing CommitteeSTO Senior Technical OfficerTO Technical OfficerUNO Upazila Nirbahi OfficerUSAID United States Agency for International VERC Village Education Resource Centre

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Basic Orientation & Program Learning WorkshopD O C U M E N T E D B Y M . F A R H A N U L E N A M

BACKGROUNDBangladesh has made dramatic strides in improving access to basic education, driven by strong government leadership and successful partnerships among government, donors and NGOs.

Despite unprecedented gains in educational access, however, the government’s National Student Assessment findings in 2012 point to weak Bangla reading results in grades 3 and 5. The findings also indicate that reading skill is decreasing from third grade to fifth grade, suggesting that children fall more and more behind due to a weak foundation. This has a spillover effect for the education system and economy as a whole.

The Government of Bangladesh’s (GoB) Third Primary Education Development Plan (PEDP III) provides a comprehensive framework to address these challenges. The Reading Enhancement for Advancing Development (READ) project will support these efforts both inside and outside the schools walls by achieving the following key results: (give the 4 result areas)

READ is a 4-year collaboration with the Government of Bangladesh, supported by the US Agency for International Development, to improve early grade reading competence. Learning to read affects all aspects of children’s education. By ensuring a strong foundation at the beginning of school, the expectation is that

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fewer children will repeat grades or drop out in the primary cycle, and a higher proportion will complete school with solid primary school skills – such as literacy - which are critical life skills in today’s world.

RATIONALEAs the program READ is new and the relevant staff of READ does not have a clear understanding of the program thus it is necessary to conduct such kind of orientation & learning workshop to create the same voice for READ program. This would also be helpful to implement the program activities smoothly in the field.

OBJECTIVESThe Objectives are furnished below:

1) To provide READ team (PNGO+SC) with a detailed overview of READ program;

2) To explain the activities and its implementation mechanism to READ team;3) To provide an overview of M&E framework, Result framework, Data quality,

Indicator and monitoring mechanism of READ activities at filed level; 4) To clarify communication, branding , compliances and challenges during

implementation of READ activities; 5) To build of team spirit and oneness that facilitates team work across

program at different locations.

OUTCOMESThe Participants would be able to:

1) Implement the READ program activities as per the implementation guide at field level;

2) Demonstrate M&E framework, indicators & researches of READ program; 3) Express their motivational and professional inspiration in their work and

show the team spirit across the country.

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PARTICIPANTSPC -6, STO READ – 6, STO M&E – 5, TO – 42 of 5 PNGOs (CODEC, FIVDB, JCF, RDRS & VERC) from 6 Divisions of Bangladesh and SC READ Team (11) from Dhaka will be participating in the orientation. Total 70 participants expected.

VENUE AND DURATIONSavar BCDM, Khagan, Ashulia, Savar is selected as the venue for this orientation. It is situated opposite of the BRAC University, Savar Campus (Former TARC). The basic orientation will take place from May 18 – 20, 2014. The participants will report at the venue by 6:00 PM of 17 th May, 2014 and will leave the venue by 11:00 AM of 21st May, 2014. SC READ team will be leave by 6:00 PM of 20th May, 2014. This is residential orientation and everyone is requested to bring all goods of their personal necessity.

MODALITYThe sessions of the orientation to be held in 2 conference rooms simultaneously, but the starting and ending of the daily event would be held at the hall room (01). These modalities have been taken to make the session more interactive and lively.

BUDGETThe approximate budget for this - BDT 10, 88,750/- which is available in SC – READ budget. Detailed of this total amount are given below –

Sl. no Description Unit Amount (BDT)

1. Hall Room 2 nos. 99,000.00

2. Accommodation 70 4,59,000.00

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persons

3. Food 70 persons

342,000.00

4. Stationery and other logistics 70 persons

98,750.00

5. Service charge to BRAC CDM 90,000.00

Grand total: 10,88,750.00

SCHEDULEPlease see Annexure 1.

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REGISTRATION: 17 MAY, 2014All participants checked in the venue around 6:00 pm. The READ central team sat for a quick meeting for last minute updates and discussing the session plans for next 3 days. This was followed by dinner. Participant list can be found in Annexure 1.

ACTIVITY: DAY 1, 18 MAY, 2014Day 1 began with the session of Shahin Islam who facilitated the introduction among participants and set the platform by discussing the objectives, agenda and rules of the workshop.

When asked, participants talked about their expectations from the workshop which are mentioned below:

To know

detail about the rationale of READ project and how it is being implemented activities under each result area nature and frequency of READ activities during school holidays Activity and M&E plan Branding issues and principles Responsibilities of READ central team

Later after the tea break, an inaugural speech was given by the Chief of Party, READ-Liana Gertch, where she mentioned about the unique nature of the project and its possible impact on the society specially the children. She also mentioned that the project took some time to kick-off due to the late approval from GoB and

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establishing collaboration with NCTB, DPE and other bureaucratic government wings. She mentioned that she believed that each personnel of the regional field offices were technically sound and could add much value to the project in the coming years. She also expressed her satisfaction about the regional launching programs where positive feedbacks were evident. She thanked the audience for making it to the training.

In the afternoon, Mr. Shahin Islam made a detail presentation on the Overview of READ program where he discussed about the background, rationale, funding, working areas, collaboration and future directions of READ program. The presentation can be found in Annexure 2.

Some questions were raised from the audience which are mentioned below:

Will there be any initiative taken for science study? Is there any learning and similarity from/with that of English-in-Action

program? Will there be any reading assessment for grade 1-3 students, if yes, how?

Recommendations that came from the audience were

to include the Monipuri tribe in Sylhet under READ program to open a READ file at each GPS and UNO offices Read communication department may arrange

supply of branded folder, sticker etc. for Govt. Officials at regional level

Later in the Day, presentations on program activities, their implementation and the role

of FO, TO, STO and PC were discussed by the Reading team.

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Mr. Akidul discussed about the program activities under result area 1 which is illustrated below:

His lecture elaborated on the teacher’s training activities which included the purpose, mode, process, frequency and rationale of such trainings. His

presentation can be found in Annexure 3.

Then Mr. Uttam Kumar Dhar from reading team further discussed about the reading instruction manual developed for the teachers by the reading team. He emphasized on the building blocks of reading and language skills that need to be considered for development of the children. His

presentation can be found in Annexure 4.

Before closing of the day, Mr. Shahin is discussed about the 1st year working plan and budget overview. 3 issues were identified where efforts need to be made which are:

1. National Launching of the program2. Approval for Teacher’s training from DPE3. Sharing of reading materials with parents and SMC

ACTIVITY: DAY 2, 19 MAY, 2014Dilshana Parul started her discussion on the basics of M&E. She talked on M&E definitions and its importance, indicators, results framework and limitations. Her presentation can be found in Annexure 5.

Her lecture was followed by Mr. Ragib who talked about MIS and GIS with regards to data management and mapping. He explained the process of data flow,

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location mapping and some technical elaboration on MIS framework. His presentation can be found in Annexure 6.

Later in the afternoon, Mr. Farhan Enam conducted a session on Communication, Branding and Marking. He talked about the definition, importance, types and process of communication among stakeholders. He explained the roles and responsibilities of communication department along with the concept of development communication. He also shared some rules about the branding and marking of USAID, Save the Children and READ program in terms of formats, templates and identity. He further talked about the rules and standards of photography, media coverage, use of Bengali translation and email communication.

2 Questions were raised:

1. Can PNGOs use their logo in Press Release?2. Can they put address and ‘regional office’ in Signboards?

His presentation can be found in Annexure 7.

Ms. Aklima Sharmin carried out session on use and importance of ICT in Education. She also discussed about how ICT will be integrated in READ program and GPS schools. She also talked on the concepts of 3Cs (creativity, critical thinking and collaboration) for Vision 2021, digital native, digital gap etc. Finally groups were made to figure out the possible roles of PC, STO, TO and FO in this area. Her presentation can be found in Annexure 8.

Before days ending, Mr. Asaduzzaman conversed about the Financial and Procurement Compliances of USAID and Save the Children. He primarily

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discussed about standard procurement procedures, USAID and SCI guidelines, Travel rules, budget, financial reporting and audits and roles of finance department. His presentation can be found in Annexure 9.

Later in the evening, a cultural program was carried out along with barbeque dinner.

ACTIVITY: DAY 3, 20 MAY, 2014Mr. Akter started a session discussing the READ results framework. He emphasized on the quality of data, assessment mechanism

and data flow from field to central team. He also discussed on improving reading skills for grade 1-3 students. He focused on indicators and techniques to collect results from interim assessment of READ result

areas. He also discussed briefly on IR2. His presentation can be found in Annexure 10.

Followed by Mr. Akter’s session, Mr. Sayed spoke on the topic of Research purpose & methods, baseline

survey, data quality, collection, analysis and presentation. His presentation can be found in Annexure 11.

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Mr. Aminur oriented the audience with the following:

Community involvement in literacy enhancement - who are the stakeholders and how they will be involved.

Mentoring staff members and monthly meeting - how we can collaborate and grow professionally together.

Work plan - how to create, share and accommodate in line with other activities of the program.

His presentation can be found in Annexure 12. Later in the day Mr. Shahin talked about burn rate and its implications. He also shared a format that will be used at regional level to track finance on monthly basis.

The next session was a brainstorming session for PCs to write about their last 5 months activities. These were found to be the following:

Recruitment and Team building Staff development Data validation

Coordination with SMC Communication with GoB Launching Ceremony

The final session was held in the afternoon where PCs were asked to forecast their activities for next 3 months. Below are the findings of the session:

Establishing School profiles Teacher training M&E tools production SMC Orientation

Head Teacher and AUEO training

Classroom monitoring Book bank enhancement Parent’s reading awareness

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Finally before ending the day Mr. Shahin ran a feedback session where 2 major questions were asked.

1. Which topic(s) can you describe readily to someone now? (indicates level of understanding)

2. Which topic(s) needs more elaboration?

Following chart illustrates percentage of participants who understood a topic.

READ OverviewCommunicationICT in Education

Basic M&EIRS

Financial ComplianceProgram ActivitiesRole of Field Force

ResearchGIS

Language SkillSchool System

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%100%

93%70%

60%94%

91%96%97%

90%84%

97%91%

Success rate of Workshop Sessions

% people understood

Sess

ion

Topi

cs

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