national readingprogram yesa

This publication is made possible by the support of the American

People through the United States Agency for International

Development (USAID) and was prepared by Abt Associates for the

Assess the Learners (YESA) Activity, a component of the

Government of Malawi’s National Reading Program.

October 31, 2019

NATIONAL READING PROGRAM

– YESA ANNUAL REPORT –

OCTOBER 1, 2018 THROUGH SEPTEMBER 30, 2019 Contract No.: 72061218C00001

Prime Contractor: Abt Associates, Inc.

Agreement No.: 72061218C00001

Prepared for: Odala Banda

Contracting Officer’s Representative USAID Malawi

Education Office

NICO House, Fourth Floor, P.O. Box 30455

Lilongwe 3, Malawi

Telephone: +265 1772455 Ext 5033

Email: [email protected]

Prepared by:

Jeremy Koch Abt Associates Inc.

National Reading Program – YESA

Kang’ombe House, Eighth Floor City Center, Lilongwe, Malawi Email: [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]




NATIONAL READING

PROGRAM – YESA ANNUAL REPORT

OCTOBER 1, 2018 THROUGH SEPTEMBER

30, 2019

Contract No.: 72061218C00001

USAID Malawi,

NICO House, Fourth Floor, P.O. Box

30455, Lilongwe 3, Malawi

Prepared by:

Jeremy Koch, Abt Associates

National Reading Program – YESA

Kang’ombe House, Eighth Floor City Center, Lilongwe, Malawi

October 31, 2019

DISCLAIMER

This report is made possible by the support of the American People through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The authors’ views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the

views of USAID or the United States Government.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acronyms and Abbreviations ...................................................................................................... iii

Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 5

1.1 Activity Summary .................................................................................................................................................. 5

1.2 Organization of this Document .......................................................................................................................... 6

Work by Task ................................................................................................................................ 7

Task 1: National Reading Assessment ..................................................................................................................... 8

Highlights 8

Work Completed During thE Period .................................................................................................................... 10

Table 1: Illustrative Actions/Steps to be Undertaken by Participants/Stakeholders ........................................................10

Monitoring and Evaluation ....................................................................................................................................... 13

Plans for the Next Quarter ..................................................................................................................................... 14

Task 2: School-Level Utilization of Assessment Strategies and Techniques for Reading and

Remediation ............................................................................................................................................................... 14

Highlights 14

Work Completed During the Period .................................................................................................................... 15



Task 3: Community-Level Assessments and Reading Activities ........................................................................ 30

Highlights 30



PLans for the Next QuarteR ................................................................................................................................... 32

Task 4: Integration of Reading Assessments into National Reading Program and MoEST Policies and

Practices Instituted .................................................................................................................................................... 34

Highlights 34




General Management, ADMINISTRATION AND FINANCE ................................................ 39

Highlights 39



National Reading Program – YESA Annual Report October1, 2018 – September 30, 2019 i

Appendix A: Key Program Indicators and Targets .......................................................................... 43

Appendix B: Annual Expenditures and Budget Projections ........................................................... 46

Appendix c: implementaion of the national reading programme: continuous assessment and remediation circulars ...................................................................................................................... 47

National Reading Program – YESA Annual Report October1, 2018 – September 30, 2019 ii

ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS

Abt Abt Associates Inc.

AMELP Activity Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Plan

ASER Annual Status of Education Report

CA&R Continous Assessment and Remediation

CDA Community Development Assistant

CDCS Country Development Cooperation Strategy

CRECCOM Creative Centre for Community Mobilization

DEM District Education Manager

DEMIS District Education Management Information System DEO Division Education Officer

DIAS Department of Inspectorate and Advisory Services

DTED Department for Teacher Education and Development

E3 USAID Bureau for Economic Growth, Education, and Environment

EGRA Early Grade Reading Assessment

EMIS Education Management Information Systems

FOCOLD Foundation for Community Livelihood and Development

GoM Government of Malawi HT Head Teacher

IKI Invest in Knowledge Initiative

IRB Institutional Review Board

MANEB Malawi National Examinations Board

ME&L Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning

MERIT Malawi Early Grade Reading Improvement Activity

MGCDSW Ministry of Gender, Children, Disability and Social Welfare

MIE Malawi Institute of Education

MLA Monitoring Learning Achievement

MoEST Ministry of Education, Science and Technology

NCST National Council for Science and Technology

NRA National Reading Assessment

NRP National Reading Program

OVC Orphans and Vulnerable Children

PEA Primary Education Advisor

PTA Parent-Teacher Association SACMEQ The Southern and Eastern Africa Consortium for Monitoring

Educational Quality

Std Standard (1, 2, 3, 4)

SBCC Social and Behavior Change Communication

SMC School Management Committee

TTC Teacher Training College

USAID United States Agency for International Development

YESA Yesani Ophunzira Assess the Learners (YESA) Activity YONECO Youth Net and Counseling

ZEMIS Zonal Education Management Information System

National Reading Program – YESA Annual Report October1, 2018 – September 30, 2019 iii

INTRODUCTION

1.1 ACTIVITY SUMMARY

The Malawi Yesani Ophunzira (YESA) Activity is a four year activity supporting the Ministry of

Education, Science and Technology (MoEST) in its implementation of the National Reading Program

(NRP). Specifically, YESA will build the capacity of key stakeholders, including MoEST staff at the

national, district, and school levels, and communities to gauge and improve children’s performance in the essential reading components within Malawi’s NRP. The period of performance for this contract is February 22, 2018 through February 21, 2022. YESA aims at contributing to the development

objective of improving social development by instituting and sustaining comprehensive assessment and

capacity building systems for early grade reading in support of Malawi’s NRP.

The main four objectives of YESA are to:

1. Administer National Reading Assessments (NRAs) while building the capacity of MoEST to conduct

NRAs in the future;

2. Institute universal school-level utilization of assessment strategies and techniques for reading and school management;

3. Build community-level capacity for the performance and informed use of reading assessments and

reading activities; and

4. Integrate reading assessments into NRP and MoEST Policies and Practices.

The main outcomes at the end of this fiscal year include:

. The YESA team revised and USAID approved the AMELP targets to better align with expected results given the level of resources and against which future progress can be objectively compared

. Finalized and submitted the 2018 NRA Report and District Briefs

. In collaboration with MoEST, the YESA team disseminated 2018 NRA results at national level, reaching 49 MoEST officials

. Presented certificates of recognition to districts that performed well during the 2018 NRA dissemination workshop

. Collaborated with MERIT to disseminate 2018 NRA results during NRP review meetings in all district councils

. Based on NRA results, District Councils developed Action Plans on how they would support implementation of NRP continuous assessment and remediation (CA&R) at district level

. Developed, printed, and distributed a total of 741,202 Continuous Assessment (CA) tools; 28,645 Facilitator Guides; 52,943 Resource Handbooks, and 52,943 Starter Sets to Standards 1-4 teachers nation wide

. Rolled out CA&R nationwide by training all Standard 1- 4 teachers (22,559 Standards 1-2 and 24,986 Standards 3- 4 teachers)

. Developed Head teacher (HT) training materials and conducted HT trainings in CA&R in the 5,746 primary schools across the country reaching 5,398 HTs (4,839 males, 559 females)

. Worked with the MOEST, USAID, and NRP partners to develop circulars outlining MOEST policy

on the implementation of CA&R in schools nationwide

National Reading Program – YESA Annual Report October1, 2018 – September 30, 2019 5

• Developed SMC/PTA manual which was shared with HT’s in readiness for rollout training of

22,500 school governing structure representatives across the 5,746 primary schools in Malawi

• Monitored CA&R activities and provided coaching to improve implementation across all

six Education Divisions

• Enhanced integration, partnership, and collaboration with NRP implementing partners

• Facilitated orientation of 5,398 HTs who will reach out to 22,500 members of SMC, PTA,

Mother Groups and community leaders to support use of reading assessments and reading

activities at community level in FY20

• Created a database of HTs for 5,746 primary school across the country

• Created a database of 24,986 Standards 3 - 4 teachers (12,672 males, 12,314 females) from all

the primary schools across the country in preparation for NRP CA&R

• Developed functional specifications for the mobile Education Management Information System

(EMIS) application that will upgrade their monitoring and evaluation (M&E) system and will be used by MOEST and YESA for data collection, indicator tracking, and reporting.

• Developed EMIS Platform User Guide for data collection, reporting, and visualization

• Developed functioning mobile EMIS application ready for user testing and stakeholder training

• Collaborated and coordinated with MERIT in training of Standard 1 and 2 teachers, Sections

Heads, HTs, and Standard 3 and 4 teachers on NRP curriculum and CA&R

• Recruited staff for all vacant positions to ensure smooth running of the project

• Procured four addition vehicles, increasing the fleet of YESA vehicles to nine

• Relocated all Divisional Educational Coordinators (DECs) to their respective divisions with

vehicles and other office equipment.

1.2 ORGANIZATION OF THIS DOCUMENT

The remainder of this document is organized as follows: the following section describes the activities that

took place this fiscal year within each of the four major program components; then we present the

achievements under management, administration and finance sections. Appendices A-C include updates

of the performance indicators; a list of international travel during the year; and budget projections.


WORK BY TASK

Task 1: YESA finalized and disseminated the 2018 NRA results report, district briefs, and presentations.

The results were disseminated within the MoEST at national and district level. In addition, presentations

summarizing the results were given to donors and implementing partners.

In collaboration with MoEST, YESA updated the EMIS and discussed a rollout plan of the new updated

web-based version of the EMIS. YESA, through its sub partner, Souktel organized system demonstrations

with MoEST, USAID, and UNICEF on how the new updated web-based EMIS version can be used. YESA

has since received feedback from MoEST and USAID on aspects that should be included in the new EMIS system as well as areas for further improvement. MOEST will establish a core team in the first quarter

of FY20 that will work with support from YESA to oversee the implementation of the updated EMIS

system. The updated web-based EMIS system has positive indicators that will integrate teaching and

learning support to schools and support the NRP outcomes.

Task 2: This task was the primary focus of YESA’s activities in FY2019. YESA developed and finalized

the CA&R framework, teacher training materials for Standards 1- 4 teachers, training materials for HTs,

and trained all Standard 1 – 4 teachers and HTs nationwide. The CA&R materials developed are aligned to the NRP curriculum. YESA adopted a four- level cascaded training model to reach all teachers

nationwide. Through this model, a total of 47,545 Standards 1-4 teachers (26,174 females, 21,371 males)

were trained in CA&R Chichewa componet (Figure 1).

Figure 1: Standards 1- 4 Teachers Trained By Sex in CA&R Chichewa

Cognizant of the pivotal role that HTs play in the rollout of CA&R,

YESA designed a

special HT training

aimed at building capacity of

HTs to support implementation of CA&R and trained 5,561

teachers (699 females,

4,862 males).

Task 3: HTs were also provided

training on the roles and

responsibilities of the school-community structures and how to engage them in action

planning in support of early grade reading. YESA subcontractors Creative Center for Community Mobilization (CRECCOM) and Foundation for

Livelihood and Community Development (FOLCOD),

participated in the development of NRP school-community structure materials for HT training.


26,1

74 25,0

00 21,3

71

12,6

72

8,69

9

12,3

14

Male

Fema

le

13,8

60 Num

ber of

teach

ers

20,000

15,0

00

10,0

00

5,00

0

Std 1 - 2 Std 3 -4 Total

30,0

00

Task 4: YESA enhanced the M&E of CA&R activities in collaboration with MoEST staff and YESA NRP

implementing partner, MERIT, to build ownership, ensure quality and relevance and sustainability of the

CA&R initiative in all public schools nationwide. All trainings, starting from national level through zonal

level were monitored by a cadre of professionals. During this reporting period, YESA visited and

supported schools in the six education divisions to appreciate how teachers are implementing CA&R in

Standards 1-4, identify gaps, and provide timely support needed with the help of DECs, Primary

Education Advisors (PEAs), Inspectors, HTs, Section Heads, Key Teachers, Curriculum Specialists,

Senior Education Methods Advisors (SEMAs), Tutors from Teacher Training Colleges (TTCs) and other

technical staff from YESA.

Cross-Cutting and Management: To strengthen integration and partnerships, YESA continued to

work closely with its partners, MERIT, MoEST experts from the Inspectorate and Advisory Services,

Planning, Basic Education and the Teacher Education and Development directorates. YESA also worked closely with MERIT and MOEST departments to co-develop training materials for Section Heads on coaching and Teacher Learning Circles (TLCs), and began work on Standards 1-2 refresher training materials that will be used in the upcoming (December FY20) Teacher Trainings.

During the fiscal year, YESA recruited all previously outstanding personnel including all six

Divisional Education Coordinators.

TASK 1: NATIONAL READING ASSESSMENT

HIGHLIGHTS

• Revised and received USAID approval for AMELP targets to better align with expected results

• Finalized and submitted the 2018 NRA Report and District Briefs

• In collaboration with MoEST, the YESA team disseminated 2018 NRA results at national level,

reaching 49 MoEST officials. The guest of honor during the dissemination event was the Minister

of Education, Science and Technology, Bright Msaka.

• Top performing districts were presented with a certificate of recognition. The Minister of

Education, Science and Technology presided over the certificate presentation. Nine categories

were identified namely:

o Most improved in Standard 2 Chichewa Zero Scores between 2017 and 2018 (LRE)

o Most improved in Standard 2 Chichewa Mean Scores between 2017 and 2018 (Chiradulu)

o Most improved in Standard 2 English Zero Scores between 2017 and 2018 (Nkhata-bay)

o Most improved in Standard 2 English Mean Scores between 2017 and 2018 (Blantyre City)

o Most improved in Standard 4 Chichewa Zero Scores between 2017 and 2018

(Chiradzulu)

o Most improved in Standard 4 Chichewa Mean Scores between 2017 and 2018 (Salima)

o Most improved in Standard 4 Chichewa Mean Scores between 2017 and 2018

(Chiradzulu)

o Most improved in Standard 4 English Zero Scores between 2017 and 2018

(Lilongwe City)

o Most improved in Standard 4 English Mean Scores between 2017 and 2018 (Zomba


Urban).

• YESA worked closely with the MERIT program to align the NRA results dissemination

workshop with MERIT cluster-based District Education Managers (DEM) workshop. The

workshop reached 136 MoEST staff from national, division, and district level (Figure 2).

Figure 2: Number of DEMs-Cluster Based Participants

• Updated the new web-based

version of the EMIS that will be

used to generate demand for data and ensure that relevant EMIS data,

NRA data results, and other

assessment results and indicators

are timely, easy to use, and

accessible at all levels.

• YESA held discussions

with MOEST on how to

rollout the new

web-

based EMIS. MoEST provided feedback

that helped

YESA to improve the system

development and plans for

deployment.

• Conducted four EMIS systems demonstrations to the MoEST team to receive feedback, and incorporated that

feedback into the updated EMIS to ensure that the system performs with minimal glitches

once rolled out.

• Initiated plans to configure EMIS to receive NRA data, training of MoEST and YESA staff, and

system handover.

• Discussed the rollout plan of the new, updated web-based version of the EMIS with the MoEST. The development of the rollout plan will be finalized in consultation with

MoEST core team at MoEST.

• Developed and administered an information and communications technology (ICT) survey to all 5,746 public primary schools’ HTs reaching 5,398 HTs (4,839 males, 559


DEM CPEA DC DPD EDM SEMA MoEST HQ

Position

Ma le Fema le T o t a l

Num

ber of

officials

40

35

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

34 34

28

26

10 10

0

5 5

4 4

27

7

5

29

2 0

17

3 2

1 1

females) to gain insight into HTs’ technology literacy and access.

• Collected HT data from 5,398 teachers (559 females, 4,839 males) from 5,746

primary schools nationwide. Entered this data into a database to gain insight on

technology literacy and access levels which will inform strategy for disseminating

learner reading information at school, zone, district, division and national levels.

WORK COMPLETED DURING THE PERIOD

In this reporting period, YESA held a number of NRA dissemination workshops in coordination with

MERIT and MoEST starting with 2018 NRA national level workshop and then six MERIT cluster-based

DEMs workshops. In all the workshops, stakeholders discussed and suggested potential solutions to help

learners that are lagging behind in reading skills so they can improve their decoding skills.

Stakeholders pledged to create strategies in their respective divisions and districts that would

improve learner performance. Examples of these strategies include: ensuring that learners attend

school regularly; supporting NRP CA&R to reduce the zero scores; encouraging learners to bring

home textbooks and supplementary readers; and engaging communities to support after school

reading activities among others. Table I below identifies stakeholder groups and their responses

regarding the next steps to be undertaken.

Table 1: Illustrative Actions/Steps to be Undertaken by Participants/Stakeholders

DCs and DPDs DEMs Coordinating PEAs

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

Factoring NRP activities into

the budget

Formulation of bylaws that can

promote reading

Planning and monitoring

of NRP activities

Orientation of some council

members on NRP. This includes

district stake holders like (DEC,

ADCs, CSOs, VDCs and the Full

Council).

Demand from stakeholders re:

what they are doing on NRP.

Encourage joint planning and

monitoring by all concerned

council groups.

Engage in resource

mobilization – involve NGOs to

incorporate NRP activities in

their day-to- day operations.

Send NRP results to DEC,

ADCs, VDCs and CSOs for

them to learn how the districts

are faring in assessment results.

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

Prioritize agreed activities in

the 2019-2020 budget

Continue supporting NRP

activities

Sign star teacher certificates

Collaborate with DCDOs and

other stakeholders (e.g., NGOs

for community support toward

NRP activities)

Resource mobilization- TLM

Planning & monitoring for NRP

activities

Allocate resources for CPEAs

to validate reports and conduct

short visits.

Ensure that NRP results shared

have gone to all relevant stake

holders.

Ensure there is on-going

engagement with all

stakeholders to promote factors

that are associated with higher

learning outcomes

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

Support PEAs to monitor &

support TLC, coaching &

remediation in schools. Including

conducting meetings with PEAs

on how to carry out coaching

and TLC.

PEAs and NRP DCs to come

up with monthly plans which

include coaching and TLC

attendance.

Facilitate collection of Star

Teacher certificates from

zones to be signed by the DEM.

Intensify review meetings to

discuss successes, challenges &

way forward.

Documentation & sharing of

success stories.

Participate & support reading

fairs.

Improve on planning systems at

school and zonal levels, with set

dates for submission and ensure

timely


• Develop portfolios of Key NRP

activities, and share these with • Submission of reports for NRP

activities

relevant stake holders. • Collaborating with local NGOs implementing similar projects and conduct sensitization

meetings with stakeholders on

NRP.

• Educating HTs, section

heads and teachers on the

sustainability of NRP.

Successes of OEMS-Cluster based workshop

• Shared, discussed key findings from NRP and developed action plans for their councils.

• Identified and shared respective district-based success, challenges and unique NRP practices on

the implementation of the NRP with the view of improving the zero scores and other associated initiatives that would be geared to improve reading in public schools

• Discussed the roles of DEMs and District Council Officials and aligned the roles with NRP goals to

enable them to manage and oversee the implementation of reading interventions in their districts

• Identified opportunities for incorporating NRP activities into district annual plans and budgets

• Discussed timetable for conducting CA&R in schools

Challenges

• DEMs workshop in two clusters (Blantyre and Mzuzu) were conducted after the DEMs had already

attended their budgeting sessions. This affected the outcome of the workshop as one key activity

was to lobby DEMs to incorporate some selected NRP activities into their budget.

• Lack of representation from all invited MoEST departments (i.e., DBE, DEP) created a challenge

because the DEMs could not fully commit to reflect NRP activities in the budget or take an active role in reinforcing adherence to policies stipulated in the current circular on CA&R in the absence

of the DBE representation.

Lessons Learned

• District leadership is key to the success and sustainability of NRP activities. As such, it is important

for the program to meaningfully engage the DEMs in NRP activities such as trainings as well as

district and division review meetings given the decentralization of councils.

• Active involvement and participation of other MoEST departments like DBE at national level is equally important if DEMs are to take a more active role in overseeing and supporting the

NRP activities as DEMs report directly to DBE and not Department of Inspectorate and

Advisory Services (DIAS).

• DEMs workshops need to be conducted earlier for the workshop to achieve all its intended

outcomes.

• Strong collaboration between MERIT DCs, YESA DECs and DEMs is important in enhancing district

ownership and support towards reading interventions.

• The workshop provided a springboard on how to identify and share successes, and best practices to

improve reading.


workshop.

To generate data demand and ensure that NRA data results and other assessment results and indicators

are timely, easy to use, and accessible at all levels, YESA and its partner Souktel worked closely with

MoEST to conduct a scoping trip in Lilongwe from February 2 – 9, 2019. This mission was a follow-on

trip to the initial assessment conducted in April 2018 to further explore and develop the plan for the

proposed technology solution for the YESA project, based on the EMIS.

The objective of the trip was to gather information about the proposed solutions including system

requirements and operating context to determine development and delivery timelines and the feasibility

of the proposed scope. This was accomplished through exploring and examining data

collection/integration/storage and reporting needs for the YESA team and other stakeholders. YESA and

Souktel (with MoEST) also sought to understand the usage of existing EMIS data/database and ownership

and sharing terms between the different teams (EMIS, DIAS, etc.). Another objective was to ascertain the

needs and user technology constraints around publishing and disseminating data and to identify the

different consumers of data and what data is needed. Throughout the various meetings conducted during

this trip, the YESA and Souktel team aimed at gathering additional customizations/updates/features and

requirements needed to improve the EMIS system.

Key findings and primary recommendations based on the scoping exercises and activities.

YESA has an immediate need for an M&E system to collect and enter data that would directly feed into the

project’s indicators and reports. Souktel recommended one unified platform, extending on the MoEST

EMIS system to be used by both MoEST and YESA project staff for mutual benefit and to support future

sustainability of the technology and a long-term vision for the full digitization of data reporting on the state

of schools in Malawi. The upgraded unified system will allow community members and stakeholders to

access data on a timely basis via a user-friendly dashboard and/or through disseminated data via different

mobile channels. The system will also address additional needs of the EMIS team, provide different data

permissions for both the YESA team and the MoEST team and support data access and dissemination to

the public and stakeholders.

This system will enable online and offline data collection, advanced calculations for indicators, and improved

reporting features. The system will include functionality that allows data access and role separation to

ensure that each user role can have access to their needed data and functionalities using only using one

system that the MoEST EMIS will eventually own. The system will enable YESA to track and report on its

indicators and utilize the existing data collected by MoEST. Souktel will ensure easy data collection and

review features that support current processes and constraints of YESA, MoEST and IKI staff. Souktel also

recommended developing public dashboards and tools for access to data for partners and community

members both through web and mobile applications. The data would be generated directly from the EMIS

system that YESA will use for their indicators.

As part of the capacity building efforts, YESA continued to work with MoEST to identify a team of

analysts from various directorates that will be trained on all technical aspects of the NRA, including

sampling and analysis of the results. This will capacitate MoEST staff to take a leading role in carrying out

the 2020 NRA.

In the same quarter, the YESA team continues to engage USAID in discussions and modifications on

some of the indicators which did not seem to align to project goals. USAID has since approved YESA’s AMELP.

YESA engaged both MoEST and USAID to facilitate project activities including the identification of a team

of analysts from various MoEST directorates that will be trained on all technical aspects of the NRA,

including sampling and analysis of the results. This will in turn build MoEST staff capacity to take a leading

role in carrying out the 2020 NRA.

There is need for a follow-up meeting of the district-cluster based workshop to see the fruits of the


MONITORING AND EVALUATION

Result 1.1. NRA tools identified, standardized, and utilized to inform targeted planning and new

education policy.

This activity was completed in FY 2018. The next NRA development will begin in FY2020.

Result 1.2. Capacity for performing NRAs created or augmented within GoM institutions.

During the this fiscal report year, YESA continued to work closely with MoEST to kick-start the process

of identifying a team of analysts from various directories such as DIAS, Department for Teacher

Education and Development (DTED), Malawi Institute of Education (MIE) and Planning on who to

training on how to select a nationally representative sample for the NRA, how to analyze the data, and

how to report it. This training will ensure that the Ministry will lead the critical functions pertaining to

assessments. Increased MoEST involvement in planning is expected in 2020.

To prepare for the FY2020 NRA, the YESA team continued to work closely with the MoEST to ensure

that a team of analysts from various directorates such as the Department of Inspectorate and Advisory

Services (DIAS), the DTED, MIE, and the Directorate of Planning are identified.

Result 1.3. Sufficient demand and political will to support regular NRAs identified, developed and institutionalized.

During this fiscal report year, MoEST issued and disseminated a circular (March 7, 2019) on NRP and

CA&R implementation to all relevant stakeholders. The objective of the circular was to provide

remedial activities to learners who are struggling to read to improve their reading performance

(Appendix C).

During the this fiscal report year, stakeholders, including teachers, HTs, PEAs, and SMCs rolled out

strategies in their respective divisions and districts to improve learner performance across the following

areas:

• Ensuring that learners attend school regularly

• Supporting NRP CA&R

• Using learners’ data for instructional decision-making

• Helping learners to love reading so they will love learning

• Monitoring and using a variety of formal and informal methods to ensure parents become official

partners in the process of learning

• Create a culture of achievement that depends on everyone's contribution

• Encourage learners to bring home textbooks and supplementary readers to reduce the zero

scores, among others


PLANS FOR THE NEXT QUARTER

YESA will continue to hold meetings with MoEST and other stakeholders to discuss areas that

require collaboration so that areas that require data sharing are understood.

YESA and its subcontractor Souktel will continue to enhance the new and upgraded EMIS system that has

been developed based on system requirements and the local operating context for MoEST in line with

data collection/integration/storage and reporting needs for the YESA team and other stakeholders. The

new EMIS is a modular web-based platform and mobile application to ensure quality data collection and

efficient data management for YESA and MoEST teams. The system ensures data ownership and database

sharing terms from the EMIS, DIAS, YESA and other stakeholders. The system design considers user

technology constraints around data publishing and dissemination of data and identifies the different

consumers of data and their data needs.

After completing system development, towards the end of Quarter 1 FY20, the YESA team will work

with Souktel on the configurations specific to YESA, system handover and hosting, and in-country

training and configuration.

YESA will develop and conduct a pilot survey with the HTs and communities. The results will help

YESA to develop a strategy for disseminating information to communities as per the YESA project

component that will allow parents, local community members, and teachers to collect, access, and

view reading data.

YESA will continue holding meetings with MoEST and other stakeholders to discuss areas that

require collaboration and data sharing.

• YESA in collaboration with MoEST will discuss and establish a Core Team of quality improvement

analysts for FY20

• YESA will review the NRA data collection tools in collaboration with the MOEST NRA Core Team

in readiness for the 2020 NRA data collection that will be conducted in June

TASK 2: SCHOOL-LEVEL UTILIZATION OF ASSESSMENT

STRATEGIES AND TECHNIQUES FOR READING AND

REMEDIATION

HIGHLIGHTS

• Developed, printed and distributed Standards 1-4 CA&R teacher training materials nationwide

• Rolled out CA&R implementation by training all teachers in Standards 1- 4 nationwide

• Conducted HT trainings in CA&R in the 5,746 primary schools across the country reaching 5,398

HTs (including 4,839 males and 559 females)

• Conducted monitoring of 33 percent of the HT training venues and implementation of CA&R in 53

schools

• Monitored CA&R and provided coaching to improve implementation across all the six Education

Divisions



Development and presentation of the CA&R Framework to MoEST

YESA developed the CA&R Framework and presented it to the MoEST Directors to enable MOEST to

understand the implementation strategy of CA&R so that they can support and institutionalize the CA&R

initiative in all public schools. In addition, the Framework was presented to MoEST to seek guidance

regarding the duration of the remediation period and placement of remediation lessons on the school timetable. YESA also sought guidance from the MoEST on the following key implementation strategy issues:

1. That all schools must establish a daily remediation period on the timetable.

2. That remediation is to be conducted five days a week in addition to (not replacing) the regular reading instruction in Chichewa and English.

3. That all Standard 1 - 4 learners will engage in remediation.

4. That the daily remediation period will be at least 30 minutes long for infant section and 35 minutes long for junior section to ensure that the lowest-performing learners receive remediation

in which the teacher is directly engaged in their activities.

It was important for YESA to seek approval from the MOEST on the CA&R implementation strategy

because this information was later incorporated in the Resource Handbook for Standards 1-2 teachers.

After the signing off of the implementation strategy by MOEST, the YESA technical team drafted CA&R materials with technical support from Aid India and Abt Associates (Abt). These include: CA tools,

Resource Handbook, Facilitators Guides for training Standards 1-2 teachers. Prior to an

adaptation/validation workshop with experts from MoEST, YESA pilot tested the CA tools and remediation

games in October 2018 to determine:

. Suitability, validity, and clarity of the CA and remediation materials

. The time it takes to administer the CA with each learner

. Grade appropriateness of the remediation games

. Practicability of the games to the Malawian context

Metholodology used in the pilot testing of CA material: Three primary schools were selected randomly to

participate in the pilot phase. The schools were drawn from the Central West Education Division

(CWED), South East Education Division (SEED), and South West Education Division (SWED). A total

of 34 learners (5 Standard 1 learners, 17 Standard 2 learners, 12 Standard 3 learners) were selected

from each school to participate in the pilot exercise, making a total of 102 learners. At the time of the pilot exercise, all the learners from all selected classes had already been exposed to few letters from

their curriculum. Twelve teachers were trained on the CA&R materials so that they could conduct the

CA and remediation activities with the learners in the three schools.

Results of the pilot: After testing the learners on both CA&R materials, the following observations

were made:

• Only 34 (33%) out of 102 learners tested, were able to meet the benchmark (7 or more out of

10) under letter identification. This means that many learners were not able to identify letters in

all 7 assessments. These assessments included content from their work in previous classes (i.e.,

Standard 2 learners took CA with Standard 1 content, and Standard 3 learners took CA with

Standard 2 content).

• Only 15 (15%) out of 102 learners tested, achieved the desired benchmark (7 or more out of

10) letter sound. Many learners failed to identify sounds.

• Only 15 (15%) out of 102 learners tested, achieved the desired the benchmark (7 or more out

10) on syllable reading. National Reading Program – YESA Annual Report October1, 2018 – September 30, 2019 15


• Only 13 (13%) out of 102 learners tested on word reading, learners achieved the benchmark (7

or more out 10). Out of all the assessment sections, the word section produced the worst results in all the schools.

• Overall, on average each learner could complete the assessment within a duration of six minutes.

• Remediation activities proved to be level appropriate with the exception that add/remove letter

activities under word formation appeared to be difficult for Standards1and 2 learners.

• The biggest barrier to the effectiveness of the remediation activities was the inexperience of the

learners with the activities. Learners will need more guidance and practice with the activities to

ensure they can engage with the materials effectively. • Most of the learners were not able to read unfamiliar fonts such as small letters a, g, and capital

letters I and L.

• Learners are more familiar with letter names than sounds. They also struggled a lot with sounding

diagraphs, multigraphs and blends.

Recommendations from the findings

• Teachers should invest time to ensure that learners internalize instructions for conducting

remedial activities.

• YESA should invest in teacher training to enable teachers to conduct assessments and remedial

activities as expected.

• Teachers should provide clear explanations to learners on how to conduct the remedial activities.

• Use of group leaders to provide instructions would lessen the time the teacher would take moving

from group to group providing instructions. • Font used in CA tools and remediation materials should be familiar to learners (i.e. use Andika).

In summary, the findings from material testing indicated that the draft materials need to be improved to

suit the needs of teachers and learners in schools. These recommendations were taken on board during

the adaptation/validation workshop for Standard 1-2 teacher training materials.

Materials development for December, 2018 Standards 1 and 2 teacher training materials

During the materials development process, YESA received technical support from Aid India, Abt, MoEST

stakeholders, and MERIT project. The training materials went through a vetting process before they were

printed and distributed. YESA and MERIT worked closely to develop a plan for materials distribution, training

of teachers, and monitoring of the Standards 1- 2 nationwide cascade training. It is worth noting that during

the materials adaptation/review and validation workshop, local expertise was crucial.

The local expertise was drawn from various MoEST departments, YESA and the MERIT technical team,

to ensure that the materials were properly aligned to the NRP curriculum and suitable also to the

Malawian context. Table 2 below, shows the December 2018 training schedule for Standard 1-2

teachers.

Table 2: Schedule for December, 2018 Standards 1-2 Teacher Training

Activity Scheduled Dates

Materials development, adaptation/validation workshop October 15-19, 2018

Refinement of materials October 22-26, 2018

Printing of materials December 10-15, 2018

Distribution of materials December10 -15, 2018

Trainings at national, master, district, and zonal level November 19- December 21, 2018

Collaboration and coordination in preparation for the Standard 1 and 2 teacher training Before

the training, YESA and MERIT held a series of coordination meetings to ensure that training materials

were aligned to the curriculum, printing and distribution of training material logistics were realistic, and

that there was proper leveraging of resources between the two projects. Bearing in mind that MERIT

has experience in material development, printing, distribution and conducting a nationwide training,

YESA benefited from the coordination meetings. The coordination meetings helped YESA to effectively

estimate the number of copies of training materials to print, number of trainers to budget for at each

level of the trainings, and the number of teachers to be trained Standards 1- 2 nationwide.

Materials Distribution for December 2018 Standard 1-2 Teacher Training

In preparation for the December 2018, Standards 1-2 teachers training on CA&R, YESA continued to

work closely with MERIT on material logistics. A team was deployed to the warehouse to determine

the number of materials to be distributed at each level of cascade training. The team at the warehouse

packed the training materials according the distribution list provided to ensure that the correct number

of materials were distributed to each zone. However, during the zonal training, it was discovered that

some zones had more participants than the materials packed for the zone because of discrepancies in

the number of materials provided by the zonal leads, i.e., PEAs and HTs. During and after the training,

YESA provided additional materials to concerned teachers to meet the shortfall. Table 3, below shows

Standards 1-2 materials that were printed and distributed between November and December, 2018

training.

Table 3: List of Training Materials Printed and Distributed During December Std 1-2 Training and variance

N

o DESCRIPTION Printing Dates Training Type QTY

# of

Materials

Distributed

1 NRP Presentations- Set of 3 leaves presentation

Sept, 2018 Presentation head teacher & Heads Section

1,358 1,358

2 CA Tools for Std 1, sample A & B Nov & Dec 2018 Std 1 & 2 Teacher

Training

16,9715 167,470

3 CA Tools for Std 2, sample A & B Nov & Dec 2018 Std 1 & 2 Teacher

Training

16,9715 168,140

4 Facilitator Guide for Std 1 & 2 Nov & Dec 2018 Std 1 & 2 Teacher

Training

24,245 24,195

5 Resource Hand Book for Std 1 & 2

Nov & Dec 2018 Std 1 & 2 Teacher

Training

24,245 21,915

6 Starter Set Std 1 Nov & Dec 2018 Std 1 & 2 Teacher

Training

12,122 9,300

7 Starter Set Std 2 Nov & Dec 2018 Std 1 & 2 Teacher

Training

12,123 8,923

8 Additional CA Std 1 & 2 (sample A & B)

Nov & Dec 2018 Std 1 & 2 Teacher Training

168,000 168,000

9 Additional Facilitator Guide Nov & Dec 2018 Std 1 & 2 Teacher

Training

2,000 2,000

10 Additional Resource Handbook Std 1 & 2

Nov & Dec 2018 Std1 & 2 Teacher Training

6,000 6,000

11 Additional Starter Set, Std 1 & 2 November

and Dec 2018 Std 1 & 2 Teacher Training

12,000 12,000


Inclusive education helps remove learning barriers for many children and it can significantly reduce out

of school populations. During the December 2018 Standards 1-2 training, YESA transcribed, printed and

distributed braille materials to support visually impaired learners. Table 4, below shows the braille

materials that were printed and distributed.

Table 4: Braille Materials Printed in December, 2018 Standards 1-2 Teacher Training

BRAILLE MATERIALS Printing Dates Training Type QTY #Materials Distributed

1 Starter Set - Std 1 November 2018 Std 1 & 2 Teacher

Training 56 41

2 Starter Set - Std 2 November 2018 Std 1 & 2 Teacher

Training 56 41

3 Teacher Resource Hand Book Std 1 & 2

November 2018 Std 1 & 2 Teacher Training

56 51

4 Teacher Facilitator Guide

Std 1 & 2

November 2018 Std 1 & 2 Teacher

Training

56 53

5 CA Sample A - Std 1 November 2018 Std 1 & 2 Teacher

Training 56 34

6 CA Sample B - Std 1 November 2018 Std 1 & 2 Teacher

Training 56 34

7 CA Sample A - Std 2 November 2018 Std 1 & 2 Teacher

Training

56 35

8 CA Sample B - Std 2 November 2018 std 1 & 2 Teacher

Training 56 35

Table 5 below shows the number of participants and facilitators at each level of the cascaded training for

Standard 1 and 2 teachers.

Table 5: Number of Participants and Facilitators at Each Level and Sex

Facilitators Participants

Training Level Male Female Total Male Female Total

National Facilitators 6 4 10 7 7 14

Master Trainers 13 11 24 93 73 166

ToT Trainers 93 73 166 1,255 1,139 2,394

Standard 1 - 2 Teachers 8,699 13,860 22,559

Development, printing and distribution of HT training Materials

During this reporting year, YESA developed, printed and distributed 43,500 HT training materials (7,500

Resource Handbooks, 7,500 Facilitator Guides and 28,500 Community Manuals). Table 6, below shows

HT training materials that were developed, printed and distributed.

Table 6: Summary of List of Training materials printed and distributed and balance

Description Printing Dates Training type QTY Materials

distributed No


1 Head Teacher Training - Resource Hand Book

May and June 2019 HT Training 7500 6,250

2 Head Teacher Training - Facilitator Guide

May and June 2019 HT Training 7500 3,950

3 Community Manual – Chichewa May and June 2019 HT Training 28,450 28,400

4 Community Manual - English May and June 2019 HT Training 50 30

The HT training on CA&R was organized to orient HTs on their roles as school administrators and how

they can support their teachers in the implementation of CA&R to ensure that the initiative is

implemented with fidelity. During the classroom monitoring visits that YESA conducted at the beginning

of the rollout of the CA&R in Standards 1 and 2, it was discovered that many HTs were not providing

adequate support to teachers to implement CA&R effectively because they did not know how CA&R

works.

To bridge this knowledge gap, YESA developed HT training materials on CA&R as well as HT training

materials on community mobilization and how communities can support implementation of CA&R at

community level. With technical expertise from MoEST, MERIT and YESA subcontractors CRECCOM

and FOCOLD, YESA organized a three-day materials development workshop at the Malawi Institute of

Education in Domasi to develop these training materials. The MoEST teams include HTs, practicing

teachers, experts from DIAS, DTED, and the curriculum center, and the Malawi Institute of Education.

Three types of materials were developed, namely: • Resource handbook

• Facilitators’ guides • Community manual

The resource handbook and facilitators guides were developed to support HT trainings facilitation. The

community manual was developed to equip HTs with skills on how to mobilize and support school

governing structures on the implementation of CA&R in the school communities. The community

manual also provided guidance on how to establish and/or revamp reading centers, identify reading

centers, and mobilize volunteer resources for the reading center.

August 2019 Standards 3-4 CA&R material development, printing and distribution

The 2018 NRA results show that learners in Standard 4 continue to perform poorly in the four basic

reading skills (i.e., letter name, sound, syllable, and words) as well as the core skills of Standard 3 and 4

according to the NRP curriculum, sentence reading, story reading, and reading comprehension.

A five day workshop was held in Mponela from April 22-28th, 2019 to develop /adapt and validate

CA&R training materials for Chichewa for Standard 3-4 teachers with technical support from Aid India.

The training materials included:

• Resource handbooks

• Facilitator guides

• Standards 3-4 CA tools (Samples A and B) • Starter sets that contained remediation activities for Standards 3-4

The materials were then shared with USAID for their review and approval. The YESA team

incorporated their feedback to refine the materials in readiness for printing and distribution.

Again, to promote inclusion at Standard 3 and 4, 50 copies of all the materials (Facilitator’s Guides, Resource Handbooks, CA tools for Standards 3-4 and the Starter Sets) were transcribed into braille to

cater for the visually impaired. In addition, 10 copies of each of the materials were also printed in large

print for teachers and facilitators (PEAs). Furthermore, YESA reprinted copies of CA-7 for Standard 2 so

that Standard 3 teachers have their own tool for the initial assessment. Note that, the last CA, which


is CA-7 for Standards 1, 2, 3 and 4 are used to conduct the initial assessment at the beginning of each

new school year for the subsequent standard. The initial assessment is conducted during the first week

of the academic year.

Distribution of materials was facilitated by MERIT at all levels of the training. However, printing and

delivery of some materials for zonal trainings was delayed. YESA then took on the distribution of the

remaining materials. With the support of vehicles from the MoEST, YESA completed distribution of the

remaining materials to the remaining zones (Table 7).

Table 7: Summary of Materials Printed & Distributed at Standards 3-4 - July, 2019 Teacher Training

No Description Training Type QTY Materials distributed

1 Starter Set for Std 3 Std 3-4 Teacher Training 16,337 13,112

2 Starter Set for Std 4 Std 3-4 Teacher Training 15,667 12,845

3 CA Tools for Std, 3 sample A & B Std 3-4 Teacher Training 32,674 15,753

4 CA Tools for Std 4, sample A & B Std 3-4 Teacher Training 31,334 13,547

5 CA Tool for Std 2 #7 Std 3-4 Teacher Training 12,000 11,663

6 Resource Handbook for Std 3 & 4 Std 3-4 Teacher Training 32,004 28,454

7 Std 3-4 Teacher Training Std 3-4 Teacher Training 5,500 1,950

8 Resource Handbook for Std 3 & 4 - large print Std 3-4 Teacher Training 10 5

9 Facilitator Guide for Std 3 4 - large print Std 3-4 Teacher Training 10 5

Table 8 below shows the number of participants and facilitators at each level of the cascaded training for

Standard 1 and 2 teachers and Table 9 shows the number of participants who participated in the

Standard 3-4 teacher training.

Table 8: Number of Participants and Facilitators at Each Level and Sex

Facilitators Participants

Training Level Male Female Total Male Female Total

National Facilitators 6 4 10 7 7 14

Master Trainers 13 11 24 93 73 166

ToT Trainers 93 73 166 1,255 1,139 2,394

Standard 1 - 2 Teachers 8,699 13,860 22,559

Table 9: Number of Facilitators and Participants during July 2019 Standards 3-4 teacher training

Dates of the trainings Level of Training Female Male Total # of

participants Location of the training

July 21-27, 2019 National Facilitators trainers

11 19 30 Mponela

August 3-9, 2019 Master Trainer 76 97 173 Mponela

August10-16, 2019 Trainer of Trainer 784 950 1734 22 Education Districts


Monitoring of Standards 1-4 Teacher Trainings

During the Standards 1-4 teacher training, YESA and MERIT conducted monitoring exercises at all levels.

Project staff from YESA and MERIT in collaboration with MoEST staff took part in monitoring the

trainings at various levels of the cascade training, guided by standardized monitoring tools and training

schedules. A total of 15 monitors visited various districts and zones to support the training. The districts

and zones monitored were randomly sampled. Out of the 15 monitors, 4 were from MoEST. The

purpose of monitoring at the national level was to ensure delivery of trainings and provide support

where needed.

Lessons Learned

Lessons learned included the following:

• Partnering with existing projects with similar objectives helped to leverage resources and

expedite processes (e.g., pre-populated attendance sheets and allowance signing sheets for all

days of the training were provided by MERIT and distributed to all training sites in advance).

Since this was a joint training with MERIT, the same participants were trained by YESA during

the same period. The first two days, the teachers were trained on MERIT content materials

and the last three days, trainings focused on YESA content.

• YESA should collect their own data rather than relying on MERIT’s electronic data and create a

database populated with names of teachers trained. Relying on MERIT’s electronic data

regarding the number of teachers trained was a challenge.

• Teachers welcomed the training and pledged to effectively implement the CA&R initiative with

the aim of reducing zero scores in reading skills.

Monitoring Head Teachers Training Schedule

The YESA team training began with the training of national-level Master Trainers (15 females, 8

males) comprising PEAs drawn from various public teacher training colleges and other MOEST

directorates such as DTED, Planning, and DBE across 497 education zones in Malawi. The national-

level Master Trainers later trained 242 teachers (104 females, 138 males).

The purpose of the training was to equip HTs with knowledge on CA&R so they can effectively

support teachers in the implementation of CA&R. The Master Trainers trained 5,561(699 females,

4,862 males) HTs. The training lasted14 days including weekends and travel days.

The training was structured in such a way that Master Trainers (facilitators) followed participants in

various education Zones per division. The training started with the South West Education Division

(SWED), the Shire Highlands Education Division (SHED) and part of South East Education Division

(SEED) who later moved to CWED and CEED. The training was concluded with training of HT’s in

NED. The trainers travelled to the assigned zones on the same day. The first day was a travel day and

the second and third day focused on training the HTs (Table 10).

Table 10: Schedule for HT Training

Date Type of training Venue

May 30-31, 2019 National facilitator training Victoria Hotel, Blantyre

June 1-2, 2019 Master Teacher training Victoria Hotel, Blantyre

June 3, 2019 HT training Travel to training centers

June 4-5, 2019 HT training TDCs in SHED, SWED and some zones in SEED



June 7-8, 2019 HT training All zones in SEED and some in CWED


10-11 June 2019 HT training All in CEED and remaining zones in CWED

12 HT training Travel to training centers

13-14 June 2019 HT training All zones in North Education Division

15 June 2019 Liquidations by Facilitators Trainers travel back to duty stations

Monitoring of HT training

In collaboration with MERIT and MoEST, YESA monitored the HT training to ensure quality delivery of CA&R.

A team of 14 (7 female, 7 male) monitors, including directors from various MoESTdepartment (i.e., DIAS, MIE,

DTED and DBE) participated in the monitoring exercise. In addition, TTC lecturers who participated in the

national level training were also part of the monitoring team. Of 497 Educational Zones, 98 were monitored

during HT training representing 20 percent of the zones monitored (Table 11).

Table 11: Number of Zones Monitored by Division

An illustrative example showing HT

training in progress (Figure 3) at

Chig'onga and Chinkhande TDC.


Figure 3: HT Training in Progress

25

25

20

Num

ber of

Zones

20

15

10

5

0

12

8

10

15

NED CEED CWED SEED SWED SHED

30

Coordination and partnership during the HT training

There was good collaboration with implementing partners especially MERIT and the government. NRP-

YESA received a lot of support from MoEST during this training. For example:

• The Ministry of Education approved, utilization of the government vehicles during the trainings.

A total of 22 vehicles were released to support the training.

• The Ministry of Education released the 242 PEAs to support the process of facilitation for the 14

training days. • YESA worked closely with MERIT to collect the data for HTs, zones and PEAs.

Quality of Training

The HT training was of high quality because of the following factors:

• All participants who were invited from all levels participated with only 0.01 percent absenteeism, which implies that the target group were reached effectively.

• YESA team observed that many of the facilitators were experienced.

• YESA team observed that the training team followed the content as stipulated in the Facilitators

Guide and Resource Handbook. This will help to improve implementation of CA&R at school and

community level.

• There was much interaction between facilitators and participants to ensure quality implementation

Logistics and Finance

• Timely cash disbursement motivated participants

• 51 vehicles which were used for this training activity. For the most part, the vehicles were road-

worthy and of good quality. Five vehicles did break down during implementation, but YESA as able to quickly secure replacements.

• Materials were packed on time, easing the distribution process

Monitoring and Evaluation

• A total of 98 zones out of 497 training centers were monitored and supported during the training

• Monitors submitted monitoring reports and highlighted the following:

o Over 80 percent of facilitators were able to explain concepts and modelled activities where necessary

o Participants were given adequate time to practice the activities

o Participant attendance in most centers was 100 percent except for Nsanama where one

participant did not report due to a communication problem.

o Materials were user-friendly, and the content was relevant.

o Active participation was observed in most of the zones visited.

o Good interaction between the participants and facilitators was observed.

o Facilitators supported each other during presentations.

o Timely payment of allowances was noted.

o Facilitators were able to respond to questions asked by participants.

o Participants and facilitators were punctual in most zones.

o Adequate resources for training observed.

Challenges

Training materials: The number of training materials distributed was not adequate in some training

centers, especially community manuals. The YESA team documented shortfalls and followed up with

additional distributions to ensure that all participants received the necessary materials.

Long distances: The program did not know that some HT’s travel 60-85 kilometers to the training centers

on a daily basis. This lack of knowledge of distance travelled by HTs resulted in the program not


being able to distribute sufficient allowances and ahead of time and many teachers having to sleep over in

the TDC to await trainings.

Inadequate vehicles: • Five government vehicles broke down during the trainings, and the program had to hire additional

vehicles with budgetary implications.

Delayed dispatches:

Some participants left late for their training centers due to shortage of vehicles as a result

of

vehicle breakdowns.

Lessons Learned:

• The involvement in the trainings of PEAs from across the country provided them good exposure

to education zones where they were previously not familiar with. This exposure is likely to

improve community practice in these areas.

• The program noted that participants (HTs) took the training seriously since it addressed their

specified need--knowledge gap in CA&R.

Monitoring of CA&R Implementation at Classroom level

During FY19, YESA conducted intensive monitoring of CA&R implementation across the six Education

Divisions. The purpose of the exercise was to appreciate how teachers have rolled out implementation

of CA&R in Standards 1-2 and learn from them, identify gaps and provide support. Monitoring at school

level was quite informative since it initiated training of school administrators (HTs). The results from

class level monitoring helped to identify areas to focus on in the development of material for the

upcoming December 2019 Standards 1-2 refresher training. These include, administration of CAs and

filling of the skill charts; how to group learners, how to identify the correct remediation activities at any

given time, and how to play remediation games. YESA monitored a total of 151 of 5,561 schools nation-

wide. (Table 11 below).

Table 11: Number of Schools Monitored and Supported cumulatively

Education

Division Number of schools # of Education Zones

Number of Districts

visited

35 primary schools visited (Katete

Boys, Kamterwe, Gesha, St. Mary’s

22 zones (St maria Gorettie, Katoto, Mzuzu

7(Mzimba, South, Mzimba North, Mzuzu

NED

Nomba, Chintheche-1, Vua, kawale, st

mary Goretti, St Peter’s, Lunyangwa

Girls, Chikangawa, Ng’ongo,

Enukweni, Bumba, RU II, Njakwa, St

Augustine, Davy, Kaphuta, Mzimba

L.E.A, Geisha, Nambo, Nkhorongo,

Area 1B, St. Augustine, Thandazga,

Mtende, Doroba, Habitat, Msongwe,

Kaligomba, Mchengautuwa 2,

Chamalaza, Mnkhokwe and Kavibale

primary school)

CCAP, Chikangawa, Area

1 B, Katete, Kaviwale,

Chintheche, kawale,

Nyungwe, Ekwendeni,

Enukweni, Bumba, Bwengu,

Area 1B, Kaphuta,

Kavibale, Nkhorongo, Area

1B, Masasa, Chibavi and

Zolozolo)

City, Nkhatabay,

Rumphi,

NkhataBay, Chitipa


CEED

34 primary schools (Msawala,

Kasungu LEA, Chitiba, Chankhanga,

Hannock Msokera, Boma, Chidzenje,

St Hellena , Chipanga, Mkaika,

Chibothera, Parachute, Ngolowindo,

Mpalo, Mwalaphanga, malomo, Mtsiro

Tchawale, Longwani, Kasungu

Demonstration, Makwiniro, Suza,

Chankhanga, Lisasadzi, Chankhozi,

Chambala, Mankhaka, Kamaliwa,

Vivya, Kalolo, Mpeka, Chinkhoma,

Msawala, Chidzenje)

17 zones (Mkaika,

Ngolowindo, Mpalo,

Malomo, Chimungu,

Chankhanga, Boma,

Chithibi, Suza, St Hellena,

Lisasadzi, Chankhozi, Suza,

Mziza, Kalolo, Mgumira

and Chankhanga)

5 districts (Kasungu,

Dowa, Ntchisi Salima

and Nhotakota)

CWED

40 primary schools (Kasinje, Boma,

Nsanza, Chuzimbi, Chisiyo,

Chilikhanda, chimwankhuku,

M’bwatalika, chiuzimbi, Malembe,

Mpingu, senzani, likudzi, Nsipe,

Makankhula, Thete, Bilira, Nsiyaludzu,

Ganya, Nkhoma, Chibungo, Maonde,

Chimutu, Chisiyo, Chatata, Chimwala,

Bindura, Chadza, Namadzidzi,

Nkandabwako, Chimvano,

Nkhongwe, Senzani, Likhudzi, Nsipe,

Billa, Kadansana, Nsiyaludzu, Ganya

and Kamtsitsi primary school)

5- (Kasinje, Chipalukwa,

Kalulu, Mvunguti and

Kunthulu, Senzani, Nsipe,

Ganya, Nsiyaludzu,

Kalinyeke, Thete, chimbiya,

Dzenza, Bvunguti,

Nkhoma, Magomero,

Maonde, Chimutu, Mpingu,

Mthandiza. Pimbiri,

Kunthura, Makota, Bilila,

Senzani, Nsipe, Nsiyaludzu,

Ganya and Kapalamula)

6 districts (Ntcheu,

Mchinji, Lilongwe

Urban, Lilongwe Rural

West, Dedza and

Lilongwe Rural East)

SWED

59 primary schools (Zunga,

Mkomadzi, Lirangwe, Naotcha,

Chichiri, St Pius Girls, bangwe

Catholic, Malabada, Mbayani, Khudze,

Mphande, Kawale, Dzeyo, Matope,

Kasenjere, mapanga, Dolo, Makande,

Chikonde, Dyeratu, Chigumukire,

Nsanje Catholic, Bangula, Nyanjiwa,

Manja, Mitole Nyamadzere, Likulu,

Mudi, Mdeka, Lirangwe, Ng’onga,

Lunzu, Kapenii, Magoti, Lalanje,

Dande, Phokera, Nkapako,

Nyachilenda, Maraka, Nkhande, Lulwe

Resource Centre, Lurwe L.E.A,

Chididi, Masumaela, Kaluwa,

Mwanambidzi, Chikunkha, Khulubvi,

Mchere, Magoma, Matundu, Kanjedza,

Mthawira, Chugumukire, Phanga,

Chirimba and Bangula primary school)

29 zones (Dzunga,

Lirangwe, Naotcha, Limbe,

Zingwangwa, Bangwe,

Ndirande, Mphande, Phete,

Futsa, Kasenjere, Dolo,

Ngabu, Chikonde, Boma-

Nsanje, Boma-Chikwawa,

Mlonda, Nyamadzere,

Mpatso, Mdeka, Lirangwe,

Lunzu, Magoti, Mlonda,

Nyachilenda, Chididi,

Nyamadzere, Mchere and

Mpatsa)

6 districts (Mwanza,

Neno, Chikwawa,

Blantyre Rural, Blantyre

Urban and Nsanje)

SEED

13 primary schools (Mbwadzulu, Maria

woyera, Mtubwi, ST Theressa, Songani,

Ntondo, Zomba Police, Zomba CCAP,

Chikamveka, Sacred Heart boys, St.

Joseph girls, Bwaila and Prison primary

school)

8 zones (Monkey Bay,

Chembera, st. Theressa,

Songani, Mponda, Zomba

Urban, Chikowi and

Likangala)

5 districts (Mangochi,

Balaka, Machinga,

Zomba Rural and

Zomba Urban)


SHED

10 primary schools (Ntambanyama,

Nansato, Nguludi Girls, Mulanje LEA,

Nambiro, Dzenje, Nazombe, Nambiro,

Ulongwe and Mulanje CCAP, Nansato,

Mendulo, Mlirankhwali, Namachete,

Nguludi girls, Mlirankhwali, Namachete,

Mitawa 1, Mulanje LEA, Nkanda,

Nansato, Ntambanyama and Luchenza

primary school)

15 zones (Ntambanyama,

Nansato, Chintakale,

Nambiro, Mitekete,

Nazombe, Boma zone

Mulanje, Nansato, Mombo,

Malavi, Litchenza, Limbuli,

Chitakale, Chambe and

Luchenza zone)

5 districts (Phalombe,

Mulanje, Chiradzulu,

Chiradzulu and Thyolo)

Rollout of standards 3&4 Chichewa CA&R implementation in Schools

YESA rolled out CA&R implementation in Standards 3-4 in August, 2019. To ensure teachers are

implementing the CA&R with fidelity, YESA embarked on intensive monitoring of CA&R implementation

at the beginning of the school year in mid-September 2019, across the six Education Divisions in Malawi.

All the stakeholders at district and community level who are responsible in tracking education standards

were involved. During school visits, YESA worked alongside PEAs and Inspectors of schools to observe

teaching practice of CA&R at school level. Teachers were able to receive feedback and support from

YESA, their PEAs, and inspectors at the same time.

Successes during school visits

• There is evidence of implementation of CA&R activities in almost all the schools visited by the

YESA technical team.

• Teachers are creating their own remediation reading cards which provides an assurance of

sustainability of the program in most of the schools visited.

• Most schools visited have action plans on the implementation of CA&R. This shows that schools

have a schedule detailing when to conduct CA’s, group learners, and conduct remediation activities.

• HTs are now supporting implementation of CA&R by providing resources for printing skill

charts and providing hard covers to teachers to support them in recording learner

performances during administration of CAs. • Some teacher training colleges like Lilongwe, have already started orienting the teacher trainees

on CA&R to familiarize themselves with the component even before they are sent to schools for

practicum. This action represents a step towards sustainability and successful implementation of the component.

• Some zones established HT and PEA committees to identify best teachers in the administration

of CA and regular remediation sessions and recognize them or give them an award. For

example, in Namitambo Zone and St. Michaels` zones in Chiradzulu, some teachers were given

recognition as guests of honor during one of the management meetings and awarded with gifts

such money by SMCs.

• Most schools have rolled out Standards 3-4 CA&R implementation.

Challenges observed during school visit

• Some teachers are not adhering to CA&R guidelines and procedures. This threatens quality

implementation and limits support given to learners to improve their reading skills.

• Due to large class sizes, in the lower standards, some teachers are taking longer to administer

CA’s. This in turn affects the flow of activities (e.g., remediation is delayed and administration of the next CA is also delayed).

• Some schools have not yet rolled out CA&R in standards 1&2, claiming they did not understand

the content of the training. In some schools, all trained teachers have been moved either to


other classes within the school or to other schools within the district or zone, leaving learners

unsupported.

• Some schools are not implementing CA&R with fidelity.

• Shortage of teachers in some primary schools threatens CA&R implementation (e.g., at

Mwanambiza in Nsanje district there are three teachers for eight classes. This poses a challenge

since teachers have to do multigrade teaching or skip some lessons in some classes to balance their support to all classes.

• Teachers who have been trained in NRP-CAR concepts are being transferred to other schools

by DEMs without consulting HTs or PEAs.

• Such teacher postings may affect fidelity and sustainability of the initiative since untrained

teachers are being coopted to handle Standards 1-4 on concepts that they have not been

exposed to.

• Lack of resources for visually impaired teachers may threaten continuity since untrained teachers may struggle with new concepts that they have not been exposed to.

Enhanced integration, partnership and collaboration with other partners

During this reporting fiscal year, YESA and MERIT continued to work closely as such the workplans

were aligned to ensure resource leveraging. From the onset, YESA and MERIT supported each other in

developing Section Head materials and also participated in the monitoring of MERIT Section Heads

training across the country among other activities. In addition, YESA and MERIT have also co-developed

Standards 1-2 refresher training materials. The team has produced one manual where NRP Curriculum and CA&R content are merged. The team will together conduct a national-level cascaded Standards 1- 2

teacher training in December 2019.


Result 2.1. Implementation of CA techniques at the school level supported. In FY19, YESA trained 47,545 Standards 1-4 teachers (26,174 females, 21,371 males) on CA&R for

Chichewa using a four- tier cascaded training: National Trainers, Master Trainers, TOT, and Zonal. The

teachers were trained on how to use CA tools, how to administer assessments and record learner

performance on a skill chart. These teachers were also trained on how to use information in the skill

chart with group learners at various skill levels, in preparation for remediation activities. Teachers in

standard 1 and 2 started implementing CA&R in January FY19 while teachers in Standard 3 and 4 began implementing CA&R in September, at the beginning of the 2019/20 school year.

In the same year, YESA trained 5,398 HTs (559 females, 4,839 males) to support teachers in the

implementation of CA&R in schools. Through its monitoring visits to schools, YESA observed that HTs

were not providing adequate support to teachers in the implementation of CA&R because they were

not oriented to the CA&R concept and how it works. YESA, in collaboration with MERIT and MoEST

continued to monitor and support facilitators during the HT training to ensure effective and quality delivery of the content.

R2-2. Capacity for performing school-level assessment in reading increased YESA started tracing this result area in FY19 after training of Standards 1-2 teachers who rolled out

CA&R implementation in Term 2 of the 2018/19 academic year and then in September, at the beginning

of the school year 2019/20 after training standard 3 and 4 teachers on CA&R. Teachers are now able to

collect data on CA and record it in the skill chart to be able to track the progress of their learners. The

HT training as well as the district level cluster workshops that were conducted in February 2019 (in collaboration with MERIT) to engage district council stakeholders on the National Reading Assessment

results and how they can support the NRP to improve the reading performance of learner in their


districts are yielding good support. School Administrators are now supporting implementation of CA&R.

For example, HTs are using school improvement grant (SIG) money to reproducing skill charts in

booklet form in support of reading.

R2-3. School-level assessment tools identified, developed, standardized, and utilized

YESA did not conduct any activity under this result area during this fiscal year. Following thorough

discussions with USAID, end- of-year assessments have been dropped and YESA is not expected to

implement this activity. Instead, YESA plans to support the Malawi Education Sector Improvement

Programme (MESIP) which is rolling out government-owned standardized assessments across the

country.

R2-4. Percentage of school grants (by grant type) used to support early grade reading

activities

YESA will no longer track this indicator. USAID made the decision that YESA will not provide grants to

schools.

R2.5. Schools regularly collect student reading data to inform the development of annual

school improvement plans tied to PSIP and other related grant funding

This activity commenced in FY19 Q2. Standards 1-2 teachers began collecting CA data in Chichewa (in

Term 2 of the 2018-19 school year). The teachers continuously collect and record CA results in the skill

charts. Teachers then use the results to group learners for remediation according to their skill level.

Teachers for Standards 3- 4 have also rolled out the implementation of CA&R and have also started

collecting data on CA and recording it in their skill charts.


In the first quarter of FY2020, YESA will conduct a materials development workshop for English CA&R

materials for Standard 3 and 4 teacher training to be held in January 2020. The training is scheduled to be

held November 4-8 at Mponela. YESA will continue to collaborate with MERIT and MoEST experts in the

development of these materials.

In Q1 FY2020, YESA will develop materials for a refresher training for Standard 1 and 2 teachers and HTs,

in collaboration with MERIT, scheduled to take place in December, 2019. Table 12 below, shows a tentative

schedule of the materials development process.

Table 12: Tentative Schedule for Materials Development for December 2019 Standards 1-2 Teacher Training

October 9, 2019 Initial Draft

October 10-11, 2019 National Facilitator’s Review

October 15, 2019 Sending to External Review

October 29, 2019 Sending to Printers

November 12, 2019 Printers deliver manuals to MERIT/YESA warehouse

After material production, YESA will conduct a refresher training for Standards 1-2 teachers and HTs in

December 2019. The training will follow the usual four- tier cascaded training. HTs will also be trained at

the same as part of a sustainability strategy so that they can continue to support NRP activities. A

tentative schedule for the upcoming refresher teacher training is shown in Table 13.


Table 13: A tentative Schedule for the Refresher Training for Standard 1 and 2 teachers

Date Activity

November 18-21, 2019 National Facilitators workshop

November 22, 2019 Planning day for the Master Trainers workshop

November 25-28, 2019 Master Trainers workshop November 29, 2019 Planning day for ToT

December 2-6, 2019 Training materials distribution exercise (During this week, there will be no trainings)

December 9-12, 2019 ToT

December 13, 2019 Planning day for teacher training workshop

December 16-19, 2019 Teacher Training workshop

YESA will conduct English CA&R training in January 2020 in the second quarter and will work closely with ELF India Aid to support the adaptation of Chichewa materials into English CA&R materials. Below is a tentative material development schedule in readiness for a Standards 1-4 Section Heads English Training (Table 14).

Table 14: Tentative Material Development Schedule for Standards 1-4 Section Heads English Training

Material development dates

Lined up activities

October 3-25, 2019 English materials developed by ELF

October 28-31, 2019 NRP YESA Team review and adapt English materials to Malawian context

November 4-7, 2019 NF’s review

November 10-15, 2019 ELF and NRP YESA review and incorporate NF feed back

November 18, 2019 Submitted to External Reviewer

November 25, 2019 Feedback from USAID

November 26-27, 2019 Incorporate feedback and cleanup of the materials making them ready for printer

November 28, 2019 Submission to the printer December 28, 2019 Printer delivering materials to NRP YESA


TASK 3: COMMUNITY-LEVEL ASSESSMENTS AND

READING ACTIVITIES

HIGHLIGHTS

Developed HT training materials on the community component of CA&R

Trained HTs on how they can orient and mobilize school governing structures to in turn mobilize communities to support NPR-CA&R at community level

Developed community manuals with guidance on how community leaders can mobilize communities to support reading activities at community level.

Developed the public dashboard that communities and other stakeholders can access YESA public reports to rollout CA&R initiatives at community level to support NRP CA&R to reduce the zero scores. http://yesa.mysouktel.com/public/reports/report


Development of HT training Materials for the CA&R Community Component

YESA has developed messages for NRP-CA&R for different stakeholders to ensure all

stakeholders including learners themselves play their part to ensure successful implementation of the program. The process involved reviewing NRP messaging developed under MERIT to ensure

the messages are aligned to the curriculum.

From February 19 - February 23, the YESA team developed a HT Resource Handbook for HTs on

how they can support implementation of CA&R and a Facilitators’ Guide on community mobilization on the implementation of the community component of CA&R and a Community Manual to guide

Community School Governing Structures on how they can mobilize their communities to support

the NRP- CA&R initiative. The community manual details roles and responsibilities of the HTs and various key structures and stakeholders at community level on how they can support

implementation of NRP-CA&R as well as core messages that promote reading. The HT is key in linking communities and schools. Additionally, they are key in fostering collaboration between

school and community in mobilizing communities to support the education of their children. As

such, the HTs were equipped with skills on the implementation of CA&R so that they cascade the training to the community school governing structures who in turn are expected to mobilize fellow

community members to support their children’s education.

Furthermore, the HTs are key in furnishing reading centers with reading materials such as supplementary readers and old curriculum reading books where needed. Teachers that have been

trained on CA&R are expected to take the lead in building the capacity of reading camp volunteers

to help them understand simple ways of assessing and teaching early grade children how to read. Through the use of school/community link teachers, schools are encouraged to lend

supplementary readers to reading centers and keep track of materials borrowed and returned to ensure safe keeping of school resources.

YESA printed and distributed 25,000 community training manuals. The training manuals have been

developed in Chichewa language to ensure that they are user-friendly to communities. The community manuals serve as a guide to school governing structures to help them mobilize and


http://yesa.mysouktel.com/public/reports/report

engage their communities to take a leading role in the implementation of CA&R. Through HTs, YESA has planned to orient the project’s 22,500 members of SMC, PTA, Mother Groups, and

community leaders. Notably, a good number of schools have rolled out orientation sessions. Evidence from monitoring reports from CEED, CWED, and SEED indicate that some HTs have

kick-started the orientation of SMC, PTA, and community leaders.

Orientation of SMC, PTA and Community Leaders in Schools

In this reporting fiscal year, YESA embarked on the orientation of a total of 22,500 school

governing structures (SMC, PTA, Mother Groups, and community leaders) with school members on CA&R. During the HT training, HTs developed action plans which they are following to orient

school governing structures, who are later expected to mobilize parents to rollout CA&R

initiatives at the community level. The purpose of these orientations was to allow school community structures to acquaint themselves with CA&R concepts and learn community

mobilization and engagement skills to support the rollout of CA&R at the community level. YESA is orienting four members from the school governing structures with support of HTs, who are

expected to mobilize members in their communities.

Monitoring implementation of C&R activities at community level

YESA team sampled a few schools to monitor how the HTs have rolled out the orientation of

SMCs, PTAs, and community leaders. YESA monitoring reports indicate that some school governing structures have rolled out community mobilization and engagement meetings on CA&R

in three divisions: SEED, CWED, and CEED. The actual statistics on how many communities have

rolled out these orientations will be presented in FY20.



R3-1. Community-level assessment developed and communities trained on how to assess

learners and use assessment data community-level reading data understanding and use

increased

Work on this result area has not started Inline with USAID guidance, YESA is prioritizing rolling out

CA&R in the formal education system before beginning major task 3 activities.

R3-2. Capacity for performing household-level community-led assessment of reading

instituted

Work on this result area has not started. Inline with USAID guidance, YESA is prioritizing rolling out


R3-3. Support of community-level reading activities increased

Material development activities related to the community component occurred between February and

April 2019. Training materials for HT training and school governing structures were drafted, printed

and distributed. The training materials included, Facilitator’s Guide, Resource Handbook and the Community Manual. The HT training was oringinally planned to take place in April, but due to national

elections, and following USAID guidance, it was re-scheduled to place in August, at the end of FY19,

Q3. This shifting of HT training affected subsequent activities related to the implementation of the

community component of CA&R.

Following the HT training on the community component of CA&R, HTs have been orienting school

governing structures such as members of PTAs, SMCs, Mother Groups, and Chiefs to mobilize

communities and parents to support the CA&R initiative at the community level. Some communities have revamped and established reading centers. For example, in CWED, two schools- Chimwala and

Chadza- had community reading centers while in SHED, there were four schools (i.e., Mpinji, Goliati,

Luchenza and Ntambanyama) that established reading centers that are operating even during school

holidays.

R3-4. Community-level assessment and reading improvement tools identified,

standardized, and utilized

Work on this result area has not started. Inline with USAID guidance, YESA is prioritizing rolling out


R3-5. School Management Committees (SMCs) engage as a liaison between schools and

communities to share and leverage findings from each group

Work on this result area has not started. Inline with USAID guidance, YESA is prioritizing rolling out CA&R in the formal education system before beginning major task 3 activities.


Due to reprioritization of YESA’s funding and the continued need to ensure CA&R is implemented

effectively in schools nationwide, YESA is currently proposing to put Task 3 activities on hold, pending

USAID approval.


TASK 4: INTEGRATION OF READING ASSESSMENTS

INTO NATIONAL READING PROGRAM AND MOEST

POLICIES AND PRACTICES INSTITUTED

HIGHLIGHTS

. Scoping visit by Souktel

. Coordination of YESA and MERIT workplans for 2019

. Integration of YESA content into MERIT’s Section Head (SH) training materials

. Integration of MERIT content into YESA’s HT training materials

. YESA continued to work with its project implementation partner, Souktel

. In collaboration with MoEST, YESA updated EMIS and discussed a rollout plan of the new updated web-based version of the EMIS

. With technical support from Souktel, YESA held system demonstrations for MoEST, UNICEF and USAID to receive their feedback on the updated EMIS systems in preparation for rollout

. YESA is currently incorporating feedback received on the demonstrations to refine the updated EMIS system, through its sub partner, Souktel


During this reporting period, to ensure integration across assessments, the NRP standards will form a

uniform and coherent framework for the development of all assessments. YESA’s core team and MoEST

have been in discussions to develop a common vision across all activities: to enable the YESA Monitoring

and Evaluation System to feed into the MoEST EMIS for each stakeholder’s mutual benefit; and to support

future sustainability of the technology and a long-term vision for the full digitization of data reporting on

the state of schools in Malawi.

During this fiscal year, YESA focused its efforts on building on current efforts by MERIT and all

departments under MoEST to combine data collection efforts and platforms so that departments can

make more informed decisions. The YESA team verified a set of core activities leading to a

comprehensive M&E system of reading assessments that inform instruction and broader education policy

and that promote sustained gains in reading assessments.

Souktel EMIS Development

YESA continued to work with its project implementation partner, Souktel and MOEST to update and to

rollout the new updated web-based version of the EMIS. This system will be used to generate data

demand and ensure that relevant EMIS data, NRA data results and other assessment results and

indicators are shared timely, easy to use, and accessible at all levels.

General Progress

A follow-up scoping exercise was conducted in February 2019 to further explore and develop the plan

for the proposed EMIS and other supporting tools as needed. Souktel’s work will build on their initial

support to take the MOEST EMIS online in 2017 and 2018.

The scoping involved information gathering about the proposed solutions including system requirements

and operating context to determine development and delivery timelines as well as feasibility of the

proposed scope. This was accomplished through exploring and examining data collection, integration,


storage, and reporting needs of the YESA team and other stakeholders, in addition to understanding the

usage of existing EMIS data/database and ownership and sharing terms between the different MOEST

teams (EMIS, DIAS, etc.). The scoping also sought to better understand the needs and user technology

constraints around publishing and disseminating data and identify who are the different consumers of

data and what data is needed. All this aimed at identifying additional customizations, updates, and features needed to improve the EMIS system.

One of the main findings from the scoping exercise was that there is an immediate need for an M&E

system to collect and enter data that would directly feed into the project’s indicators and reports. YESA and the partner agreed to develop one unified platform, extending the MoEST EMIS system to be

used by both MoEST and YESA project staff to support future sustainability of the technology and a

long-term vision for the full digitization of data reporting on the state of schools in Malawi. The

upgraded unified system will allow community members and stakeholders to access data on a timely

basis via a user-friendly dashboard and/or through disseminated data via different mobile channels. The system will also address additional needs of DIAS and the EMIS team, provide different data permissions

for both the YESA team and the MoEST team, and support data access and dissemination to the public

and stakeholders.

This system will enable online and offline data collection, advanced calculations for indicators, and improved reporting features. The system will include functionality that allows data access and role

separation, to ensure that each user role can have access to their needed data and functionalities, yet

using one system that will be eventually be owned by MoEST. The system will enable YESA to track and

report on its indicators, and utilize the existing data collected by MoEST. The system will ensure data

collection and review features that support current processes and constraints of YESA, MoEST and IKI staff. The system also has public dashboards and tools for access to data to partners and community

members both through web and mobile applications. The data would be generated directly from the

EMIS system that YESA will use for their indicators.

A functional specifications document was developed and this functional specification document outlined

the updates to the current features of the EMIS system currently in use and proposed new features to

support additional needs for each of the MoEST, YESA staff and supports collaboration and co-usage of

the system.

During the system development process, YESA and Souktel had regular system demonstrations where

the YESA team provided feedback to Souktel following the progress of work according to the demonstrations. The demonstration feedback aimed at including additional customizations, updates,

features and requirements needed to the EMIS system. All this was meant to ensure system usability,

system stability, and system reliability. The feedback was discussed with Souktel and incorporated into

the system as appropriate. YESA continued to review the system under development to enable hands-

on testing to the solution and to enable the feedback process. The M&E system will collect and enter data that would directly feed-into the project’s indicators and reports.

The upgraded EMIS system is running on a unified platform that extends upon the previous MoEST EMIS

system. The system has a public dashboard, as such, when in production, this upgraded EMIS will allow community members and stakeholders to access data on a timely basis via a user-friendly dashboard

and/or through disseminated data via different mobile channels. The system will also address additional

needs of the EMIS team, such as to provide different data permissions for both the YESA team and the

MoEST team and support data access and dissemination to the public and stakeholders.

In terms of data collection, the new system comes with online and offline data collection abilities and

advanced calculations for indicators as well as improved reporting features. The system includes

functionality that allows data access and role separation, to ensure that each user role has access to their needed data and functionalities, yet maintains only one system that is owned by MoEST EMIS. The

data sharing and database sharing has capability to enable YESA team to track and report on YESA


project indicators, and utilize the existing data collected by MoEST. The data would be

generated directly from the EMIS system that YESA will use for their indicators.

Additionally, YESA has developed new EMIS features with Souktel. The new features and

enhancements under YESA include:

⚫ Attendance and events tracker

⚫ New permissions / accessibility rules

⚫ Periods for reporting

⚫ Bulk import of data (new and update)

⚫ Enhancements on forms and entities

⚫ Link forms to multiple entities

⚫ Ranges on numeric and data questions

⚫ Advanced calculations within forms

⚫ Indicator updates

New user-friendly indicator builder

Indicator targets

Indicator summary table (general and with disaggregation)

Self-reported indicators

Imported indicators

Reporting updates

Usability enhancements on charts and reports

New raw data charts, new indicator summary component within reports

Flexibility in editing and formatting

Export reports to MS word

Easy access to exported raw data to excel and SPSS

⚫ Form sets: group data (baseline, end-line, etc.)

⚫ Export data to MS Excel & SPSS

⚫ Import bulk data

⚫ Link data to periods

⚫ Raw data reports

⚫ Data visualization: table, map, pie, bar and line charts

⚫ Customized reports


⚫ Scheduled reports

While some components are still being considered, such as using specific channels for data dissemination (SMS, IVR, etc.) and iOS mobile apps, the system is ready to be delivered for live usage -

other components and new enhancements can be implemented while the system is in use without

interruption.

Development of ICT Knowledge Data Base for HTs

YESA developed an ICT survey questionnaire that was sent to all HTs in the 5,746 public primary

schools to gain insight from HTs and communities on technology literacy and access levels. The data for

HTs’ ICT questionnaire was entered into an electronic database to be analyzed. The results will help

YESA and Souktel to develop a strategy for disseminating information to HTs and communities as per YESA project requirement to allow parents, local community members, and teachers to collect, access

and view reading data.


During the reporting fiscal year, only output indicators were tracked.

R.4-1. Two to three studies to improve the implementation of NRP completed

YESA will no longer track this indicator.

R4-2. Assessment for primary teacher English language capacity instituted

YESA will no longer track this indicator.

R4-3. Benchmarks reflective of reading comprehension created

USAID has put this activity on hold so no activity was done under this result area.

R4-4. YESA contribution to integration verified

During this fiscal year, YESA worked closely with MERIT to train teachers for Standard 1- 4 on CA&R

for Chichewa. MERIT shared data on the number of trainers needed at national, master, district (ToT),

and zonal level. The two projects also shared data on number of teachers to be trained nationwide as well as attendance sheets and allowance payment schedules for participants at the various levels of

training. Trainers from both YESA and MERIT were trained on the content for both projects, and will be

able to train trainers as well as monitor and support the teacher trainings. The two projects also

collaborated on distribution of training materials prior to the commencement of trainings. YESA used

MERIT warehouses to store materials before their distribution. MERIT district coordinators distributed YESA training materials to all training center at zonal level, alongside their own materials.

In addition, YESA worked closely with MoEST and other implementing partners such as MERIT, sub-

contractors like FOCOLD and CRECCOM during the training of HTs on the community component of

CA&R in June 2019. The teams also worked collaboratively to monitor trainings of national facilitators,

master trainers and the HT trainings at zonal level.


Implementing Partner trainings

YESA attended an implementing partners meeting on June 19, 2019 at the invitation of USAID, at Ufulu

Gardens. The meeting focused on the following agenda items:

Current thinking on the Country Development Cooperation Strategy (CDCS) and policy pivots- and getting feedback from implementing partners

Sexual misconduct and how to report incidents

Showcasing learning and adaptation on forest and charcoal and by USAID’s Onse Project

Family Planning / Protecting Life in Global Health Assistance policy

Updates from communications department and branding and marking


During the next quarter, YESA will continue holding meetings with MoEST and other stakeholders to discuss areas that require collaboration to ensure areas that require data sharing are understood.

YESA will continue coordinating with SoukTel and MoEST to develop and finalize the new updated web-

based version of the EMIS. This will ensure that relevant Ministry departments are contacted so that appropriate NRA data and other relevant assessment data can be tested during the development of the

new EMIS. This will ensure that relevant EMIS data is available to key stakeholders.

YESA and Souktel will continue to conduct system demonstrations for YESA per the timeline provided in

the functional specifications document. The YESA team will provide feedback to Souktel following the

progress of work according to the demonstrations. The feedback will be discussed and incorporated into

the system as appropriate. YESA will continue reviewing the system under development to enable hands-

on testing of solutions and to enable the feedback process.

After the completion of system development, towards the end of the next quarter, YESA will work with

Souktel on the configurations specific to YESA, system handover and hosting in-country training, and

configuration.

YESA will analyze HTs ICT data and the analysis will feed in the deployment of the web application. In

addition, YESA will pilot and test the web application either in one or two zones to learn lessons before

nationwide rollout.

YESA will continue to collaborate and integrate its activities with MERIT and other implementing

partners such as Reading for All Malawi (REFAM) through joint workplanning. Collaboration

discussions on how best to integrate the new web system to access data in real time.


GENERAL MANAGEMENT,

ADMINISTRATION AND FINANCE

HIGHLIGHTS

• Onboarding of Clement Mtambo, the M&E Data Entry Assistant and Augustine Kamlongera,

the Reading Assessment Specialist at the beginning of September 2019

• Recruitment and onboarding of surge support to support Finance and Administration with

the Standards 3-4 nationwide teachers training

• Inventory updates in all DEC’s, vehicle management briefing, and orientation on petty

cash management

• Installation of GPS’s in all project vehicles for the purposes of fleet management assistance

and project staff safety

• Relocation of Chief of Party to Malawi (November 2018)

• Recruitment and onboarding of four additional DECs for YESA, in Q1 and 2 of FY19, bringing

the total to six DECs.

• Chief of Party courtesy meetings with MoEST Chief Director and Secretary for Education

Directors in Q1 of FY19.

• Onboarding of seven additional drivers.

• Onboarding of the new Finance and Administration Manager.

• Onboarding of Finance and Administration Assistant.

• Onboarding of new Project Accountant

• YESA received a donation of three used vehicles from a phased out USAID-funded project.

• YESA received four project vehicles that were procured last year.

• Reallocation of six drivers and vehicles to Education Divisions

• Joint planning of teachers trainings with MERIT and Reading for All Malawi (REFAM)



Project Staff

The Chief of Party, Jeremy Koch, relocated to Lilongwe from Thailand in November 2018. In the same

reporting fiscal year, YESA also brought onboard the following staff:

• The Finance and Administration Manager, Ndaona Mataya

• Nine drivers, Maxwell Nthenda, Bright Menyere, McDonald Chagomerana, Redson Mkusang’ombe,

Mavuto Mpango, Kondwani Katuya, Jimy Milandu, Joel Kandiado, and Miles Kopolande

• Moved Florence Pwere into Community Mobilization Specialist position

• Four additional DECs: Bertha Singini, Yowasi Nkhambala, Mordky Kapesa, and Margaret Mlagha bringing the total to five, to ensure our technical team is in place before nationwide training. All newly

recruited staff were oriented on Abt policies and YESA project goals and objectives. The last DEC was

on boarded in January 2019.

• The last DEC, Witness Chisale, reported for duties on January 16, 2019 bringing the total number to six. All technical staff are now on board

• Finance and Administration Assistant, Bruce Tsokonombwe and reported for duties on April 2, 2019

• Reallocated drivers and vehicles to Education Divisions

• Onboarding of new Project Accountant

Co-location of YESA DECs in Division Education Offices

During this reporting period, the DCOP visited five divisional offices and held meetings with Education

Division Managers to discuss co-location of YESA DECs in the divisions as per MoEST

recommendation to facilitate coordination and collaboration between MoEST and YESA for smooth

implementation of the NRP’s CA&R component. At the end of each meeting, YESA received immediate

permission to co-locate DECs in the five Division Educational offices of CEED, SEED, SHED, and NED. The DEC for CWED will be located in YESA offices in Lilongwe.

Furniture and all other necessary equipment and stationary were delivered to the division

offices. Vehicles

YESA received three, five-seater double cab Hilux vehicles from the ASPIRE project which closed in

December 2018. YESA finalized change of ownership processes for the vehicles in Q2, FY 2019.

During this fiscal year, YESA received four more, nine-seater SUVs that were procured from Toyota Gibraltar. The vehicles are in the US Embassy’s name for one year (until the expiration of the current

COF) when the project will officially take up ownership.

Short-term Technical Assistance

During this reporting fiscal year, YESA received short-term technical assistance in country from:

• Barbara Goodson and Chandra Viswanathan who travelled to Malawi to support the CA&R

Standard 1 and 2 Materials Development and Validation Workshop in October 2018.

• Teri Mack, the Finance and Contracts Manager who travelled to Malawi to support YESA Finance Department, during the time the project did not have a Finance and Administration

Specialist

• Phyllis Jones-Change traveled to Malawi twice to provide home office oversight, training, and

work planning support

Project Deliverables


YESA submitted to USAID, a final version AMELP following feedback received from USAID. The AMELP

was approved April 1, 2019.

Coordination and collaboration with MERIT

YESA held several coordination and meetings with MERIT to discuss and agree on timelines for printing

training materials for the December 2018 teacher trainings. At first, the meetings were held fortnight,

then weekly as the trainings drew closer. YESA and MERIT collaborated and coordinated trainings at national, master, district, and zonal level. Staff from both projects worked as a team to train teachers on

NRP content for CA&R and the revised Teachers Guide for English for Standard 1 and 2 and revised the

Teachers Guide for Chichewa for Standard 2. The training schedule was as follows:

• National Facilitators training: November 19-24, 2018 • Master trainers: November 26 - December1, 2018

• TOT at district level: December 3 December 7, 2018

• Teacher trainings at zonal/cluster level: December 17- December 21, 2018

Furthermore, YESA and MERIT also agreed on timelines for materials development workshops for SH,

HT, and Standard 3 and 4 teacher trainings that was conducted from June - August FY2019. While trainings

for HTs and SHs were done separately, the two projects collaborated and shared content for HT training

materials and SH training materials respectively. YESA led the development of HT materials while MERIT led the development of SH materials. Schedules for the two materials development workshops were as

follows

• HT training materials: February 19-21, 2019

• SH training materials: March 10-15, 2019

YESA continued to hold several coordination meetings with MERIT to discuss and agree on timelines

for Standard 3 and 4 teacher trainings scheduled from July - August FY2019. Schedules for the training was as follows:

• National Facilitators Training: July 22-July 26, 2019

• Mater Trainers Training: July 29 - August 2, 2019

• Material Distribution Week: August 5 - August 9, 2019

• Trainer of Trainers Training: August 12 - August 16, 2019

• Zonal Training: August 19 to August 22, 2019

Sub-contractor Engagement

The subcontractor budgets and contracts were finalized with CRECCOM and FOCOLD during the

reporting fiscal year.

A kick-off meeting was held for both partners FOCOLD and CRECCOM. Pre-award assessment

tools were shared with them to fill and share back with YESA. They since filled them and shared

back with YESA and we are expecting them to be fully mobilized beginning next fiscal year.

IT Equipment

YESA took custody of its IT equipment which was being kept at Vector Link after refurbishing and making

the YESA stores safe and secure.

Fleet Management


• All nine YESA vehicles were fitted with tracking systems to better support the project in

the management of our fleet

• An internal transport policy will be shared soon indicating the following;

o Speed limits on the motorways

o Departure and arrival hours

o Waiver requesting channels (if travelling on weekends/public holidays and outside

the designated travel hours)


During the next quarter, YESA will:

• Conduct an inventory check and update the inventory list in all the DEC offices

• Hold a finance and administration training on:

o Advance and liquidation management

o Finance payment processes and lead times

o Procurement processes and lead times

• Develop an internal transport policy in line with the introductions of the tracking system

• Revise and update of the leave tracker

• Recruit a second M&E Data Entry Clerk and Driver

• Meet with sub-contractors to review completed finance and program pre-award assessment and

come up with action plans depending on the scores

• Fully mobilize partners to start monitoring activities

• Develop detailed work plans with sub-partners

• Review and revise YESA office safety and security procedures and manual


APPENDIX A: KEY PROGRAM INDICATORS AND

TARGETS

National Reading Program – YESA Quarterly Report February 22 – September 30, 2018 43

YESA - Indicator Tracking Table (ITT)

INDICATOR FY18

Actual FY19 Annual

Target

FY19 Q1 Reporting Period

Project Indicators

FY19 Q2 Reporting Period FY19 Q3 Reporting Period FY19 Q4 Reporting Period

FY19

Actual

% of FY19

Annual

Target

LoA Target LoA Actual % of LoA

Target Target Actual

% of

Target Target Actual % of Target Target Actual % of Target Target Actual % of Target

Activity Goal: Comprehensive Assessment and Capacity Building Systems for Early Grade Reading Instituted and Sustained to Support Malawi’s National Reading

USAID Standard Indicators Cutting Across Results Areas

ES. 1-5. Number of learners reached in reading programs at the primary level with USG assistance (Learners reached with remediation, continuous and end-of year assessments interventions)

0 3,848,953 2,303,978 1,990,193 86% 0% 0% 1,544,975 1,468,339 95% 3,458,532 90% 6,400,268 3,458,532 54%

ES.1-7. Number of primary school educators (key teachers, section heads and

teachers), who complete professional development activities on implementing

evidence- based reading instruction with USG assistance (2.1.1 and 2.3.3) 0 44,377 27,788 22,559 81% 0% 31,227 24,986 80% 47,545 107% 44,377 47,545 107%

ES.1-10. Number of primary or secondary textbooks and other teaching and

learning materials (TLM) provided with USG assistance 0 632,128 308,408 469,017 152% 0% 86,368 323,720 422,387 130% 977,772 155% 832,096 977,772 118%

ES.1-12. Number of education administrators and officials who complete professional

development activities with USG assistance (1.2.1; 1.2.2; 2.1.1 and 2.3.3.) 0 6,225 0% 5,702 - 0% 5,702 92% 6,075 5,702 94%

ES.1-13. Number of parent teacher associations (PTAs) or community-based school governance structures engaged in primary or secondary education supported with USG

assistance (3.2.1; 3.5) 0 5,500 0% 0% 0% 5,500 0% 0% 5,500 - 0%

Learners Reading Performance Monitored

ES.1-1. Percent of learners who demonstrate reading fluency and comprehension of

grade level text at the end of grade 2 with USG assistance. 0 NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA

Ind.1.1.2. Percent point annual decrease in Standards 2 and 4 learners with zero

scores in letters, syllables, decodable/familiar words 0 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% -8% - 0%

Ind.1.1.2. Percent point annual decrease in Standards 2 and 4 learners with zero scores in letters, syllables, decodable/familiar words 0 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% -5% - 0%

Ind.1.1.2. Percent point annual decrease in Standards 2 and 4 learners with zero scores in letters, syllables, decodable/familiar words 0 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% -3% - 0%

Ind. 1.1.3. Percent point annual increase in means scores on letter names, syllables, and decodable/familiar words for Standards 2 and 4 learners (Year 3 – NRA; Year 4 - EOY) 0 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 4% - 0%

Ind. 1.1.3. Percent point annual increase in means scores on letter names, syllables, and

decodable/familiar words for Standards 2 and 4 learners (Year 3 – NRA; Year 4 - EOY) 0 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 3% - 0%

Ind. 1.1.3. Percent point annual increase in means scores on letter names, syllables, and

decodable/familiar words for Standards 2 and 4 learners (Year 3 – NRA; Year 4 - EOY) 0 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 2% - 0%

Objective 1: National Reading Assessments (NRAs) Instituted

R1.1 Capacity for performing NRAs created or augmented within Government of Malawi institutions

Ind. 1.1.1. Number of NRA tools identified, standardized, and used to inform

targeted planning and new education policies 9 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 9 9 100%

R1.2 Capacity for performing NRAs created or augmented within Government of Malawi institutions

Ind. 1.2.1. Number of MoEST enumerators and supervisors trained to conduct the standardized NRAs 92 - 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 0% 92 92 100%

Ind. 1.2.2. (ES 1-12) Number of MoEST staff trained to select a new nationally

representative sample of schools, analyze the data, and produce reports 9 - 0% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 0% 9 9 100%

Ind. 1.2.3. Number of NRAs conducted by host country institutions 1 - 0% 0

0% 0 0% 0

0%

0% 2 1 50%

Ind. 1.2.4. Number of students assessed on early grade reading (NRA) 12,461 - NA NA 0% 10 0% 0

0% 0 0%

0% 10,000 12,461 125%

R1.3 Sufficient demand and political will to support regular NRAs identified, developed, and institutionalized

Ind. 1.3.1. Number of policies or procedures adopted by MoEST to facilitate

improved instruction 0 1 0 0% 0 1 0% 0 0% 0 1 0% 2 200% 2 2 100%

Ind. 1.3.2. Number of results dissemination meetings held where key stakeholders

gather and discuss NRA results and policy implications 0 1 0 0% 1 8 800% 0 0% 0 0% 8 800% 2 8 400%

Objective 2:Universal School Level Utilization of Assessment Strategies and Techniques for Reading and School Management Instituted

R2.1. Implementation of continuous assessment (CA) techniques at the school level supported

Ind.2.1.1. (ES.1-12) Number of education administrators and officials who

complete professional development activities with USG assistance – CA&R 0 6,225 0% 0% 6,225 5,803 93% 6,225 9 0% 5,812 93% 6,225 5,812 93%

R2.2. Capacity for performing school-level assessment in reading increased

Ind. 2.2.1. (ES.1-7) Number of primary school educators who complete professional development activities on implementing evidence-based reading instruction with USG

assistance – CA&R 0 44,377 27,788 22,559 81% 0 - 0% 0 - 0% 31,227 24,986 80% 47,545 107% 44,377 47,545 107%

Ind. 2.2.2. Percentage of teachers conducting CA&R with fidelity 0 10%

0% 10%

0% 10%

0% 10%

0%

0% 55%

0%

R2.3. School-level assessment tools, identified, developed, standardized, and utilized

National Reading Program – YESA FY19 Annual Report October 1, 2018 – September 30, 2019 44

YESA - Indicator Tracking Table (ITT)

FY19 Q1 Reporting Period

Project Indicators

FY19 Q2 Reporting Period FY19 Q3 Reporting Period FY19 Q4 Reporting Period

% of FY19

INDICATOR FY18 Actual

FY19 Annual Target

Target Actual % of

Target Target Actual % of Target Target Actual % of Target Target Actual % of Target

FY19 Actual

Annual

Target LoA Target LoA Actual % of LoA

Target

Ind. 2.3.1. (ES.1-10) Number of primary or secondary textbooks and other teaching and

learning materials (TLM) provided with USG assistance – CA&R 0 632,128 308,408 519,795 169% 0% 5,650 5,398 323,720 422,387 130% 947,580 150% 832,096 947,580 114%

Ind. 2.3.2. Number of EOY tools developed and standardized for early grade

reading in Std 1-4 0 9 0% 9 0 0%

Ind. 2.3.3. (ES.1-7) Number of primary school educators who complete professional

development activities on implementing evidence-based reading instruction with USG assistance – EOY

0 0% 16,500 0%

Ind. 2.3.4. Percent of schools where EOY assessments were conducted 0

0% 10%

0%

R2.5. Schools regularly collect student reading data to inform the development of annual school improvement plans tied to PSIP and other related grant funding

Ind. 2.5.1 Number of tools developed to support schools in reporting their student reading data to advocate for PSIP funding. 0 1 0% 0% 0% 1 0% - 0% 2 0 0%

Ind. 2.5.2 (ES.1-13) Number of parent teacher associations (PTAs) or community-based

school governance structures engaged in primary or secondary education supported with

USG assistance – reading data reports 0 5,650 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 5,650 0 0%

Objective 3: Community-Level Capacity for the Performance and Informed Use of Reading Assessments and Reading Activities Instituted

R3.1. Community-level reading data understanding and use increased

Ind 3.1.1. Change in assessed oral reading fluency in areas with community-led

reading remediation compared with changes in areas without remediation 0 0 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 2.8 0 0%

R3.2. Capacity for performing household-level community-led assessment of reading instituted

Ind. 3.2.1. (ES.1-13) Number of parent teacher associations (PTAs) or community-based school governance structures engaged in primary or secondary education

supported with USG assistance – community assessment & remediation 0 5,650 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 5,650 0 0%

R3.3. Support of community-level reading activities increased

Ind. 3.3.1 Number of community reading centers identified and supported 0 5,650 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 5,650 0 0%

Ind 3.3.2. Percentage of schools with parents engaged in community-level

reading activities 0 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 30% 0 0%

R3.4. Community-level assessment and reading improvement tools identified, standardized, and utilized

Ind. 3.4.1. Number of community-level assessments identified and standardized 0 6

0%

0%

0% 6

0% - 0% 6 0 0%

Ind. 3.4.2. Number of community-level reading improvement tools identified

and standardized 0 8 0% 0% 0% 8 0% - 0% 8 0 0%

R3.5. School Management Committees (SMCs) are successfully tracking key data and other key indicators identified by USAID with MoEST that allow SMCs to hold schools accountable

Ind. 3.5.1. (ES.1-13) Number of parent teacher associations (PTAs) or community-based school governance structures engaged in primary or secondary education

supported with USG assistance – SMC school accountability 0 5,650 0

Objective 4: Integration of Reading Assessments into National Reading Programme (NRP) and MoEST Policies and Practices Insituted

R4.1. Two-three studies to improve the implementation of NRP completed

Ind. 4.1.1. Number of studies conducted to improve NRP 0

0%

0%

0%

0%

0% 1 0 0%

R.4.2. Assessment for primary teacher English language capacity instituted

Ind. 4.2.1. Number of tools for lower primary English assessment developed

and adopted by MoEST 0 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 3 0 0%

R.4.3. Benchmarks reflective of reading comprehension created

Ind. 4.3.1. Number of benchmarks for early grade reading created for English and Chichewa 0 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 8 0 0%

R4.4. YESA contribution to integration verified

Ind. 4.4.1. Number of organizations collaborated with on reading activities 1 1

0% 1 1 100%

0%

0% 1 100% 3 2 67%

National Reading Program – YESA FY19 Annual Report October 1, 2018 – September 30, 2019 45

APPENDIX B: ANNUAL EXPENDITURES AND

BUDGET PROJECTIONS


APPENDIX C: IMPLEMENTAION OF

THE NATIONAL READING

PROGRAMME: CONTINUOUS

ASSESSMENT AND REMEDIATION

CIRCULARS


Ref. No. IN12114 231d September, 20P?

FROM: THE SECRETARY FOR EDUCATION, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY,

PRIVATE BAG 328, ULO11GWE 3_

TO ALL DISTRICT EDUCATION MANAGERS

CC The Executive Director, Maio wi National Exornination5 board,

P.O. Box 1911, Zornba.

All Education Division Managers.

All Head teachers of Primary Schools

The Executive Director, Malawi Institute of EClueation. P.O. Box 50,

Dornosi,

The General Secretary, Teachers Union of Malawi, P,Tag 11, Lilongwe,

REVISED FittimAlrf SCHOOL TIMEIABLE

The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology wishes to inform all primary.,

schools, teachers and stakeholders that it has orneridecl the primary school tin atable to

incorporate Remecliotion,

The 'amendment of the timetable has been mode in order to carer for Continuous

Assessment and Rernediation that the Ministry is implementing under the National

Reading Programme INRI1, The amendment has also been done 10 effectively implement

the circular the Ministry issued orE 71b. March, 2019 instructing all schools to establish

a daily remeclialian period in the timetable.

I would like to ask all schools and heiadteachers to conduct daily remediofion

even outside the designated School timetable in order to assist learners improve literacy

levels accordingly_

All 5Ch0013 and teachers should therefore comply with this arrangement accordingly,

Justin A_K, Saldi

SECRETARY FOR EDUCATION, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

National Reading Program — YESA Quarterly Report February 22 — September 30, 2018 52

FM • 7.1 CD

0 m m

ao

m

m

A

m 4:13.

m

CO

g

C O

av

In

rn!

a

0

ni

LL1

C) fah rn rrl

rn 1-n -n rn 0

frl

k.) 0

0

rn

rn

IF

qa

of

(111

rl

rn

n

c n

MIN

IST

RY

OF

ED

UC

AT

ION

, SC

IEN

CE

AN

D T

EC

HN

CO

LO

GY

111

Tu:


m m-

.

5 --

E.

_

m 1

-1

Ma

tr,4

Ch

kh

A

ST

E

ng

E

l C

hIc

h

En

g

'ny

e C

hic

h M

ath

s E

ng

M

ath

s IR

Lire

SE

S Skills

.1

=.

0;O.

E

ST

AN

DA

RD

4

. •

i2

-rt m 4 1

STA

ND

AR

D 3

•00

.• -. :... ::.. : .

L

.:.z! . -

:,..-. . —

Mo

n

Math

s

Clik

h

l'ilere

era

iLib

En

g

.EI

En

g

Ma

ths

E. A

rts

B

LiS

kille

&

ES

T

ue

Ch

ich

I Ma

ths

Tik

we

reiL

ib rid

Ielli$

R

E

ng

C

hIc

h

SE

S

R

13K

ir RE

R

em

ed

ial

7.3

0-3

,05 8

.05- 8

.40-

DA

S -

9.5

4-

10,0

5- 1

0,4

4-

11.1

5 - 1

1.6

0

11,5

8- 1

2-0

5-

12.4

0 -

3.4

0

9.1

$

2_50

10_05

10,4

0

11-1

6

12.0

5

1-4

.0

1.1

5

S.3- c7

f q 1

rdi

u

g §-

E R

Eng

ru

s g

m 43

30.

, , T p

T k

we

reiL

ib

I Tik

wo

relth

_,1 !.

I

ze

rrl fa

AS

T

(.6. Mi . 0'

>

4 K

R-R in.

.>

4 g 12o- 5 Lb

0

n =

E cc, 5 at

i

> rn 7 ›. rn

T 0 5

.- m.

t„

. 2 ,,-

.-

Fri

2

60

r(I

3

© I—

fiA PC

g

CD fIT

0

09 M ea

i t• •

ci

FE A

a

=!

A Py

1

•

L.-, ,

x "72. m ri

C.4. E X•

55 X

0

9 .5 z-

al 9' Do

rn ?4

rig

1w' (111 Z

m

n

e;

T

3:.• g

mi .03

i QT.

Ex- A

nts

I

T " mi.

0 CY. I

•

.: V


z 1 ,

z 0

•

rTTANDARD

5

M9ri M

ath

s ue I &

Tec

CO 7.1

6 co V. 4=I.

Lt

..

.. .

'COgn.r, CO

{]gym̀

I Eng

S &

Teo

Math

s

Ch

ick

R

Ex

. Arts

I E

ng

S

ES

LIS

KillS

a_

ths E

ng

Math

s

Aerie

E

Chick

S &

Tec . E

ng

BK

IR

E

Math

s

Ch

ich

E

ng

Ch

ia!!

A

Agric

SES

' U3hi s

S &

Tem

ta , . 3 Lfl

1

pa

›ris cl

-4

5R

5- IA

U

Skils

Chic

h

AgrIc

I E

M

ath

s 1

Erkg

S

& T

eo

SE

S

F.n

g

Antic

lu

liiiths - A

i LfS

kills

S &

Tec S

ES

Math

s

SE

S

En

g

a. A

rts K

I C

hick

ET

K/R

E

S &

Te

ic S

& T

ec

. .

. .

. ..

. .

. .

.

. .

. .

.

.. •

• •

•

. .

•

•

.. .

. ..

... .

• •

.

. .

. .

•

.. .

. .

. .

.

. .

.

.

.

5

m

4g

n

;3.

co co

I

m

- al 6

Co

3:

om i

So

p

.x.• 0

D- rr 1

co m

r

K m

ri n

I rtril ill M

,7

ill IP-

IC7

CO) CO

MI Gil

...

ill

01

M

0 g d

_

__

__

__

__

_ S

EN

IO

R P

HA

SE

;

; 9

,15

-

- 10

.06

-

10

_4

0-

11

.16

-

11

.50

-

12

25

- 12

.46

1

20

- 1.5

45 1

.55

- 150

10.0

5 1

0,4

0 1

1.1

6 1

14

0 1

2.2

6 1

2A

5 1

202

.30

rn E

Math

s

•

Ch

Ich

Ex.. A

rts

xi ix X > Pri

7 > JD as vo m

07

O n a g pi E: o ril 7

mm

m

cowororrn

g Q

m m cr

i m

e.0

0 rn

ce, rn

a

cry ID

0

S&

Teo

0 75 =

w po

R

C} Z

g

`

S &

Tec

co mr-ri ......

m ?,

4.M1

cry 1,0

ill 0

I & T

ec

Ln 0) m 01

N-

01.

cn 01

IC

1 11

5 =o '7

a a-

M In

,..rnM

[xi

M>M

7P IM

1711 yet X

M

0 a

g

IA

Z 1.1

frl

DI GO

M 0

Fi

ed

cn

03 7

rn

Ill

-5;

P.

_

rT1 C

q9

> Do

0 M tig

M

?4

—

1 C cl.

to

A

rrl

).

4-

g '

GO

9, ,--I

A

E ID

g{,3 0 ."-n.

'-

>

(i; > R .5-

>

9. is$221

Cr)

0 ID n

M

.-.- V7

I

A

.P] lil

'a

5

. r3.En

5

. . .

GT

41.-.T

in> 4-

>

a

f

a

,,i

.rn

rn

.?e

GG

c

4

GT

c

Or 0) 20

F,

0 N. an

g

AF—IENL---

g .0

E[3:1

5.; '-

c

CA

,,,.—i A

E a r,

C

_co =-. GG

c.±}

Ty c

,_co

7

r pG

12,

r4 4.

8

8

D i

3 3 C I

G

L C


ti

PR

IMA

RY S

CH

OO

L T

IME T

A5LE F

RAM

EW

OR

K

— E F

C

A

ro

I

Ed

Ed

V F

r i

5 O

5

21 z

iu

3 a .

g

I

h C

a

a


national readingprogram yesa

Documents