San Francisco, USA — One of the key partnerships between the Republic of Ghana and the United States of America is focused on promoting quality education for Ghanaian children. The collaboration between Ghana’s Ministry of Education (MoE) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has advanced early grade reading for school children through a USAID supported reading activity in kindergarten 2 (KG2), and primary 1 (P1) and primary 2 (P2).

Between April 14 and 18, 2019, the Honorable Deputy Minister of Education, Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum, led a Ghanaian delegation – made up of the Executive Secretaries of the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, the National Teaching Council, the National Inspectorate Board, the Director of Education for USAID-Ghana, and the Chief of Party for the USAID supported reading activity – to the 2019 Annual Conference of the Comparative and International Education Society (CIES), a  global education conference, held in San Francisco, CA.

On April 17, 2019, the Deputy Minister and his entourage made various panel presentations at the CIES conference. Major highlights of the presentations addressed “Ghana Beyond Aid” and “Aligning the Government of Ghana’s priorities and strategies in education”. Deputy Minister Adutwum in his presentation said that the four (4) major components of the USAID supported reading activity aligned with that of the Ministry’s priority of ensuring that all kindergarten and primary school children develop early grade reading and mathematics foundational skills. He emphasized that the Government of Ghana’s Education Strategic Plan 2018–2030 responds to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) goal four: Ensuring quality education for all The Director of Education for the USAID Office in Ghana, Dr. James Dobson, indicated that “The Ghana Early Grade Reading Program demonstrated one of the largest effect sizes of any early grade reading program worldwide...” and this is an outstanding achievement.

USAID technical assistance in reading achievement is part of an integrated portfolio designed to support the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service to improve reading performance in public schools in Ghana. USAID’s support to Ghana in early grade reading seeks to improve learning outcomes for pupils in KG2, P1 and P2 through a systematic phonics-based approach to reading. The reading program includes the development of teaching and learning materials in all 11 official national languages of instruction, and in-service training and coaching for approximately 38,000 teachers, head teachers, and curriculum leads. Circuit Supervisors are also trained and supported with technology to monitor and collect real-time data to ensure that the program is being implemented with fidelity, and to make improvements to the program. USAID’s support in reading has included 2.3 million instructional guides and student books and is helping Ghana improve reading achievement scores in over 7,200 primary schools in 100 districts spread across all regions of Ghana.

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About USAID
USAID is the lead U.S. government agency that works to end extreme global poverty and enable resilient, democratic societies to realize their potential.