OBJECTIVES
EQUALL seeks to increase access for the undeserved population by providing a Complementing Education Program where out-of-school children receive a nine-month, community-based, mother tongue instructional program to master core literacy and numerical skills which would enable them transition to the formal school system. EQUALL also recruits, trains, and supports Community Support Teachers to address teacher shortages in the lower primary classrooms especially in Northern Ghana. Moreover EQUALL assists the MOES/GES to develop and implement Special Education Needs policies and programs that support an inclusive educational environment in the formal school system.
To improve Reading Instructional Practices, EQUALL develops Literacy Learning Milestones thus providing primary school teachers with meaningful and practical strategies for assessing the progress of their pupils in learning to read. It also builds the capacity of District Teacher Support Teams (TST) to implement Reading Improvement Programs (RIP) and supporting the implementation of the breakthrough to literacy and bridge to English methodologies in 1,400 primary schools. To facilitate Reading Instructional Practices EQUALL also organises a Culture of Reading Campaign to build community support for the acquisition and development of reading skills among children and increase the use of local language and English print material.
In relation to improving Education Management Practices, EQUALL seeks to provide Management Training to District offices in the areas of planning and decision making, monitoring and evaluation, transparency and accountability, and encouraging district level coordination, collaboration and partnering in strategic planning. EQUALL also provides Incentive Grants to support the implementation of activities to improve educational quality, especially those that focus on reading and reward improved performance. EQUALL tends to support the MOES/GES to develop a Management Framework that merges existing budgeting, planning and accounting methods of different partners into a common process that incorporates the strengths of each and places a strong focus on participatory planning and monitoring and evaluation.
GSMF International is implementing a pilot project in Behaviour Change Communication (BCC). This project seeks to demonstrate how social marketing campaign can build community support for the acquisition and development of reading skills among children. The pilot program seeks to use BCC to build a culture of reading in the South Tongu District. GSMF International has held various advocacy programs in the community and has given out some IE&C materials to achieve this effect. The primary targets are the parents and guardians with the children being the secondary targets. Parents and guardians are seen here as major agents whose attitude and behaviour towards reading affects the reading behaviour of their children. The children will be the beneficiaries.
SOME ACHIEVEMENTS GSMF International has completed Year One of a 2-year pilot in the South Tongu community of 30,000 residents. There is the view of expanding to other districts based on the result. Other Districts are being encouraged to include the Culture of Reading in their DIG grants.
Information, Education, and Communication materials are essential for behaviour change communication. In view of this, a total of 2500 posters, written in both English and Ewe, have been designed, printed and distributed in the district to facilitate their reading process. These posters are found in schools, various buildings and landmarks all over the districts to serve as a reminder for people to read. In order to encourage residents in the communities to attend literary classes, T-shirts have also been produced and distributed to various community members who attend the community sessions with the (Information Service Department) ISD vans.
Head teachers and staff in the 12 schools that the Culture of Reading (COR) activity is being piloted have been sensitised on the need to form reading clubs. This is to encourage the children to read outside the classroom. The community is being encouraged to play a part in this by volunteering their services to supervise the clubs.
In the absence of a local radio station, ISD vans were contracted to tour the district for 14 days. The vans toured communities with public service announcements on reading and also distributed IEC materials, newsletters and information on reading. They visited various markets on market days when it was crowded. The aim of touring with ISD vans was to sensitise members of the communities on the need to cultivate the habit of reading.
The District Assemblies being an important stakeholder in the project handed over an office block to the project to use as offices. The building houses a local newspaper which has being in print from the beginning of the year 2006. The recommended sales price for a newsletter is ¢500 a copy. As at September 2006, 2300 copies had been sold after the first two editions were distributed free of charge.
