International Development Groups Recognize Tech-Based Literacy Efforts
Fourteen technology-based literacy programs from around the world were chosen to receive grants of up to $500,000 each, according to a recent announcement.
All Children Reading: A Grand Challenge for Development is a competitive grant-making process led by the United States Agency for International Development, World Vision, and the Australian government. The winners were selected from a pool of more than 200 proposals from 50 countries and fell into three areas of focus: family and community engagement, mother-tongue instruction and reading materials, and children with disabilities.
According to a USAID representative, the grantees were evaluated on whether the projects were innovative, sustainable in developing or emerging countries, appropriately designed, and showed potential for success. The grantees, each of whom received $300,000 to $500,000, will receive ongoing support with monitoring and evaluation, communications, and making connections to other investors and partners.
The winning proposals include the following:
- In Afghanistan, ChildFund International will produce and transmit radio broadcasts for parents of students in grades 1-3. The broadcasts, which will be sent via solar-charged mobile phones, aim to raise awareness about the importance of reading skills and give parents techniques for helping their children learn to read.
- In Zambia, Creative Associates International will help author age-appropriate reading materials in the local language. Community members can submit stories and folktales through text messages, voice recordings, or on the Web, and a literacy expert turns these into grade-level materials. Parents then receive these reading materials through a series of text messages.
You can find the full list of winners here.
In a previous round of grant making, which launched in 2011, 32 early-literacy programs received funding for projects focused on improving teaching and learning materials and using education data.