Lara Evans, Deputy DirectorFood Security and LivelihoodsWorld Vision, Inc.

Improving Early Grade Educationthrough Food for

Education

Problem StatementThere is a Global Learning

Crisis • Hungry children are not

able to learn• Previous efforts to

improve attendance and enrollment rates have not always translated into learning

• Marginalized children have been most affected by this crisis– Reference - Brookings

Institute, A Global Compact on Learning: Taking Action on Education in Developing Countries

World Vision’s Response• Build the capacity of

teachers and volunteers to improve children’s reading

• Strengthen community capacity to support learning outcomes, especially reading

• Ensuring an abundance of relevant teaching and learning resource material

• Effectively monitoring and evaluating reading outcomes

WV’s Children Well-being Aspirations• WV’s child focused

approach is community based and holistic to offer sustained development

• Children “Educated for Life” is one of WV’s Child Well-Being Aspirations. Another is “Enjoy Good Health.”

• Two major education outcomes: – Children, read, write and use

numeracy skills– Children access and complete

basic education• One of the health outcomes:

– Children are well nourished

USDA FFE - Afghanistan• Objective 1: Increase access, entry and

continuation of students--Achieve higher enrollment and attendance rates, with an emphasis on girls, through monthly take-home rations.

• Objective 2: Educational Progress--Improve student achievement levels through improvements in the learning environment/conditions, including teacher training, materials and books, etc.

• Objective 3: Nutrition and Maternal Child Health Progress--Improve maternal, child and student health and nutrition

• Objective 4: Community Development--Infrastructure and community support

Objective 1: Increase access, entry and continuation of

studentsStudent Attendance2003-2009

36388

55857

9002

19217

58516

7535780807

90890

12287

23075 2716833975

0

10000

20000

30000

40000

50000

60000

70000

80000

90000

100000

1 2 3 4 5 6

Program Years

Students

Girls

Objective 2: Educational Progress

• Teacher and Headmaster Training

• Management training for MoE staff

• Technical support to the MoE in the development new national standards for in service teacher training

• Distributions of school kits to students and school supplies to teachers

Objective 4: Community Development

• Creation of Early Childhood Care and Development Spaces

• Support for Education Defense Committees

• School Improvement Program (SIPS) – competitive infrastructure voucher program

• Ongoing community sensitization to the importance of education

USDA FFE - Mozambique

• Result 1: Improved quality of literacy instruction -- more consistent teacher attendance, better access to school supplies, improved instructional materials, teacher and administrator training.

• Result 2: Improved attentiveness-- short term hunger reduced with school feeding

• Result 3: Improved student attendance-- improved school infrastructure, increased enrollment, increased community awareness of benefits of education

• Result 4: Increased use of health and dietary practices-- improved knowledge of health and hygiene practices, increased access to water and sanitation

Increased Skills and Knowledge of Teachers &

School Administrators• Teacher training focused on literacy support and curriculum development

• Develop capacity of school councils and other community members to support learning (e.g. develop supplies from local resources). Using basic education improvement planning strategy to dialogue and plan with community.

• Support Ministry of Education to plan for adequate teaching and learning supplies

Increased Skills and Knowledge of Teachers &

School Administrators• Establish mobile school and community libraries with some materials in local language

• Encourage parents to participate as teaching assistants

• Ongoing monitoring on teacher performance and school environment by administrators, school councils and students

• Assessing children’s literacy skills

Summary of Promising and Good Practice Approaches

• Basic Education Improvement Planning – empowering the community to take local level actions towards improve learning outcomes

• Developing teaching and learning materials using local resources (e.g. supplementary readers, etc.)

• School and community libraries• Teacher training to improve reading• Assessing reading

Conclusions/Take Aways

• A holistic approach is needed to address the educational needs of the more marginalized children:– A nutritious meal for enrollment, retention,

completion and more importantly cognition and learning

– Focusing on teacher skills to improve literacy – Support the community’s demand for a relevant

and positive learning experience for their children through awareness raising and training

• We can see profound impact on girls’ enrollment and retention from this type of program because of this whole school/holistic approach

Questions?

Thank You Very Much!laevans@worldvision.org