1 Table of Contents Acronyms ....................................................................................................... 3 Executive Summary ....................................................................................... 4 Component 1: Improved classroom learning environment for reading ........... 8 COMPONENT 2: Improved Policies and Systems for Reading ....................... 30 Component 3: Improved Community -Based Support for Reading ............... 47 Gender ......................................................................................................... 53 Communications .......................................................................................... 60 Monitoring & Evaluation .............................................................................. 68 Issues and Challenges in FY2018-19 ............................................................. 80 Annexures: .................................................................................................. 81 2 ACRONYMS ADE Associate Degree in Education MBL Mobile Bus Library ASI Adam Smith International MT Master Trainer AAEO Assistant Agency Education Officer MRC Material Review Committee AEO Agency Education Officer NACTE National Accreditation Council of Teacher Education AFAQ Association for Academic Quality NCC National Curriculum Council AJK Azad Jammu & Kashmir NGOs Non-Governmental Organizations AOR Agreement Office Representative NEAS National Education Assessment System B.Ed. (Hons.) Bachelors of Education (Honors) NGO Non-Government Organization BoC Bureau of Curriculum NOC No Objection Certificate BECS Basic Education Community Schools PAC Provincial Advisory Committee BEAC Balochistan Examination and Assessment Commission PEC Procurement Evaluation Committee CA&DD Capital Administration and Development Division PSC Provincial Steering Committee CAII Creative Associates International Inc. PEAS Provincial Education Assessment System CBCL Classroom -Based Corner Library PIRs Performance Indicators Reference Sheets CU-CSR City University Consultancy Services and Research PITE Provincial Institute for Teacher Education CMR Community Managed Reading PMP Performance Monitoring Plan C1 & C2 Cohort 1 and Cohort 2 PPP Public Private Partnership CPD Continuous Professional Development PRP USAID-funded Pakistan Reading Project CWG Communication Working Group PSC Provincial Steering Committee CRP Complementary Reading Project RIT Reading Instruction Time CRC Curriculum Review Committee RFA Request for Application DCTE Directorate of Curriculum and Teacher Education RFP Request for Proposal DG Director General RFQ Request for Quotation DCRD Directorate of Curriculum and Research Development RIS Reading Improvement Strategy DoE Directorate of Education RLM Reading Learning Material DRLP Daily Reading Lesson Plan SMC School Management Committee EGRA Early Grade Reading Assessment STEDA Sindh Teacher Education Development Authority ETOs Education Training Officers SoW Scope of Work EEF Elementary Education Foundation SMT Senior Management Team FDE Federal Directorate of Education SSA School Support Associate FGD Focus Group Discussion SSV School Support Visit TIG Teacher Inquiry Group 3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The USAID-funded Pakistan Reading Project (PRP) is supporting the provincial and regional departments of education in Pakistan to improve quality of education, with a focus on improving the reading skills of children at early grade levels. PRP is working to achieve this goal through three key objectives: teacher training, policy reforms, and community support for reading in Pakistan. During FY 2018-19, PRP activities continued in target provinces and regions across Pakistan per the approved annual work plan. PRP’s foremost accomplishment during the reporting year was achievement of its project target of reaching 1.3 million student beneficiaries in grades one and two. PRP added 169,574 new grade one and two students during FY 2018-19 who continue to receive reading interventions through PRP trained teachers. By the end of the reporting year, the total number of grade one and two students benefitting from PRP across Pakistan was recorded as 1,547,483. During the reporting year, PRP received guidance received through USAID’s letter of May 03, 2019 to close its reading intervention in AJK and GB on July 31, 2019 and revise the scope of work and budget in other PRP regions to align with USAID’s new Country Development Cooperation Strategy (CDCS). In line with the USAID guidance, PRP submitted the revised program description, work plan and budget. Subsequently, PRP received the USAID approval in the form of Modification 15 to the PRP Cooperative Agreement on September 18, 2019. Under this award modification PRP’s budget has been reduced from $164,737,979 to $142,311,065. This modification has also reduced the project cost-share from $7,987,454 to $5,000,000. Key project scope changes include closure of PRP’s AJK and GB regions on July 31, 2019 and two of the five Cohort 3 districts in Sindh by September 30, 2019. In addition, PRP submitted a revised and expedited approach to USAID to implement PRP in the Newly Merged Districts (NMDs) of KP in the absence of a No-Objection Certificate (NOC) for the region. A brief summary of other major project accomplishments under key project indictors is given below: Number of Teachers trained across all PRP regions: Face -to -face training is the integral part of PRP’s professional development model. All the teachers served through PRP attend a 5-day face -to -face training in the first year of the intervention followed by a 3-day refresher at the start of the second year. In addition, the project also arranges condensed trainings for newly transferred/inducted grade 1 and 2 teachers to PRP schools. During the reporting year, PRP trained a total of 2,616 (1,486 M; 1,130 F) teachers in Cohort 1, 2 and 3 including new/transferred teachers. In total, PRP trained 26,915 teachers as of September 30, 2019. In addition, the project completed phase-2 face-to-face training in Cohort 3 districts, and continued providing support to the teachers through monthly TIG meetings and school support visits. Number of Mentors/Government Officials trained through PRP: Mentors, who are selected government academic staff and teachers themselves, play an important role in building the capacity of teachers as effective reading instructors. Mentors facilitate training of teachers, teacher inquiry group (TIG) meetings and school support visits. As with teachers, the project arranges trainings for 4 mentors to help them understand and carry out their responsibilities as mentors and government officials towards improving reading skills. During the reporting year, PRP trained 1,617 government officials, including 4 reading specialist, 336 mentors, 232 academic supervisors and 1,045 head teachers in Cohort 3 districts. By the end of the reporting year, the project trained a total of 11,783 mentors/government officials. RLM provided to Schools: During the reporting year, PRP continued delivering Reading Learning Materials (RLM) to students, teachers, and relevant education officials. These materials include daily reading lesson plans (DRLPs), workbooks, big books, level readers, flash cards, syllable charts, library books, manuals for face -to -face trainings/orientations, TIG modules, and tablets. During the reporting year, PRP distributed 1,533,485 copies of RLMs to mentors, academic supervisors, teachers, students, and other government officials. Since the inception of the project, the project distributed 6,788,210 copies. RLM development in languages of Balochistan: PRP in collaboration with the Material Development and Material Review committees constituted by the education department completed the development of RLM for grade one in in four languages of Balochistan including Balochi, Brahui, Pashto and Sindhi spoken in the province. The work on grade two RLM in the four languages was in progress at the end of the reporting year. Corner libraries established: Classroom -based corner libraries are a part of PRP interventions in schools. Under this initiative, the project provides grade level story books to each school to help promote reading among children. During the reporting year, PRP established a total of 6,039 corner libraries. At the end of the reporting year, PRP established a total of 14,725 corner libraries altogether across the intervention schools. In addition, PRP launched the Mobile Bus Library program to reach out to 50 schools in Peshawar at the request of the KP education department. Policy support to reading: During the reporting year, PRP continued its coordination and follow-up with counterpart education departments to implement the various components of Reading Improvement Strategies already approved by the departments. The project worked closely with the education departments in Gligit Baltistan (GB) and Sindh to have the revised Scheme of Studies and Urdu Language Curriculum for Primary Grades approved in GB and Sindh respectively. PRP’s follow- up with teacher education institutions and National Accreditation Council for Teacher Education (NACTE) resulted in completion of accreditation of 24 teacher training institutions in the reporting year. The project was able to develop eight partnerships with various private sector entities during the year. The project remained active in vigorous follow up and coordination activities with the counterpart education departments through 11 Provincial Steering