Government of Nepal, Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology Assistance to Basic Education: All Children Reading (ABE-ACR) USAID’s Early Grade Reading Program (EGRP) in Nepal Annual Progress Report, Year 4: July 1, 2018–June 30, 2019 (including April 1–June 30, 2019 Quarterly Report) EGRP in Nepal,July 31, Annual 2019 Progress Report, Year 4: July 1, 2018–June 30, 2019 (includingThis April publication1–June 30, 2019was preparedQuarterly Report)for review 1 by the United States Agency for International Development. It was prepared by RTI International. Assistance to Basic Education– All Children Reading (ABE-ACR) USAID’s Early Grade Reading Program (EGRP) in Nepal Annual Progress Report, Year 4: July 1, 2018–June 30, 2019 (including April 1–June 30, 2019 Quarterly Report) Contract No. AID-367-TO-15-00002 Prepared for Jayanti Subba, Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) Education Office United States Agency for International Development/Nepal GPO Box No. 295 U.S. Embassy, Maharajgunj Kathmandu, Nepal E-mail: [email protected] Prepared by RTI International P.O. Box 12194 Research Triangle Park, NC 27709-2194 Telephone: 919-541-6000 http://www.rti.org/ The authors’ views expressed in this report do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States Agency for International Development or the United States Government. Cover photo: Rohini Shahi, a teacher at Kedareswar Lower Secondary School in Kailali, uses teaching and learning materials provided by the program to teach children. Photo credit: Swadesh Maharjan EGRP in Nepal, Annual Progress Report, Year 4: July 1, 2018–June 30, 2019 2 (including April 1–June 30, 2019 Quarterly Report) Table of Contents Page List of Figures .............................................................................................................................v List of Tables ..............................................................................................................................v List of Abbreviations ................................................................................................................... vi 1 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Program Overview ....................................................................................... 1 1.2 Program Description .................................................................................... 1 2 Expected Results by Intermediate Result and Sub-IR ............................................... 3 3 Summary of Accomplishments (Annual) ................................................................... 4 3.1 IR 1: Improved Early Grade Reading Instruction .......................................... 5 3.2 IR 2: Improved National and District Early Grade Reading Service Delivery ....................................................................................................... 9 3.3 IR 3: Increased Family and Community Support for Early Grade Reading ......................................................................................................13 4 Progress on Program Deliverables ..........................................................................16 4.1 IR 1 Ongoing Deliverables ..........................................................................17 4.2 IR 2 Ongoing Deliverables ..........................................................................18 5 Constraints and Opportunities (April–June 2019) .....................................................19 6 Activities for Next Year: July 1, 2019–July 15, 2020 (Annual) ..................................21 7 Detailed Overview of Implementation Progress (Annual) .........................................25 7.1 Progress Narrative ......................................................................................25 7.2 Implementation Status ................................................................................25 7.2.1 IR 1: Improved Early Grade Reading Instruction ..........................25 7.2.2 IR 2: Improved National and District Early Grade Reading Service Delivery ...........................................................................34 7.2.3 IR 3: Increased Family and Community Support for Early Grade Reading .............................................................................44 7.3 M&E Plan Update (Results of Analytical Work, Assessment, and Evaluation) (April–June 2019) .....................................................................57 7.4 Partnership, Collaboration, and Knowledge Sharing ...................................59 7.5 Sustainability and Exit Strategy (April–June 2019) ......................................60 7.6 Communication Efforts (April–June 2019) ...................................................60 8 Implementation of Cross-Cutting Activities (April–June 2018) ..................................63 8.1 Gender .......................................................................................................63 8.2 Special-Needs Education ............................................................................64 9 Management and Administrative Issues (April–June 2019) ......................................65 9.1 Management ...............................................................................................65 9.2 Administration .............................................................................................67 10 Lessons Learned (April–June 2019) ........................................................................70 EGRP in Nepal, Annual Progress Report, Year 4: July 1, 2018–June 30, 2019 (including April 1–June 30, 2019 Quarterly Report) iii 11 What Does USAID Not Know That It Needs To? .....................................................70 12 How Implementing Partner Has Addressed COR Comments from the Last Quarterly Report ......................................................................................................71 Annex A: Progress by Indicators (April–June 2019) ................................................................72 Annex B: Progress Summary (Annual) ....................................................................................75 Annex C: Success Stories .......................................................................................................86 Annex D. Notable Activities (April–June 2019) ........................................................................92 Annex E. Materials (Annual—Cumulative) ..............................................................................93 Annex F: Cost Capture (April–June 2019) ...............................................................................95 Annex G: Host Government and Nongovernment Contributions and Commitments to Early Grade Reading (as of June 30, 2019) ...........................................................106 Annex H: Short-Term Technical Assistance (STTA) and Home Office Support (April– June 2019) ............................................................................................................110 EGRP in Nepal, Annual Progress Report, Year 4: July 1, 2018–June 30, 2019 iv (including April 1–June 30, 2019 Quarterly Report) List of Figures Figure 1: Gender and ethnicity distribution of the executive members of EGR subcommittees ...................................................................................................47 Figure 2: Gender and ethnicity distribution of teachers receiving peer education training .49 Figure 3: SMC grants activity: Completion status in Cohort 2 districts ...............................52 Figure 4: Total participants in SMC grant activities in Cohort 2 districts ............................52 Figure 5: Numbers of DCT meetings in Cohort 2 districts .................................................53 Figure 6: Online dashboard for data from school monitoring visits ....................................58 Figure 7: Participants by caste/social group ......................................................................64 Figure 8: Participants by age ............................................................................................64 List of Tables Table 1: Deliverables .......................................................................................................16 Table 2: Constraints.........................................................................................................19 Table 3: Opportunities .....................................................................................................20 Table 4: Planned activities for Year 5 (July 1, 2019–July 15, 2020) .................................21 Table 5: Status of TPD training, by district .......................................................................29 Table 6: Refresher-training TOTs, April–May 2019 ..........................................................30 Table 7: Status of refresher trainings, by district ..............................................................30 Table 8: Status of TPS training, by district, June 30, 2019 ...............................................32 Table 9: Summary of phase 1 workshops to review the NEGRP and build capacity, October–December 2018 ...................................................................................40 Table 10: Summary of phase 2 workshops to review the NEGRP and build capacity, January–June 2019 ...........................................................................................41 Table 11: Summary of