Studies indicate that students who don't read or read infrequently during summer vacation see their reading abilities stagnate or decline. This effect is more pronounced in countries like Ivory Coast, where the literacy rate for adults remains low: in 2015, it was estimated that only 43.91% of the total population was literate (50.7% of males and 36.7% of females).
To give the opportunity to students in primary school, who do not have the required reading level, to improve their reading skills, AVSI Ivory Coast is launching the Reading Catch-Up Classes Campaign in 613 schools. As part of the Integrated School Feeding and Literacy Program funded by USDA/McGovern Dole, this new set of activities has been developed to help students who are struggling with reading improve their skills and move forward with their education.
Reading is an essential way students learn and the key to the acquisition of knowledge.
Elly Bahati, AVSI Education Officer and Program Manager of the USDA/McGovern-Dole project
The start of this campaign coincides with the start of the 2019-2020 academic year, and the theme is “helping students improve their reading skills”.
The activity will be implemented by AVSI Ivory Coast in collaboration with the Ministry of Education to boost the reading level of all students participating in the McGovern-Dole Program. A total of 3,678 teachers and headmasters are targeted as the key players to boost the reading skills of 100,000 students.
Divided in five stages (official launch, teacher/headmaster training, basic assessment of students’ reading proficiency, organizing reading levels amongst the students, and start of the catch-up sessions outside of class), the campaign will run throughout the 2019-2020 academic year. Each school will offer catch-up and tutoring classes designed by AVSI with the collaboration of the Department of Pedagogy and Continuing Education (DFPC) of Ivory Coast.
Through these catch-up activities, we want to support learning throughout the student's school cycle and subsequently improve the lives and livelihoods of these children.
Elly Bahati, AVSI Education Officer and Program Manager of the USDA/McGovern-Dole project