AIR: One Teacher's Experiences in Tajikistan

Republished from this 2016 article

Through AIR's work with the USAID's Quality Reading Project in Tajikistan, Guljahon Rahmonova, who teaches fourth grade in Kulob, received specialized in-service training. Read about her experiences in her own words.

"The USAID Quality Reading Project In-Service Teacher Training on Reading in the Tajik Mother Tongue opened my eyes to an important fact; our current practices focused entirely on reading fluency and speed, which I realized were only small aspects of reading. During the sessions, I learned that teaching reading is much broader and more complex than this, because reading includes many other aspects – vocabulary enrichment, reading comprehension, formative assessment, letter recognition, phonemic awareness, and so on."

"We learned many new strategies to engage our students and teach them reading and Tajik language in new ways. Let me tell you about them."

Silent Reading

"Silent reading is important because this is what students will do all their lives. We’ve done this before but we didn’t test them on whether they comprehend what they were reading."

Vocabulary Books and Visual Aids
"Did they even understand all the words? Of course not. We have now introduced the creation of vocabulary books to help students to learn new words in an interesting way. We started playing vocabulary games and are now using tactile learning aids. Many of those aids we learned to create during the USAID Quality Reading Project In-Service Teacher Training."

"We also discovered something else that was completely new to us. As a primary teacher, I had never considered how to make the classroom a reading-friendly environment. We learned about using visual aids and the importance of displaying the kids’ work on the walls of the classroom."
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AIR's current international education work

FHI360: Salahudeen discovers his love for reading

Salahudeen reading 

Katsina, Nigeria: It is a typical school day in Take-Tsimi, a village in northern Nigeria. In Take-Tsimi primary school, a student named Salahudeen is called upon to read aloud in class. He stands up and does so with confidence, serving as a role model to the other children in his class. Over the last school year, Salahudeen has been sharpening his reading skills through participation in the Reading and Numeracy Activity (RANA).

RANA is a three-year pilot project on Hausa language reading and numeracy, implemented by FHI 360 as part of UNICEF’s Girls Education Project Phase 3 (GEP3) with funding support from the U.K. Department for International Development (DFID). RANA is implemented in collaboration with the governments of Katsina and Zamfara states, and it aims to improve literacy and numeracy for girls and boys in primary grades 1-3 by assisting approximately 200 formal schools and Integrated Qura’nic Schools.

A local education official noticed Salahudeen’s exceptional reading performance during a routine RANA monitoring visit. Salahudeen explained, “I have always admired people when I see them reading. When our teacher started teaching us RANA lessons, I paid attention so that I can also read.”

In addition to dedicating himself to his RANA classes, Salahudeen began saving portions of his lunch allowance so that he could buy his own reading material. He is now the proud owner of six books. Although his father attested that Salahudeen had always been a good student, he also believed that the RANA program enhanced Salahudeen’s interest in reading. “The RANA lessons have made Salahudeen more hardworking and to love school,” his father said. “I will support his education to any level within my means. I am very grateful to RANA for giving school a new meaning.”

Learn more here:

• www.fhi360.org/projects/reading-and-numeracy-activity-rana
• www.fhi360.org/resource/numeracy-read-aloud-stories-english-and-hausa
• www.fhi360.org/resource/literacy-improving-learning-outcomes-early-grades-fact-sheet
• www.fhi360.org/resource/enhancing-reading-and-numeracy-nigeria-infographic
• www.fhi360.org/resource/five-techniques-support-second-language-learners-classroom
• www.fhi360.org/news/reading-instruction-mother-tongue-inspires-entire-communities-nigeria
• https://medium.com/@koester.emily/re-mapping-global-education-considering-language-structure-for-hausa-reading-instruction-891cf231d550

Salahudeen reading in class

URC: "Enabling Writers Workshop" is bridging the book gap

New books, written and illustrated for first and second graders in their native Hausa language, will soon reach thousands of Nigerian school children and positively impact their need to learn how to read. The 200 books were created by some 37 local writers, trained to develop high-quality books using Bloom book-producing software, program through the Enabling Writers Workshop Program (EW), an innovative initiative funded by the All Children Reading: A Grand Challenge for Development (ACR GCD) partners – the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), World Vision, and the Australian government – and implemented by University Research Company's Reading within Reach (REACH) project.  

According to 2017 statistics from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), 387 million primary school-age children worldwide are not achieving minimum proficiency levels in reading, even though two-thirds of them attend school.  One key factor is the lack of appropriate reading materials in a language the children can understand.  The REACH EW program demonstrates a low-cost sustainable solution to this challenge.  Currently implemented in six countries - Nigeria, Haiti, Philippines, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Nepal - more than 2,000 titles have been created in eight languages. Work is currently under way to create an additional 1,400 titles in seven languages.

EW partner American University of Nigeria is working in the states of Bauchi and Sokoto to promote the Hausa book titles. EW Pedagogy Lead, Dr. Grace Malgwi, explained that “the plan is for the over 4000 public primary schools in these two states to be the first beneficiaries of the printed version of the books. Additionally, with internet access and the availability of computers and tablets growing, another 2000 public schools where Hausa is a home language might receive the books in a digital form.”

Dr. Grace Malgwi, EW Pedagogy Lead at American University Nigeria, conducting a training session on the Bloom book producing software

Quality assurance processes are applied in every stage of book creation, including through a rigorous field testing process in schools.  Before writing, the EW team works with national ministry of education (MoE) to establish letter scope and sequence and book levelling criteria reflecting the national reading curriculum.  Draft EW books are then subjected to multiple content reviews including for context relevance, story sequence and illustrations, gender inclusiveness, and appropriate representation of individuals with disabilities.  Teachers and students then provide feedback on the appropriateness of books for the target group and instructional use.   

Primary school teacher Auwal Nasir says students and teachers at his Yakubu Muazu Model School in Sokoto are excited about the new books’ simple, interesting and level-appropriate language and text. “The books are bridging the gap, and the pupils can read and enjoy the books in and out of class,” he said, adding that teachers not involved in the field testing process of the book production have borrowed the books from him to read with their classes.

Books created through the Enabling Writers program will be open-licensed for sharing, electronic use and large-scale printing and uploaded to the Global Digital Library (an initiative of Global Book Alliance with Norwegian Development Agency), the Bloom library and other digital library platforms.  Educators and families around the world will be able to access, use or translate the books to their own language.  

The Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC) and the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) are working to officially adopt the EW books.  Dr. Garba Gandu of NERDC says EW received “a warm reception and positive recognition. It is very relevant and invaluable to the current reading initiatives in Nigeria.”  There are budgetary, distribution and curriculum issues to iron out, but Dr. Gandu believes the “urgent need to get [the books] into the school system should not be downplayed. This can be hastened and achieved in under two to three months by special intervention.”                                                        

The Enabling Writers initiative has potential to provide access to large numbers of high-quality books in underserved mother languages throughout the world. Watch for further project updates on the Global Reading Network website.