The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Ghana, has awarded its flagship education project, “Partnership for Education: Learning”, to FHI 360, an international human development NGO.

Through the Learning project, the American people are investing $71 million to support Ghana’s educational institutions over five years to improve, expand, and sustain learning outcomes for at least 2.8 million primary school pupils nationwide, with an emphasis on children in kindergarten through grade three.

This was contained in a press release from the United States Embassy in Accra signed by Mahama Zainab, press attache, and copied to the Ghana News Agency.

“In partnership with the project’s main implementing partner, Ghana Education Service, fhiFHI 360 will lead a consortium composed of: the Ghana Institute of Linguistics, Literacy, and Bible Translation (GILLBT), the Ghana Institute for Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), the Olinga Foundation for Human Development, and The British Council”, the release said.

It explained that the Learning project was part of the USAID Partnership for Education parent project that supported early grade reading and literacy improvement activities implemented by the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service.

“Learning will support the Ghana Education Service’s nationwide efforts, with additional support to high-performing and transitioning districts throughout Ghana.

“Learning seeks to strengthen and support Ghana’s education sector human and institutional capacities to improve pedagogical excellence in early grade reading; support education systems to improve, expand, and sustain reading outcomes; and engage communities to promote reading” the release further indicated.

It added that the Learning project also included a small component to identify approaches to improve early grade math skills.

The USAID Partnership for Education parent project is the U.S. Government’s direct contribution to Ghana’s 2010-2020 Education Sector Plan and its implementation, and comprises a suite of distinct, but complementary projects aimed to improve child literacy and numeracy, as well as basic education systems.

A component of the Partnership for Education, Learning aligns with and aims to meet Ghana’s basic education sector priorities, improve reading skills among primary grade children, and reach global education targets to increase primary learning and mastery of basic literacy and numeracy skills by grade three.

A sister project, Partnership for Education: Testing, awarded to Research Triangle Institute (RTI) in December 2012, is a four-year, $9 million project that focuses on strengthening student assessment design, administration and dissemination, including the National Education Assessment and the newly introduced Early Grade Reading Assessment and Early Grade Math Assessment.

Partnership for Education: Evaluating Systems, awarded to Social Impact in September 2014, is a five-year, $12 million project supporting the Ministry of Education, Ghana Education Service, and other local partner organizations to develop a systematic, coordinated, and responsive monitoring and evaluation system that directly links to implementation of Ghana’s Education Strategic Plan.

Taken together, all these projects work in support of Ghana’s Ministry of Education priority of improving learning outcomes, especially reading, the release stated.

USAID is the lead U.S. Government agency working to end extreme global poverty and enable resilient, democratic societies to realize their potential. Since 1957, USAID has supported Ghana in increasing food security, improving basic health care, enhancing access to quality basic education, and strengthening local governance to benefit all Ghanaians.