We work to break the cycle of illiteracy in rural Egypt by providing sustainable and effective learning approaches, fostering a culture of reading across communities and generations, and strengthening local community and governance structures. We strive to improve gender equality, build capacity in education evaluation, and expand community involvement in education planning and supervision.
Supporting the Egyptian government in using data for strategy and policy, we have helped develop indicators for improved monitoring and evaluation, facilitated increased community participation in education—especially through capacity building and support to school boards of trustees—and worked with the Social Work Department to create a support system for those boards.
We have also designed and delivered an English as a second language (ESOL) professional development course for Arabic-speaking STEM and English teachers at government-run STEM high schools. The course consisted of online modules that increased teachers’ familiarity with essential classroom academic English used in STEM, developed their instructional strategies that emphasize Academic English in their instruction, and built their proficiency in STEM terminology in English as well as reading and listening skills.
With a focus on community mobilization and parental engagement, we help increase educational enrollment and achievement of girls in schools by building the capacity of school boards of trustees and social work supervisors to provide good governance and accountability to schools. We also develop and deliver professional development training modules for over-school leaders.