Africa

IRA’s activities in Africa are grouped under the theme “Reading for All—A Pan-African Voice for Literacy.” The newsletter of the International Development in Africa Committee provides information on African affiliates’ projects, upcoming conferences, and contact information for national affiliates and councils and other literacy leaders in Africa. (Contact Chukwuemeka E. Onukaogu, committee chair, to request a copy of their newsletter.) Coordination of IRA activities in Africa is provided by staff in the International Development Division (contact).

If you are a council leader interested in working with an African reading association or other African literacy group, or an organizer of African literacy projects, please visit our International Project Partnerships area.

Current projects

Primary Grades Reading in Developing Countries Project (2007–present)
IRA is leading this new EQUIP project which is focusing on primary grades reading in Spanish-speaking Latin America, Arabic-speaking Middle East, and Anglophone and Francophone Africa. The objective of this activity is to use research conducted by IRA on early grades reading policies in countries in these regions both at the school level and the preservice level to help support the development of a document that will serve as a guidance to aid international and national education development donors and NGO partners in developing pertinent and effective early grades reading programs in these countries.

Broader Middle East and North Africa (BMENA) Literacy Hub (2006–2008)
The Literacy Hub is a resource developed over a series of discussions between representatives of the G8 countries (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States) and representatives of the countries making up the Broader Middle East and North Africa region (Afghanistan, Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen).

The Literacy Hub is designed to provide policymakers and program developers in the BMENA region with an extensive database of exemplary practices and programs in literacy. The database is a diverse collection of effective programs for achieving basic literacy, academic literacy, or everyday literacy.

Capacity Building for Literacy Policy Development in the United Republic of Tanzania (URT) and Dar es Salaam Cluster Countries (March 2005–present)
In cooperation with UNESCO, IRA is working with ministries of education in Tanzania and Zanzibar to jump-start a process for developing literacy standards, curricula, assessment, and policy.

Kenya, Ghana, Tanzania: Diagnostic Teaching Techniques for Schools and Literacy Sites (September 2004–present)
These UNESCO-sponsored professional development workshops provide techniques for everyday informal assessment to improve literacy instruction. Primary schools and nonformal alternative primary education programs from Kenya (Njoro area), Tanzania (multiple sites), Zanzibar (multiple sites), and Ghana (Winneba area) have participated.

Partnership Development (ongoing)
For information on partnership with IRA Headquarters, or linking with Africa network members with expertise in professional development of teachers, school-community partnerships, materials development, libraries, adult literacy, special needs learners, multiple language literacy, or other literacy areas, please contact IRA’s International Development Division.

Recent reports

Situational Analysis of Secondary Level Education in Botswana (February–November 2005). Report available online.
This UNESCO-funded situational analysis reviewed and analyzed current policy and practices regarding quality of literacy curriculum and assessment in junior and senior secondary education in Botswana; identified and documented current promising practices in these areas in junior and senior secondary education in Botswana; and identify main issues for reform of curriculum and assessment.

Conferences and related publications

5th Pan-African Reading for All Conference
August 6–10, 2007, University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana. Contact Kate Adoo-Adeku. Download the conference flyer (in English or in French) and a list of hotels.

Conference Summary: 4th Pan-African Reading for All Conference, August 2005, by Dr. J. Thuli Nhlengetfwa

Teaching Reading in African Schools (2005) Distributed in Africa by Fountain Publishers Ltd., in North America by Michigan State University Press, and in Europe, Australia, and other Commonwealth nations by the African Books Collective

Building Communities Where Literacy Thrives (2003)

1st Pan-African Reading for All Conference Proceedings (2000)

Nigeria—Creating an Active Learning Environment in Multicultural Classrooms (April 2004–June 2005)
This World Bank–funded project with Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Education implemented professional development and action research in student-centered learning, with emphasis on critical thinking, cultural diversity, multicultural literature, and building a sense of community and shared responsibility. For more information on the project, see the World Bank Videoconference, January 26, 2005: “Promoting Social Cohesion in Nigeria Through Reading, Writing, and Thinking: A Professional Development and Action Research Project on Literacy, Culture, and Gender in the Classroom.” Video and related materials are available at B-SPAN. See also IRA Technical Report to World Bank.

Evaluation of the BTL and ASTEP Programs in Northern, Eastern, and Volta Regions of Ghana (2004)
According to one measure, fewer than 10% of Ghanaian students at primary level six are able to read at grade level. This USAID Ghana commissioned report evaluates its current pilot teacher training programs. It details a comprehensive approach for assessing reading achievement at early literacy levels. Find the executive summary and full report (posted by permission of USAID).