Supporting Literacy in Rwanda

 

The United States is working with its partner, Rwanda, to help children read. On February 16, the United States Agency for International Development, or USAID, held a launch event at Groupe Scolaire Kinyinya to highlight the U.S. government's Early Grade Reading Project, which aims to improve the Kinyarwanda reading skills of one million children over the next four years.

The Early Grade Reading Project is implemented¹ in partnership² with the Ministry³ of Education and the Rwanda Education Board, and it consists of three activities that are valued at over 68 billion Rwandan francs or about 80 million U.S. dollars.

The U.S. government's partnership to support Kinyarwanda literacy is built upon evidence that literacy in the first language that students speak and understand is foundational for their success in school. The Early Grade Reading Project's three complementary activities are: the Mureke Dusome (“Let's Read”) activity engages parents, communities, and literacy champions to help children embrace a culture of reading outside of school.

Mureke Dusome is implemented by Save the Children, in collaboration⁴ with the Rwanda Education Board; The Soma Umenye (“Read and Know”) activity will train teachers and provide extra reading materials to schools. It will also strengthen the capacity of the Rwanda Education Board and advocate for policies that support reading; and the Teacher Mentorship Community of Practice program, implemented by FHI 360, U.S- based public health and international development NGO, has developed an online platform for teachers to access teaching materials and forums⁵, and to take teaching certification courses online.

U.S. Ambassador to Rwanda Erica J. Barks-Ruggles highlighted the importance of partnership with the Ministry of Education and civil society. Also on hand for the launch were Rwanda's Minister of State in charge of Primary and Secondary Education and the Director General of the Rwanda Education Board. The three worked with parents from Gicumbi district to create home-made reading materials for children.

“Our partnership with the government of Rwanda, teachers, community leaders, and parents is key to achieving Rwanda's literacy goals as set out in Vision 2020,” said Ambassador Barks-Ruggles. “We are working with all our partners to support children's reading ability, so that every child has the opportunity to succeed and help build Rwanda's future.

1 implemented   

v.实现( implement的过去式和过去分词 )；执行；贯彻；使生效

参考例句：

• This agreement, if not implemented, is a mere scrap of paper. 这个协定如不执行只不过是一纸空文。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The economy is in danger of collapse unless far-reaching reforms are implemented. 如果不实施影响深远的改革，经济就面临崩溃的危险。 来自辞典例句

2 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

3 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

4 collaboration   

n.合作，协作；勾结

参考例句：

• The two companies are working in close collaboration each other.这两家公司密切合作。
• He was shot for collaboration with the enemy.他因通敌而被枪毙了。

5 forums   

讨论会； 座谈会； 广播专题讲话节目； 集会的公共场所( forum的名词复数 )； 论坛，讨论会，专题讨论节目； 法庭

参考例句：

• A few of the forums were being closely monitored by the administrators. 有些论坛被管理员严密监控。
• It can cast a dark cloud over these forums. 它将是的论坛上空布满乌云。