The Quality Education for All Project in Guinea Bissau

The development objective of the Quality Education for All Project for Guinea Bissau is to improve the teaching and learning environment in grades 1 to 4 in targeted schools in Guinea-Bissau. The project comprises of three components. The first component, strengthen school-based management practices and empower communities aims to improve the teaching and learning environment in targeted schools by: encouraging greater community participation in school management; and by providing fiscal resources at the school-level to purchase basic supplies, pedagogical materials, and to cover operating costs. It consists of following sub-components: (i) establishment of school management committees (SMCs); (ii) school grants program; and (iii) school inspection and system monitoring and evaluation. The second component, improve the quality of instruction will: (i) establish standards and harmonize the system for teacher training in order to reduce the frequency of teacher strikes; (ii) update the school curriculum; (iii) improve in-service teachers’ content knowledge and skills to effectively teach basic literacy and numeracy; and (iv) improve student learning outcomes in Portuguese and Mathematics in early grades. It consists of following sub-components: (i) teacher certification; (ii) in-service teacher training; (iii) scripted teaching lessons and interactive audio instruction (IAI); and (iv) learning materials for the new curriculum in grades 1 to 4. The third component, learning materials for the new curriculum in grades 1 to 4 aim is to improve the overall functioning of the education system by increasing the availability of data to guide decision-making and by strengthening the overall capacity of the ministry of education. It consists of following sub-components: (i) sector studies; and (ii) project management.