Dubai Cares’ programme in Sri Lanka to benefit 30,000 children
Literacy programme will address education gap between Sri Lanka’s north and south
Dubai: More than 30,000 children in Sri Lanka will benefit from the new literacy programme launched in their districts, thanks to the partnership of Dubai Cares and Save the Children.
A delegation from Dubai Cares recently visited Sri Lanka to launch the programme that aims to improve children’s literacy levels in the Northern and Southern Provinces of Sri Lanka where there is a critical need to improve the quality of education.
The $1 million (Dh3.6 million) project has three main pillars mainly assessing students’ current literacy levels; building the capacity of teachers, school administrators and government in supporting children’s literacy skills; and working with the community to promote reading awareness and strong language development.
The new programme was driven by the success of the first programme of Dubai Cares in Sri Lanka. It is also expected to indirectly benefit 7,500 children, 1,000 teachers and 13,900 parents through teacher training and community-based activities.
Commenting from the field on the importance of the new programme, Abdullah Ahmad Al Shehhi, Chief Operating Officer at Dubai Cares, said Dubai Cares is encouraged by the success of its first programme in Sri Lanka, which demonstrated the high impact of Literacy Boost within the country’s education system.
“By building up on the success of the first program, we are helping to tackle the education gaps through expanding our reach to more districts throughout the country, as well as supporting the Ministry of Education to phase-in Literacy Boost in every primary school in Sri Lanka.”
Dana Jawad Amr, Programmes Officer at Dubai Cares, added: “From student assessments to capacity-building for teachers and administrators, we are proud to support the creation of skills-based curricula that can embed literacy components and be used by teachers effectively in their pedagogy.”
The Dubai Cares delegation also met with Vijayakala Maheswaran, State Minister of Education in Sri Lanka, and Save the Children’s in-country and global teams, including Helen l’Anson, Country Director.
I’Anson said the Literacy Boost approach helps children improve key reading skills through a mix of school, community and home-based activities.