NetHope 2017 Device Challenge€¦ · NETHOPE.org 1 NetHope 2017 Device Challenge PROGRAM...

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NETHOPE.org 1 NetHope 2017 Device Challenge PROGRAM DESCRIPTION ORGANIZATION NAME: TECHAiDE POINT OF CONTACT: Kafui Prebbie EMAIL: [email protected] PHONE NUMBER: +233 269147400, +233 507147400, Office:+233.303976600 i. Problem Statement Over the past decade, governments, donors, civil society and local communities have made great strides in ensuring access to schooling for many children in Africa however the challenge of children learning in school and being able to progress to secondary levels persists. The 2012 Africa Learning Barometer survey estimates that 45% of primary age children in Africa are not learning. In Ghana, standardized test scores from the National Education Assessment (NEA) shows that learning outcomes in literacy and mathematics for children in grades 3 and 6 are very low; the 2013 assessment revealed that only 11% of children in grade 6 achieved proficiency (that is, scored 55% and above) in mathematics and 39% for English. Poor foundational skills in literacy and math reflect on student learning outcomes in later years. Completion rates for junior high school in 2014/15 stood at 69.7%; each year, only about 60% of children pass the final JHS exams. Several barriers to learning and quality education in Ghana continue to persist including inadequate textbooks and learning materials in schools and homes, teacher absenteeism and lack of trained teachers in underserved areas, and intermittent student absenteeism (e.g. in farming communities). Whilst Ghana has achieved much in terms of gender parity at the junior high level (currently there are 97 girls for every 100 boys), girls still lag behind in performance. Results from terminal junior high school exams indicate that a greater proportion of boys score above average grades compared to girls in all subjects except English. Girls in particular face vulnerabilities including menstrual hygiene, early pregnancy, gender-based violence, etc which make them intermittently miss school. These barriers limit the opportunity for them to learn resulting in poor learning outcomes. Due to limitations in access to the internet and technology in many parts of the country, any opportunity for self-guided learning (for both children and teachers) to complement formal education efforts is lacking. ii. Proposed Program Through this ASANKA (www.myasanka.com) program, TECHAiDE is seeking support the further improvement of ASANKA (a Free Information Access System – a Low Powered Device & Cloud Management System) and provide 230 of the units to all Girls’ Education Coordinators (GEC) of the Girls Education Unit of the Ministry of Education in Ghana. In 2016, as part of continued efforts to address the challenges that hinder learning and particularly to address issues concerning girls’ education in Ghana, TECHAiDE, teamed up with IMPLEMENTERS (another local education non-profit organization) and other partners, the Girls Education Unit (GEU) of the Ghana Education Service (GES), Peace Corps and IBM, under the “Let Girls Learn Initiative” to empower young girls to aspire for greater height. Let Girls Learn is a United States government initiative to ensure adolescent girls get the education they deserve.

Transcript of NetHope 2017 Device Challenge€¦ · NETHOPE.org 1 NetHope 2017 Device Challenge PROGRAM...

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NetHope2017DeviceChallengePROGRAMDESCRIPTIONORGANIZATIONNAME: TECHAiDEPOINTOFCONTACT: KafuiPrebbieEMAIL: [email protected]: +233269147400,+233507147400,Office:+233.303976600

i. ProblemStatementOver the past decade, governments, donors, civil society and local communities have made great strides inensuringaccesstoschoolingformanychildreninAfricahoweverthechallengeofchildrenlearninginschoolandbeingabletoprogresstosecondarylevelspersists.The2012AfricaLearningBarometersurveyestimatesthat45%ofprimaryagechildreninAfricaarenotlearning.InGhana,standardizedtestscoresfromtheNationalEducationAssessment (NEA) shows that learningoutcomes in literacyandmathematics for children ingrades3and6areverylow;the2013assessmentrevealedthatonly11%ofchildreningrade6achievedproficiency(thatis,scored55% and above) in mathematics and 39% for English. Poor foundational skills in literacy and math reflect onstudentlearningoutcomesinlateryears.Completionratesforjuniorhighschoolin2014/15stoodat69.7%;eachyear, only about60%of childrenpass the final JHSexams. Several barriers to learning andquality education inGhanacontinue topersist including inadequate textbooksand learningmaterials in schoolsandhomes, teacherabsenteeism and lack of trained teachers in underserved areas, and intermittent student absenteeism (e.g. infarmingcommunities).WhilstGhanahasachievedmuchintermsofgenderparityatthejuniorhighlevel(currentlythereare97girlsforevery100boys),girlsstilllagbehindinperformance.Resultsfromterminaljuniorhighschoolexams indicate that a greater proportion of boys score above average grades compared to girls in all subjectsexceptEnglish.Girls inparticularfacevulnerabilities includingmenstrualhygiene,earlypregnancy,gender-basedviolence,etcwhichmakethemintermittentlymissschool.Thesebarriers limittheopportunityforthemtolearnresultinginpoorlearningoutcomes.Duetolimitationsinaccesstotheinternetandtechnologyinmanypartsofthe country, any opportunity for self-guided learning (for both children and teachers) to complement formaleducationeffortsislacking.

ii. ProposedProgramThrough thisASANKA (www.myasanka.com) program, TECHAiDE is seeking support the further improvement ofASANKA(aFree InformationAccessSystem–aLowPoweredDevice&CloudManagementSystem)andprovide230oftheunitstoallGirls’EducationCoordinators(GEC)oftheGirlsEducationUnitoftheMinistryofEducationinGhana. In 2016, as part of continued efforts to address the challenges that hinder learning and particularly toaddress issues concerning girls’ education in Ghana, TECHAiDE, teamed upwith IMPLEMENTERS (another localeducation non-profit organization) and other partners, the Girls Education Unit (GEU) of the Ghana EducationService (GES), PeaceCorps and IBM, under the “LetGirls Learn Initiative” to empower young girls to aspire forgreaterheight.LetGirlsLearnisaUnitedStatesgovernmentinitiativetoensureadolescentgirlsgettheeducationtheydeserve.

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ASANKAUserLog-InInterface

ASANKAUserInterfaceAfterLog-In

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Throughthiseffort,ASANKAhasbeendeployedto20communitieswhereitisusedbyPeaceCorpsvolunteerstosupport education delivery. Current collaboration and partnership with the Girls Education Unit of the GhanaEducationServicehasenabledTECHAiDEandImplementerstofinetunecontentforgirlsandenhancethequalityofserviceprovided.ASANKAhasalsobeenintroducedtoGirlsEducationOfficerswhoarebasedineachdistricttosupportandenhancegirls’educationacrossthecountry.

WithNetHope’sglobalnetwork,TECHAiDEaimstoexpanduponitsworkinpromotingqualitybasiceducationinunderserved communities, and specifically supporting girls’ education. Recognizing that in many of our targetcommunities,beneficiariesmaynothaveaccesstowirelessdevicesthattheycanusetoconnecttotheASANKA,the proposed program will provide 460 tablets (2 tablets each for one ASANKA) to be utilized with ASANKA,allowing us to scale up to over 200 underserved communities in 10 regions. The deviceswill not only provideinnovativeaccesstorelevant informationat lowcostbutwillalsodeepenthequalityofeducationby improvingteacherskillsandmakingstudyfunandrelevantto learners.ContentontheASANKAhelpstoempowergirlsbyproviding the right content at the right time andplace andprovide statistics bymeasuring the effectiveness ofcontentandlearnerprogressforpolicydecisions.

iii. DesiredImpactWeanticipatethatwith230GECsaccesstoqualitylearningcontentviaASANKA,studentswillbeabletoreinforceskills emphasized in the national curriculum; gain access to educational content at all times and for girls inparticular,stayengagedinlearningwhencontinuityofattendingschoolisinterruptedforanyreason.Teacherswillbe better equipped to teach with access to curricula and additional teaching and professional developmentcontent. This program aims to reach 25,000 children in over 200 schools, targeting at least 50% girls.WewilldeploythetabletsandASANKAsthroughGEC(216districtofficersacrossthecountry,10regionalcoordinatorsand4nationalofficers)toprovidewideaccess.EachofficerwillbeprovidedwithanASANKAdeviceplus2tablets(onefor the officer and one for students to access the ASANKA). The GECs will organize regular sessions in eachtargetedschoolduringwhichtimestudentsandteacherscanaccessthelearningresources,bothacademicandlifeskillsincludinginteractivequizzesandgames.UserpreferencesandstatisticsontheASANKAwillenableTECHAiDEtotrackandunderstandchangesovertimeprovidinggreaterinsightsintoimpactoftheintervention.

iv. NGOCapabilitiesFor over a decade, TECHAiDE has been addressing the development needs of ordinary citizens, especially thevulnerable and needy, in a uniqueway. TECHAiDEwas established as a technology social enterprise to providecitizen-centric technology solutions for development, anytime, anywhere. Specializing in providing appropriatetechnologies (mobile, computing, energy) and developing human capacities, our unique expertise in designing,developing, and deploying ICT solutions in difficult rural conditions has allowed us to impact the lives ofmanychildren and youth. TECHAiDE has worked in the education, health, youth development and entrepreneurshipsectors. In collaborationwith international developmentpartners inAfrica, EuropeandAmerica (inlcudingnon-profitssuchasPlanInternational,CAMFED,FHIandWorldEducationInc),TECHAiDEhasimplementedavarietyofprojectsinGhana,includingtheestablishementofover70EDULabsnationwide.In2015,oureffortstouchedover15,500 lives in almost 200 communitieswith approximately 50% being female, an indication of our passionatecommitmenttoempoweringgirlsandwomen.

TECHAiDE’sexpandedoutreachin2016includedworkingasthetechnicalpartnerfortheComputerHands-OnProjectfundedbyNOKIAthroughGlobalGivingandtheElectronicInformationforLibraries(EIFL)whichcumulativelycontributedtoTECHAiDEtouchingover20,000lives.InGhana,theprojectgave3,800juniorhighschoolstudentsaccesstohandsoncomputerlessons,enablinga20%increaseinpassratesforfinalyearjunior

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highstudentsinparticipatingschools(http://www.eifl.net/news/exam-success-ghana-mobile-library-ict-students?_ga=1.23635578.1749164348.1468429696;

Videolink-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWif-qDINkI

v. ProgramBudgetBudgetItem

TotalCost(NetHopecontribution)

TotalCost(TECHAiDE+partnerscontribution-inkind)

Tablets(690devices@$400) $276,000 230ASANKAdevices&4laptopsforfieldstaff $44,500 Training $42,500 $10,000 ProjectManagementPersonnel $12,000 $48,000 Deployment $32,000 $16,000 Monitoring $24,000 $12,500 Communications $12,000 KnowledgeSharing $21,600 $12,000

TOTAL $464,600 $98,500

vi. AdditionalhelpfulinformationASANKAisenvisionedtobeusedacrossmultiplesettingsandhasthepotentialtobeusedwithdifferentgroupsofusersglobally.Fromthestart,TECHAiDEhasworkedwithpartnersincludingPeaceCorps,IBMandthegovernmenttoensurethatthesolutionisrobustandrelevantfortheuser.

SamplescreenshotsfromASANKAGamePrototypefrom-http://www.theimplementers.org/asanka-world.html

Statisticsfordeterminingimpactbasedonusertrendsassociatedwithindividualandgrouppopulationresponseswillbecollectedtoinformresultsandscaleuppotential.TECHAiDEwillusealldatatocommunicateresultswithbothpartners and thewiderdevelopment community throughvarious communication channels including socialmediaand formalpresentationsat conferencesandworkshops.TECHAiDE is keen to share results from itsownpilotaswellasthisexpandedprogramopportunityandwillingtoworkwithothersforgreaterimpact.

TECHAiDE’sEDULabswww.edulabforall.com(EducationalLaboratories)establishedinpartnershipwithnon-profitsin Ghana are providing ICTs access to several thousands. Our latest upgrade EDULabs are providing access tohardwareandsoftwareforteachingtheGhanaiancurriculumandpreparingthelearnersforanationalexam.Even

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more interesting is where we have local banks who have just signed agreements with TECHAiDE in a formalpartnershiptoprovideaccesstocheaptechnologyloanstoneedy(low-cost)privateschools.Thisistheoutputofa2-yeardesignasascalablemodeloftriangularpartnership-TECHAiDE+Bank+School-forprovidingtechnologysolutions to educational institutions. The project would feed into and augment the triangular relationship foruptakeofthetechnologiestoimproveeducationinSub-SaharanAfrica.