Policies

Transition-to-English Plus Activity (T2E+).

Context and issue

Effective reading abilities are crucial for academic success. However, early-grade learners in Ghana have consistently exhibited weak reading performance. Enhancing reading outcomes has emerged as a central policy objective in Ghana. One relevant initiative toward this aim was the Transition-to-English Plus Activity (T2E+).

Solution

From July 2021 to March 2023, T2E+ implemented a multilingual education program for children from Kindergarten to Basic 3 (B3) across 5,425 public primary schools spanning 16 regions in Ghana. The program focused on enhancing children's English reading skills by imparting transferable language and reading competencies in their native language. 

Impact

There were several factors that helped in the overall achievement of the program; some of these included alignment of the national primary curriculum with the learning material. The second was monitoring the beneficiary schools' and students' progress. Third, teacher training focuses on more application and participation, and lastly, mentorship and coaching for the teaching staff. Based on the evaluation results, the treatment group's (receiving the program) outcomes improved in oral English reading compared to the control group.
 

Analysis

The phasing out of the program could be costly as more human resources for the training would be required. However, if the train-the-trainers model is developed, it could empower the local schools to build capacity in-house.