Tailoring education by learning level for primary school children to improve their core skills in Côte d’Ivoire 

At the end of the primary cycle, less than half of Ivorian pupils have the required reading and mathematical skills, which leads to learning delays and therefore to gaps in levels and teaching difficulties. Faced with this reality, the Ivorian Ministry of Education is committed to improving primary education outcomes, notably by institutionalising the PEC programme, co-developed in partnership with TaRL Africa.

As a result, PEC was piloted in 50 schools in 2018-2019 with a proven impact on pupils’ outcomes. Following this pilot, the Ministry has expanded the programme to 1000 schools in the south of the country.

The PEC approach delivered by TaRL Africa focuses on understanding learning needs and adapting teaching to meet these needs.

Assessed with a simple test by teachers,** students in grades three to six are grouped according to their level of learning rather than their age or class**. For one and a half hours during the school day for six months, teachers reinforce their reading and maths skills.

The project plans to adapt the programme already implemented in southern Côte d’Ivoire, to the specific context of the rural areas in the north of the country relating to language differences and regional governance systems.

The implementation of the project in 300 schools in the north of Côte d’Ivoire will enable 48,000 children from grades 3 to 6 to benefit from PECover the next two years. To this end, FID’s support aims at:

• Identifying needs in the north of the country (collection and analysis of descriptive data on the educational landscape in Côte d’Ivoire)
• Testing a model adapted to the context
• Strengthening regional government capacities and systems into which PEC could be integrated (training of new regional master trainers, mentors, teachers and school directors)
• Ownership of the programme at national and regional levels
• Improved learning outcomes for children