Status of the LDC/Recommendation of MER Visit 2011 Presented by: Lawrencia Dakurah-Abakisi October 22, 2012

Introduction During an MER visit in 2010 the following was a presentation on the LDC: “As a Resource Centre, SfL is providing technical support to organizations like Innovations for Poverty Action in the implementation of the Teacher Community Assistant Initiative project, among others.

Introduction cont. Through advocacy, SfL as a resource centre is being advertized internally and externally. However, there is still the need to embark on more vigorous advocacy to increase publicity and more coverage on the resource centre. The following advocacy strategies would therefore be considered:

Advocacy Strategies ‘Launch of the Resource Centre Continuous update of the website Development of a documentary on the Resource Centre. Development of a flyer on the Resource Centre. Media advertisements. Advocacy is one activity that is capital intensive Where the need arises for extra programme support for these activities, Mgt will explore other sources’.

Current Status All the advocacy strategies outlined have been carried out. Some strategies were one off activity like the launch. Others are on-going like the various forms of advertisements. These efforts have yielded some results. More and more organizations, private and public institutions, individuals and indeed the general public have come to know about the Centre. The LDC, therefore, has received a number of requests for services and on other occasions has provided information to clients.

Activities Carried out The Learning and Development Centre has provided the following services: Conducted Quality Assessment of pupils in the ACE Wing Schools and selected public schools SfL/LDC has led in harmonizing ACE and NALAP materials. Production of hybrid materials is on- going. Provided training to teachers of Little Flower School, a private basic school, on two occasions: how to teach basic skills in reading and numeracy and effective preparation and use of lesson plans.

Teachers of Little Flower School Complex Receive In-Service Training

Activities Carried out cont. Providing support to TZEDEK to implement a quality education Project ( QualitE Project) in the Chereponi and Saboba Districts. (e.g. 6 GES DTSTs have been supported to train 20 head teachers in chereponi and Saboba) Conducted baseline studies on pupils’ literacy attainment levels for the TZEDEK project in 14 selected public schools in Chereponi and Saboba Provided support to ACEDEP farmer Group Master trainers in basic skills in literacy and numeracy. Under the LDC, the Demonstration School has been set up. The school will serve as centre where the best practices of the SfL Model is show-cased.

ACDEP Farmer Group Trainers Receive Basic literacy and Numeracy Skills

Inquiries A number of organizations have visited SfL to learn more about the services provided by the LDC and to explore ways of collaboration and accessing services. These include: RAINS, requested for support to replicate on a small scale the SfL model. PAMBE Ghana in Gambaga to explore opportunities available to support pupils to bridge the gap from local language to English.

Inquiries cont. A Team from the Millennium Villages Project led by its Director for Education called at SfL to explore opportunities for collaboration to implement the education component of the project in areas such as capacity building of teachers.

Recommendations of MER 2011 Two recommendations : Conference room at SfL could be furnished with cupboards to exhibit TLMs. The Demonstration School can also be used for exhibiting TLMs SfL has worked to implement the above. The SfL conference room has been furnished with some shelves where some documents are on display. Space is a challenge as TLMs can not be adequately displayed. The frequent question that visitors ask is “where is the LDC?”

Recommendations of MER 2011 Cont. The Demonstration School has started to function. SfL and the District GES are collaborating effectively to get the school to be a model. Teachers have been trained. Teachers are also involved in preparing TLMs to meet not only their needs but also to be exhibited at the school.

Challenges Low patronage from the formal sector. A number of reasons can be advanced for this.

Way forward Maintain vigorous advertisement and use other innovative approaches ( suggestions??) A price list indicating the charges for various services. A list of the various training models The idea of getting a separate room for the LDC will still be relevant in the near future.

End of presentation Thank you for your attention Contributions/suggestions or comments are welcome