EDC Selected by USAID to Improve Primary Education in Zambia

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has selected EDC to lead the Let’s Read project, a $48 million, five-year basic education program in Zambia.

Working with the Ministry of General Education and partners VVOB, Kentalis, and Resonance, the project will improve reading outcomes for approximately 1.4 million children attending pre-primary (kindergarten) through grade 3 in Zambian public and community schools. The EDC-led consortium will also strengthen the performance of public and community school education systems.

“We are thankful to USAID for this opportunity to apply EDC’s proven experience in improving reading abilities for young children to this new initiative,” said EDC’s Stefan McLetchie. “Having worked with Zambia previously during the USAID Time to Learn project, we are excited to continue our partnership with the Ministry of Education to improve learning for children and teachers across the country.”

The project will include support for high-quality preschool programs, development of reading intervention packages for grades 1 to 3, a performance tracking system to track student progress on assessments, increased family and community engagement, adaptations for students with special needs, capacity building, and strengthening of public-private partnerships.