USAID investing $70 Million in ACR project
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in close collaboration with the Afghanistan Ministry of Education (MoE) announced, the official launch of Afghan Children Read (ACR), a five year project in Early Grade Reading (EGR) for primary grades 1 to 3.
Despite the gains made in education in Afghanistan, access to quality education remains a challenge. To help reverse the situation, USAID is investing $70 million in the ACR Project. This project will help to improve early grade reading skills for primary level students, boys and girls, in grades 1-3 in formal and community based education (CBE) schools. The ACR project will enable the MoE to utilize the best practices of EGR standards towards improving the primary level student’s literacy and learning skills at large. Quoted from (Wadsam).
“The United States is committed to promoting education, and we passionately believe that education offers the best and surest path for a brighter future for Afghanistan.” said U.S. Embassy Special Chargé d’Affaires Ambassador Hugo Llorens. “The Afghan Children Read Program is a clear example of this sacred commitment and it will directly advance opportunities for more than one million children in primary grades.”
“A good education is the best gift we can ever give our children and their success depends on how educated they are in life.” said Her Excellency Rula Ghani, First Lady of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. “I welcome and encourage any and all efforts that improve the state of education in Afghanistan.”
ACR is a USAID-funded primary education initiative designed to improve equitable access to quality education and generate measurable reading outcomes for girls and boys in early grades in Afghanistan. ACR will support education service delivery, through building the capacity of the MoE to provide an evidence-based EGR program (in Dari and Pashto) for students in grades 1 to 3 in both formal and CBE schools.
