USAID Launches Enabling Writers Project at AUN
On February 6, the Director of the USAID Education Office, Ms. Croshelle Harris Hussein, launched the Enabling Writers Project at the library auditorium.
The book-writing initiative is sponsored by a partnership of USAID, World Vision, and the Australian government through the All Children Reading Grand Challenge for Development.
AUN is one of only six institutions worldwide to receive recognition and support for this effort. “It really demonstrates how committed you are to education in this region of Nigeria… It sheds a bright light of recognition on Nigeria as a whole,” said Ms. Hussein.
The goal of the program is to implement country-specific projects for the development of first-language books for early primary reading instruction. The project seeks to create 200 of these early-grade books in Hausa using the Bloom book-writing software.
Curricular Advisor to the Project, Dr. Grace Malgwi of SAS, said with this method a child should begin to read decodable books within three weeks. She added that the aim is to develop quality books for primary I and II. “It also builds the capacity of the writer.”
Dr. Malgwi further explained how developing such quality books relates to reading instruction in the classroom “…where you have books that have been written in line with curriculum and instruction so that learning to read also becomes reading to learn and then there is some kind of systematic presentation of the reading.”
At the launch, there was a team of writers drawn from seven states of Nigeria, including the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. They had a one-week intensive writing workshop of 10 sessions and group writing tasks.
Speaking on behalf of President Ensign, the Vice President of Finance Anthony Agbo, said AUN’s development mission involves finding solutions to societal problems. He said a partnership with USAID on a literacy enhancement project, the Technology Enhanced Learning for All (TELA), which ended in December 2016, has been very important to the community. “The impact of TELA is a reference in point of what we can achieve if we come together and work towards a common goal.”
On the Enabling Writers Project, Mr. Agbo said it will improve early grade reading instructions. Since inception, he said, AUN has pursued an Afrocentric development vision. “We are happy to be partnering with the USAID on yet another project… We are really excited about this project and very optimistic of the impact on the quality of education in our region.”
The Adamawa State Commissioner of Education, Professor Kaletapwa Farauta, who was represented by Ms. Nancy Ahmadu, said the program is a great addition to the value of education in the state.
By Omorogbe Omorogiuwa
