Global Book Alliance: ADEA and USAID spearhead in Nigeria the Training of Trainers Workshop on Bloom Publishing Software
Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire), 12th April 2018 – Under the ongoing Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA)/ Global Book Alliance (GBA),partnership supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the ADEA’s Working Group on Books and Learning Materials (WGBLM) has rolled out the first in series of several training opportunities for African writers in local languages, popularly referred to as the “Enabling Writers: Bloom Software Training of Trainers Workshops”. The first workshop for Anglophone writers will be held in Abuja the capital city of Nigeria from 17 to 20 April 2018. The second Training of Trainers for Francophone writers will instead take place in Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire) from 21 to 24 May 2018.
The Global Book Alliance aims to transform book development, procurement and distribution, especially in Africa and Asia, to ensure that children everywhere have the essential books and learning materials produced in languages children use and understand, including braille and sign languages. Studies, including a Feasibility Study conducted by Results for Development (R4D)and International Education Partners (IEP) and funded by the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DfID), the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad), and USAID in 2015-16, have shown that children do not have reading materials in languages they speak and understand, which facilitate early reading acquisition. USAID and partners have developed an ambitious program to address the scarcity of titles in African languages, improve the efficiency of procurement and financing and strengthen supply chain management systems.
The workshop will be facilitated by Paul S. Frank, Executive Director of SIL LEAD– a US faith-based nonprofit organization dedicated to helping local, community-based organizations use their own languages to improve their quality of life. SIL Lead is the manufacturer of Bloom, a free and open source publishing software, which allows communities to build their own library of graded reading materials, dictionaries, or resource materials—in their own language. Paul will provide first-hand training to enable African writers of early grade reading materials to produce more and better quality books in national languages.
For more information, please contact:
- Lily Nyariki, Focal point of the ADEA Working Group on Books and Learning Material (WGBLM), Eldoret, Kenya, Tel.: (+254) 733 712117, lmnyariki@gmail.com / l.nyariki@adeanet.org
- Aliou Sow, Focal point of the ADEA Working Group on Books and Learning Material (WGBLM), Tel.: (+224) 622 54 48 26 / (+001) 514 803 6190, aliou2sow@yahoo.fr
Media:
- Stefano De Cupis, Senior Communications Officer, ADEA, T. (+225) 2026 4261, s.decupis@afdb.org
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About ADEA:The Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA) is a forum for policy dialogue, composed of all Ministers in charge of Education, Science and Technology in Africa. Established in 1988 at the instigation of the World Bank Group, it has evolved into a pan-African institution based within the African Development Bank Group (AfDB). ADEA’s work has expanded to focus more on the development of skills and competencies across all the education sub-sectors. It envisions a “high quality African education and training system that is geared towards the promotion of critical knowledge and skills for accelerated and sustainable development in Africa”.
About WGBLM:The ADEA’s Working Group on Books and Learning Materials (WGBLM) is committed to supporting processes conducive to formulating adequate National Book Policies that improve the provision of good quality educational materials, effective schooling, and literacy across sub-Saharan Africa. It strives to accomplish this by calling on governments, the private sector, development agencies, and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) to consider a holistic approach that includes substantial input from African partners to achieve viable book policies. The WGBLM is the implementing arm for this project.
www.adeanet.org/en/working-groups/books-and-learning-materials
About GBA:The Global Book Alliance is an international effort involving multiple stakeholders working to transform book development, procurement, distribution, and use to ensure that no child is without books. Its mission is to guarantee that children everywhere have the books and learning materials they need to learn to read and read to learn. The lack of reading materials is so severe that it cannot be solved without new and innovative solutions. New and innovative solutions are needed to solve the learning crisis, and the Global Book Alliance is taking the lead on identifying and implementing these solutions.
