USAID Jifunze Uelewe is a two years project from March 2023 to February 2025 funded by USAID through Research Triangle Institute (RTI) which is being implemented in Tanzania specifically in Morogoro region across five districts of Gairo, Kilosa, Mvomero, Morogoro Municipal Council (MC) and Morogoro District Councils (DC).  

The project overall goal, ‘‘Sustainably improve literacy and numeracy skills for all pre-primary through Standard 4 learners by making all classrooms welcoming and supportive learning environment through; Increased community support for safe and inclusive learning environments (in and out of the school) in the Morogoro region.

The primary beneficiaries of the project are pre-primary through standard 4 learners who face numerous challenges that hinder their literacy and numeracy skills improvement, and the secondary beneficiaries are the communities surrounding (formal structure, local structures) surrounding schools and students from standard 5 to 7 who have a significant contribution to the improvement of literacy and numeracy skill among pre-primary through standard 4.

The key objectives include:

1. Enhancing community engagement: Increase community involvement in creating safe and inclusive learning environments both in and out of school.
2. Behavioral change: Promote behavioral change among parents and community members to support children’s education.
3. Capacity building: Utilize existing government and community structures to reinforce project activities.
4. Inclusive learning support: Improve support for pupils with vision and hearing challenges through referral services.

Target Beneficiaries

Primary Beneficiaries: The main beneficiaries of the project are 380968 pre-primaries through Standard 4 pupils who encounter challenges that impede their literacy and numeracy skills development. These challenges include inadequate learning materials, unsafe learning environments, and lack of community and parental support.

Secondary beneficiaries; The project also benefits:

• Parents and Community Members: Through engagement and behavior change activities aimed at supporting children’s education.
• Older Pupils (Standard 5-7): These pupils play a significant role in mentoring and supporting younger pupils, thereby improving literacy and numeracy skills among pre-primary through Standard 4 pupils.

Project Implementation Structure

C-DEF collaborates with existing structures in the course of project implementation, these include:

• Parents Teachers Partnerships (PTPs): 7,488 members from 629 communities (schools)
• Community Education Mobilizers (CEMs): 1,254 mobilizers from 629 communities (schools)
• Village and Sub-village Government structures
• School Management Committees (SMCs): 4,347 members from 629 communities (schools)
• Ward Education Officers (WEOs): 148 officers from 148 wards
• 5 USAID Jifunze Uelewe Focal Person from 5 LGAs who are District Academic Officer (DAO)

Key project Results

To achieve its objectives, the project focuses on attaining five key results across all 148 wards across the 5 LGAs:

1. Provision of materials: Equip communities with materials necessary to create safe and inclusive learning environments.
2. Module utilization: Encourage communities to use specific modules designed to foster safe and inclusive learning environments.
3. Community action plans: Integrate safety and inclusivity measures into community action plans to ensure school safety.
4. Leadership in learning: Empower communities and households to lead foundational skills activities outside of school.
5. Referral support services: Provide linkages to referral support for Standard 1-4 pupils with vision and hearing challenges and facilitating access to further supports.