This year for Giving Tuesday, we are asking you to join a movement. We have a big vision: we want to ensure all students in Botswana have the opportunity to become literate and numerate. With a Memorandum of Understanding with the Botswana Ministry of Basic Education in hand, and in partnership with UNICEF, we plan to scale Teaching at the Right level to all 755 primary schools in Botswana by 2023.
Teaching at the Right Level (TaRL) is a cost-effective, innovative remedial education program designed to catch students who are falling behind in basic literacy and numeracy. The program works by assessing and grouping students according to their ability levels, rather than by age or standard. Over a 30-day implementation period, Young 1ove trained facilitators use fun and engaging level-appropriate activities to help students grasp basic concepts. The program uses available resources, like sticks, stones and chalk, which allow students to bring the concepts home with them and play TaRL games with their friends.
In 2018, we implemented the program to 1,600 students in 14 schools and the results have been astounding. In the most recent implementation cycle, 80% of students moved up at least one operation level. This means that students who could not previously perform basic operations are now adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing.
The next step in our ambitious plan is to reach 3,000 students in 50 schools in 2019. We can’t do this alone. The program costs for TaRL are minimal, but large at scale. The cost for one student to receive TaRL for one day is only $1.50. A small contribution can have a life changing impact. This #GivingTuesday, our goal is raise $3,000 to fund one school for a full 30-day intervention. An investment in one child is an investment in a school, a community, and a movement towards ensuring all students have access to quality education.
Join the movement and donate today.