Providing families in Mali with immediate access to community developed print and digital reading resources through mobile technology and local libraries
Project Name
Your Child, Reading and You (YCRY)
Location Implemented
Mali
Technology Used
Hardware, Software/Apps
Competition Entered
Grant Competition 2014
Reading Skill Targeted
Foundational, Pre-Reading
Status
Winner
Collaborators/Partners
Beyond Access and Education Development Center
The Challenge
While Mali has witnessed a significant increase in parental involvement in education over the last 15 years, parent-to-child interactions that build children’s readiness to read are infrequent. Discussions with parents in rural Mali indicate that engaged parents, who enroll their children in school and track their progress, lack awareness of simple activities they can employ to prepare their children for school and support them as they begin to learn to read.
The Big Idea
YCRY focuses on the creation of community-developed reading materials accessible via community-managed libraries. Trained librarians provided resources for parents and students. Using low-cost mobile reading tool, Stepping Stone, YCRY offered engaging, local language digital reading resources with instructional audio (e.g. illustrated children’s books and reading skill builder activities).
Results
Approximately 675 students in 15 school communities
