Evaluation of PLEM – Promoting Literacy Education in Mozambique

Overview

A three-person team fielded by Jackson and Associates evaluated this program for CIDA’s program in Mozambique.

PLEM was conceived and delivered by a partnership between the Canadian non-government development organization CODE and the Mozambican NGO Associação Progresso, which served as the strategic and operational leader.

The purpose of the six-year program was to build capacity among primary teachers in Cabo Delgado and Niassa, Mozambique’s two northernmost provinces, to teach literacy and numeracy in both national languages and Portuguese.

Photo credit: CODE / codecan.org

Results

The evaluation team used a combination of documentary analysis; interviews in Canada and Mozambique at national, provincial and district levels; classroom observation in nearly a dozen primary schools in both provinces; and group discussions with teachers, resource-centre staff, and community groups.

The evaluation found that PLEM contributed substantially to better pedagogy and hence improved performance in literacy and numeracy among primary school students. PLEM’s strong institutional relationships across the education system were found to be a key success factor for PLEM.