USAID/Senegal is offering the Renforcement de la Littératie au Sénégal (RELIS) grant to enhance early-grade reading and strengthen the Senegalese education system.

The purpose of USAID/Senegal’s Renforcement de la Littératie au Sénégal (RELIS) activity is to improve girls’ and boys’ reading outcomes in kindergarten through second grade by increasing the capacity of the Senegalese education system through institutional support and targeted assistance in nine regions of Senegal. By the end of the program, not only will greater numbers of students be able to read, but the systems at the central and regional levels for allocating teachers, books, and finances for high-quality reading instruction will measurably improve.  

In alignment with the New Partnership Initiative (NPI) approach, which is to increase the number of partners qualifying under the New and Underutilized Partners (NUP) category, the USAID/Senegal RELIS program anticipates the following outcomes:

• Provide technical expertise, guidance, input, and assistance in order to strengthen the Ministry of Education’s capacity to deliver high-quality bilingual reading instruction services in St. Louis, Fatick, Kaolack, Kaffrine, Louga, Diourbel, and Matam;  
• Expand the delivery of high-quality reading instruction in national languages to two regions where it has not previously been implemented (Tambacounda and Kedougou);  
• Guarantee the purchase and delivery of high-quality teaching and learning materials (TLMs) for reading instruction to all USAID-funded reading instruction work in the nine regions;
• Pilot, evaluate, and implement a model for bilingual reading instruction that complements and supports Senegal’s roll out of the Senegal Bilingual Education Integrated Framework (MOHEBS); 
• Sponsor innovations and data collection in kindergartens and teacher training institutions.