AKIPRESS.COM - The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is distributing electronic tablets to more than 1,600 schools and district education departments across Kyrgyzstan. These tablets will provide teachers at each school participating in USAID’s Okuu Keremet! Project with useful resources and applications to help them improve the quality of their lessons and testing methodology in the subjects of reading and math.

As USAID/Kyrgyz Republic Acting Mission Director Keith Simmons welcomed the delivery of the tablets emphasizing, “Reading and math are the building blocks for lifelong learning and for success in a 21st century economy. That is why we are working with tens of thousands of school teachers at over 1,600 public schools across Kyrgyzstan to help them teach these two subjects more effectively.”

With these tablets teachers can access numerous training materials for their professional development. Okuu Keremet! developed special modules on teaching reading and math which feature short videos of teaching advice and strategies developed by Kyrgyz teachers colleagues throughout the country.

Kuyalieva Gulbarchyn, a primary school teacher in Toktoyan village of Tyup region in Issyk-Kul oblast, is especially grateful for the tablet’s BaalooApp, which provides assistance for testing students’ performance. “Before, we developed tasks by ourselves to test students, mostly handwritten and we had to analyze results also by ourselves. Now, it takes several clicks on tablets and you know your students’ performance. This is incredible!” says Ms. Kuyalieva.

In addition to BaalooApp, the tablets also have the classroom observation application “SabakApp” which enables the teachers’ mentors to give feedback on their lessons and recommend evidence-based best practices.

USAID Okuu Keremet! Project is implemented in partnership with the Ministry of Education and Science of the Kyrgyz Republic. It focuses on improving the quality of teaching reading and math to early grade learners. The project also provides students with high-quality supplementary learning materials and works with the government to improve the quality of education for every child.