BASIC ORIENTATION &
PROGRAM LEARNING
WORKSHOP
17-20
May, 2014
Center for Development Management (CDM), BRAC,
Khagan, Savar, Dhaka
The report entails the orientation workshop of READ project targeted to its field staff
at regional level. A 3-day workshop was held to educate PC, FO, STO and TOs about
existing and forthcoming program activities and result assessment methods.
Basic Orientation & Program Learning Workshop
Table of Contents
BACKGROUND .......................................................................................................... 3
RATIONALE ................................................................................................................ 3
OBJECTIVES ................................................................................................................ 4
OUTCOMES ................................................................................................................ 4
PARTICIPANTS .......................................................................................................... 4
VENUE AND DURATION ......................................................................................... 4
MODALITY .................................................................................................................. 5
BUDGET ....................................................................................................................... 5
SCHEDULE .................................................................................................................. 5
REGISTRATION: 17 MAY, 2014................................................................................ 6
ACTIVITY: DAY 1, 18 MAY, 2014 ............................................................................. 6
ACTIVITY: DAY 2, 19 MAY, 2014 ............................................................................. 8
ACTIVITY: DAY 3, 20 MAY, 2014 ............................................................................. 9
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Basic Orientation & Program Learning Workshop
ABBRIVIATIONS
AUEO
BCDM
BDT
BRAC
CODEC
DPE
FIVDB
FO
GIS
GoB
GPS
ICT
IR
JCF
M&E
MIS
MLE
NCTB
NGO
PC
PEDP
PNGO
PO
RDRS
READ
SC
SCI
SMC
STO
TO
UNO
USAID
VERC
Assistant Upazila Education Officer
BRAC Centre for Development Management
Bangladeshi Taka
Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee
Community Development Centre
Directorate of Primary Education
Friends In Village Development Bangladesh
Field Officer
Geographical Information System
Government of Bangladesh
Global Positioning System
Information, Communication & Technology
Intermediate Result
Jagoroni Chakra Foundation
Monitoring & Evaluation
Management Information System
Multi Lingual Education
National Curriculum & Textbook Board
Non Government Organization
Project Coordinator
Primary Education Development Program
Partner NGO
Project Officer/Purchase Order
Rangpur Dinajpur Rural Services
Reading Enhancement for Advancing Development
Save the Children
Save the Children International
School Managing Committee
Senior Technical Officer
Technical Officer
Upazila Nirbahi Officer
United States Agency for International Development
Village Education Resource Centre
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Basic Orientation & Program Learning Workshop
Basic Orientation & Program Learning
Workshop
DOCUMENTED BY M. FARHANUL ENAM
BACKGROUND
Bangladesh has made dramatic strides in improving access to basic education, driven by strong government
leadership and successful partnerships among government, donors and NGOs.
Despite unprecedented gains in educational access, however, the government’s National Student
Assessment findings in 2012 point to weak Bangla reading results in grades 3 and 5. The findings also
indicate that reading skill is decreasing from third grade to fifth grade, suggesting that children fall more and
more behind due to a weak foundation. This has a spillover effect for the education system and economy as
a whole.
The Government of Bangladesh’s (GoB) Third Primary Education Development Plan (PEDP III) provides
a comprehensive framework to address these challenges.
The Reading Enhancement for Advancing
Development (READ) project will support these efforts both inside and outside the schools walls by
achieving the following key results: (give the 4 result areas)
READ is a 4-year collaboration with the Government of Bangladesh, supported by the US Agency for
International Development, to improve early grade reading competence. Learning to read affects all aspects
of children’s education. By ensuring a strong foundation at the beginning of school, the expectation is that
fewer children will repeat grades or drop out in the primary cycle, and a higher proportion will complete
school with solid primary school skills – such as literacy - which are critical life skills in today’s world.
RATIONALE
As the program READ is new and the relevant staff of READ does not have a clear understanding of the
program thus it is necessary to conduct such kind of orientation & learning workshop to create the same
voice for READ program. This would also be helpful to implement the program activities smoothly in the
field.
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Basic Orientation & Program Learning Workshop
OBJECTIVES
The Objectives are furnished below:
1) To provide READ team (PNGO+SC) with a detailed overview of READ program;
2) To explain the activities and its implementation mechanism to READ team;
3) To provide an overview of M&E framework, Result framework, Data quality, Indicator and
monitoring mechanism of READ activities at filed level;
4) To clarify communication, branding , compliances and challenges during implementation of READ
activities;
5) To build of team spirit and oneness that facilitates team work across program at different locations.
OUTCOMES
The Participants would be able to:
1) Implement the READ program activities as per the implementation guide at field level;
2) Demonstrate M&E framework, indicators & researches of READ program;
3) Express their motivational and professional inspiration in their work and show the team spirit
across the country.
PARTICIPANTS
PC -6, STO READ – 6, STO M&E – 5, TO – 42 of 5 PNGOs (CODEC, FIVDB, JCF, RDRS & VERC)
from 6 Divisions of Bangladesh and SC READ Team (11) from Dhaka will be participating in the
orientation. Total 70 participants expected.
VENUE AND DURATION
Savar BCDM, Khagan, Ashulia, Savar is
selected as the venue for this orientation. It
is
situated
opposite
of
the
BRAC
University, Savar Campus (Former TARC).
The basic orientation will take place from
May 18 – 20, 2014. The participants will
report at the venue by 6:00 PM of 17th
May, 2014 and will leave the venue by 11:00 AM of 21st May, 2014. SC READ team will be leave by 6:00
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Basic Orientation & Program Learning Workshop
PM of 20th May, 2014. This is residential orientation and everyone is requested to bring all goods of their
personal necessity.
MODALITY
The sessions of the orientation to be held in 2 conference rooms simultaneously, but the starting and ending
of the daily event would be held at the hall room (01). These modalities have been taken to make the session
more interactive and lively.
BUDGET
The approximate budget for this - BDT 10, 88,750/- which is available in SC – READ budget. Detailed of
this total amount are given below –
Sl. no
Description
1.
Hall Room
2.
Unit
Amount (BDT)
2 nos.
99,000.00
Accommodation
70 persons
4,59,000.00
3.
Food
70 persons
342,000.00
4.
Stationery and other logistics
70 persons
98,750.00
5.
Service charge to BRAC CDM
Grand total:
90,000.00
10,88,750.00
SCHEDULE
Please see Annexure 1.
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Basic Orientation & Program Learning Workshop
REGISTRATION: 17 MAY, 2014
All participants checked in the venue around 6:00 pm. The READ central team sat for a quick meeting for
last minute updates and discussing the session plans for next 3 days. This was followed by dinner.
Participant list can be found in Annexure 1.
ACTIVITY: DAY 1, 18 MAY, 2014
Day 1 began with the session of Shahin Islam who facilitated the introduction among participants and set
the platform by discussing the objectives, agenda and rules of the
workshop.
When asked, participants talked about their expectations from
the workshop which are mentioned below:
To know

detail about the rationale of READ project and how it is being implemented

activities under each result area

nature and frequency of READ activities during school holidays

Activity and M&E plan

Branding issues and principles

Responsibilities of READ central team
Later after the tea break, an inaugural speech was given by the
Chief of Party, READ-Liana Gertch, where she mentioned
about the unique nature of the project and its possible impact
on the society specially the children. She also mentioned that
the project took some time to kick-off due to the late approval
from GoB and establishing collaboration with NCTB, DPE and
other bureaucratic government wings. She mentioned that she
believed that each personnel of the regional field offices were technically sound and could add much value
to the project in the coming years. She also expressed her satisfaction about the regional launching programs
where positive feedbacks were evident. She thanked the audience for making it to the training.
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Basic Orientation & Program Learning Workshop
In the afternoon, Mr. Shahin Islam made a detail presentation on the Overview of READ program where
he discussed about the background, rationale, funding, working areas, collaboration and future directions of
READ program. The presentation can be found in Annexure 2.
Some questions were raised from the audience which are mentioned below:

Will there be any initiative taken for science study?

Is there any learning and similarity from/with that of English-in-Action program?

Will there be any reading assessment for grade 1-3 students, if yes, how?
Recommendations that came from the audience were

to include the Monipuri tribe in Sylhet under READ program

to open a READ file at each GPS and UNO offices

Read communication department may arrange supply of branded folder, sticker etc. for Govt.
Officials at regional level
Later in the Day, presentations on program activities, their
implementation and the role of FO, TO, STO and PC were discussed
by the Reading team.
Mr. Akidul discussed about the
program activities under result area 1
which is illustrated below:
His lecture elaborated on the teacher’s training activities which included the
purpose, mode, process, frequency and rationale of such trainings. His
presentation can be found in Annexure 3.
Then Mr. Uttam Kumar Dhar from reading
team further discussed about the reading
instruction manual developed for the teachers
by the reading team. He emphasized on the
building blocks of reading and language skills
that need to be considered for development of
the children. His presentation can be found in Annexure 4.
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Basic Orientation & Program Learning Workshop
Before closing of the day, Mr. Shahin is discussed about the 1st year working plan and budget overview. 3
issues were identified where efforts need to be made which are:
1. National Launching of the program
2. Approval for Teacher’s training from DPE
3. Sharing of reading materials with parents and SMC
ACTIVITY: DAY 2, 19 MAY, 2014
Dilshana Parul started her discussion on the basics of M&E. She
talked on M&E definitions and its importance, indicators, results
framework and limitations. Her presentation can be found in
Annexure 5.
Her lecture was followed by Mr. Ragib who talked about MIS and
GIS with regards to data management and mapping. He explained the
process of data flow, location mapping and some technical elaboration
on MIS framework. His presentation can be found in Annexure 6.
Later in the afternoon, Mr. Farhan Enam conducted a session on
Communication, Branding and Marking. He talked about the
definition, importance, types and process of communication among
stakeholders. He explained the roles and responsibilities of communication department along with the
concept of development communication. He also shared some
rules about the branding and marking of USAID, Save the
Children and READ program in terms of formats, templates and
identity. He further talked about the rules and standards of
photography, media coverage, use of Bengali translation and
email communication.
2 Questions were raised:
1. Can PNGOs use their logo in Press Release?
2. Can they put address and ‘regional office’ in Signboards?
His presentation can be found in Annexure 7.
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Basic Orientation & Program Learning Workshop
Ms. Aklima Sharmin carried out session on use and importance of
ICT in Education. She also discussed about how ICT will be
integrated in READ program and GPS schools. She also talked on
the concepts of 3Cs (creativity, critical thinking and collaboration)
for Vision 2021, digital native, digital gap etc. Finally groups were
made to figure out the possible roles of PC, STO, TO and FO in
this area. Her presentation can be found in Annexure 8.
Before days ending, Mr. Asaduzzaman conversed about the Financial and Procurement Compliances of
USAID and Save the Children. He primarily discussed about standard procurement procedures, USAID and
SCI guidelines, Travel rules, budget, financial reporting and audits and roles of finance department. His
presentation can be found in Annexure 9.
Later in the evening, a cultural program was carried out along with barbeque dinner.
ACTIVITY: DAY 3, 20 MAY, 2014
Mr. Akter started a session
discussing the READ results
framework. He emphasized on
the quality of data, assessment
mechanism and data flow from
field to central team. He also
discussed on improving reading skills for grade 1-3 students. He focused
on indicators and techniques to collect results from interim assessment of
READ result areas. He also discussed briefly on IR2. His presentation can
be found in Annexure 10.
Followed by Mr. Akter’s session,
Mr. Sayed spoke on the topic of
Research purpose & methods, baseline survey, data quality,
collection, analysis and presentation. His presentation can be found
in Annexure 11.
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Basic Orientation & Program Learning Workshop
Mr. Aminur oriented the audience with the
following:

Community involvement in literacy
enhancement - who are the stakeholders
and how they will be involved.

Mentoring staff members and monthly
meeting - how we can collaborate and grow
professionally together.

Work plan - how to create, share and
accommodate in line with other activities
of the program.
His presentation can be found in Annexure 12.
Later in the day Mr. Shahin talked about burn rate
and its implications. He also shared a format that will be used at regional level to track finance on monthly
basis.
The next session was a brainstorming session for PCs to write about their last 5 months activities. These
were found to be the following:

Recruitment and Team building

Coordination with SMC

Staff development

Communication with GoB

Data validation

Launching Ceremony
The final session was held in the afternoon where PCs were asked to forecast their activities for next 3
months. Below are the findings of the session:

Establishing School profiles

Head Teacher and AUEO training

Teacher training

Classroom monitoring

M&E tools production

Book bank enhancement

SMC Orientation

Parent’s reading awareness
Finally before ending the day Mr. Shahin ran a feedback session where 2 major questions were asked.
1. Which topic(s) can you describe readily to someone now? (indicates level of understanding)
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Basic Orientation & Program Learning Workshop
2. Which topic(s) needs more elaboration?
Following chart illustrates percentage of participants who understood a topic.
Session Topics
Success rate of Workshop Sessions
91%
97%
School System
Language Skill
GIS
Research
Role of Field Force
Program Activities
Financial Compliance
IRS
Basic M&E
ICT in Education
Communication
READ Overview
84%
90%
97%
96%
91%
94%
60%
70%
93%
100%
0%
20%
40%
60%
% people understood
80%
100%
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