Dar es Salaam -- The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) announced a two-year US$2 million grant to the International Youth Foundation (IYF) to implement an innovative education program in Tanzania that will benefit students in remote schools. The Bridgeit program aims to significantly increase educational quality and student achievement in participating primary schools in math, science and life skills through the innovative use of cell phones and digital technology. IYF is implementing Bridgeit in close partnership with the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training (MoEVT), the Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE), Nokia Corporation, and Pearson Foundation.

Through Bridgeit, primary school teachers will be able to access a wide variety of digital videos and text content ‘on-demand’ through a cellular phone equipped with an innovative software catalog and player that downloads educational content directly from the server to a TV in the classroom. After viewing the videos, students participate in interactive lessons facilitated by the teacher. “This technology allows high quality content and teacher support to be delivered to remote areas at the cost of a cell phone call,” announced Zamara-di Said, FAWE’s project officer. In the next two years, the project will target a minimum of 1,000 primary school teachers and 10,000 rural and urban primary school students.

The Bridgeit program has three objectives:

• To increase learning gains among Standard Five and Six students in math, science, and life skills in Bridgeit classrooms, with a particular emphasis on girls.
• To improve teacher performance, with an emphasis on greater interaction between teachers and students and improved learning in the classroom
• To launch and expand Bridgeit in Tanzania and integrate it into the education system, at low cost, in order to reach the greatest number of children and teachers possible

Beginning in July 2008, the project will launch its pre-pilot phase -- testing videos, technology and lessons in 20 schools representing four districts: Temeke, Kimono, Bagamoyo and Lindi. Each district has chosen five schools to participate in the program. An additional 180 schools in other districts will be reached during the pilot phase, which starts in January 2009. During the two-year pilot project, IYF will work closely with the MoEVT, Nokia, Pearson and FAWE to successfully launch and implement Bridgeit and plan for its expansion.