The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) announced on Friday that it had signed an agreement with RTI International, a nonprofit institute, to implement the third edition of the Quality Instruction towards Access and Basic Education Improvement (QITABI) project.
Valued at $96.9 million, the project will run for five years. It will be carried out in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MEHE) and the Center for Educational Research and Development (CRDP).
QITABI 3 is expected to improve student performance in reading, writing, math and social and emotional learning across the country. It is also expected to strengthen inclusive education and provide career guidance for students in the complementary and secondary cycles.
Nearly 350,000 students and 25,000 teachers are expected to benefit from the project, which also has two other objectives: to increase student retention rates in 1,200 low-cost public and private schools and to provide technical support to the Ministry of Education and the CRDP to improve inclusive programs and research and evaluation capabilities.
According to the press release, the US government, through USAID, has invested more than $500 million to support Lebanon’s education sector since 2013.
