UCA and USAID Partner to Improve Reading Skills in Tajikistan

Terry Giles (left), USAID "Read with Me" Chief of Project, Dr. Diana Pauna (right), Dean of UCA's School of Arts and Sciences.

The University of Central Asia (UCA) and the United States Agency for International Development “Read with Me” (USAID RWM) Project signed a Memorandum of Understanding on September 30th to create further partnerships between the two organisations.

The agreement will help bring informational books for primary grade students on protecting the environment into classrooms in Tajikistan, while engaging UCA’s Earth and Environmental Sciences students and faculty to help with content and research.
The partners also discussed additional opportunities to involve UCA students in promoting mobile and other educational technologies in schools, organising out-of school events in the community to improve reading skills, sharing best practices between UCA faculty and USAID RWM specialists and trainers in Khorog, and engaging UCA students in internships as part of UCA’s cooperative education programme.

At the ceremony, UCA students, Anisa Abibulloeva, President of UCA’s Green Community student-led club, and Nitasha Aslam Khan, “Book Project” Coordinator, also delivered presentations introducing USAID representatives to student initiatives on UCA’s campus.