NBA
For Support Of Open Licensing In Early Childhood Literacy Efforts In Africa
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Amount$400,000
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Program
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Date Awarded11/19/2018
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Term24.0 Months
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Type of SupportProject
Strategies
Overview
Neil Butcher and Associates, an educational firm based in South Africa, provides services to improve equity, quality, and effectiveness in developing countries. The firm seeks to help create sustainable local publishing markets that harness digital innovations and Creative Commons open licenses. With this grant, it will ensure meaningful access to and use of affordable, relevant, high-quality, mother-tongue storybooks for African children. This work will delve into how openly licensed local-language storybooks can contribute to the growth of the publishing industry in Africa and promote effective literacy strategies.
About the Grantee
Grantee Website
www.nba.co.za
Grants to this Grantee
for enabling systemic transformation toward sustained openness in large-scale education systems
Neil Butcher & Associates (NBA) is a private organization based in South Africa that manages projects, conducts research, and provides advisory support services in the field of education in the developing world. NBA’s mission is to contribute to improving education in developing-world contexts by advancing open, sustainable, and cost-effective solutions to educational challenges. With this grant, NBA will develop a paper on “openness in education in the 21st century” and research reports on alternative approaches to change management in large-scale education systems. Through this work, NBA will develop, test, and document granular, reflective, and monitoring strategies that facilitate shifts toward meaningful, sustained openness in education systems. (Substrategy: Field Building)
for researching policy strategies to support implementation of the UNESCO OER Recommendation
Neil Butcher and Associates aims to contribute to improving education in developing-world contexts by advancing open, sustainable, and cost-effective solutions to educational challenges. Based in South Africa, the group manages projects, conducts research, and provides advisory support services in the field of education in the developing world. With this grant, it will lead research to deepen knowledge on the most effective strategies to create government policy and regulatory environments that support effective implementation of the recently approved UNESCO OER Recommendation, working in partnership with UNESCO’s Dynamic Coalition, UNESCO’s regional offices in Africa, and other key African partners. (Substrategy: Field Building)
for support to explore the use of open licensing models to widen access to early literacy materials
Neil Butcher and Associates, a consultancy firm with deep expertise around OER, will conduct research to help determine whether and how open licenses could help to increase the number of reading materials available to children across the developing world. The results of the research are expected to inform possible solutions to high rates of illiteracy among young children across the developing world, and more specifically to help shape the Global Book Fund that a consortium of donors including US Agency for International Development, the UK's Department for International Development, and the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs is hoping to establish.
