Abdullah Dzinamarira Foundation Trust

Mission

The Abdullah Dzinamarira Foundation Trust aims to share hope with underprivileged and vulnerable children through ensuring their access to education and basic social support services

Vision

A world where all children have a chance to secure a brighter future for themselves and their communities

Values

Integrity

Collaboration

Impact

Innovation

Commitment

Accountability 

Stephen is a field officer for the organization’s Chinhoyi branch. He is responsible for leading and implementing the organization’s programs across all the thematic areas and ensuring that the organization meets the needs of the beneficiaries in an efficient and impactful way. He is also responsible for writing proposals that ensuring funding for our programs as well as overseeing the educational scholarship program which provides assistance to students from different backgrounds. In addition, he advocates for the rights of the communities we serve, raising awareness about issues affecting them and engaging with local stakeholders to promote change.

The team lead is geographically stationed in Chinhoyi where some of the organization’s programs are conducted. The LEAP program will also be conducted in the team lead’s area of jurisdiction Makonde rural district. Apart from the team lead, the organization has its head office in Kadoma where the Operations officer who will be responsible for administration of the program during the 12 weeks is stationed. The technical field officer and 4 volunteers are also stationed in the kadoma office, 2 volunteers at the Chinhoyi office, thus ensuring strong human support for the effective delivery of the program whilst day to day operations of the organization are not compromised. The organization also has an overall technical advisor based at the head office who will ensure effective and efficient delivery of the program and guide the staff members. 

Training and provision of learning materials on social and financial skills to young people in Zimbabwe’s rural communities

Education is globally recognized as an important tool as shown by its integration in the global Sustainable Development Goals. According to Nelson Mandela, “education is the most powerful tool we can use to change the world”. However with the fast growth and dynamics in the world due to technology, economic advancement and occurrence of pandemics, education has taken a turn from the general/traditional education to more practical and extra curricula activities.

Zimbabwean primary schools education curriculum has adopted most of these practical subjects mainly in the field of technology and extra curricula activities. However, these subjects mostly benefit learners from urban areas than those in the rural areas, also does not offer social and financial literacy skills training for junior learners. About 90% of the rural schools in Zimbabwe do not have school computer labs, science labs and even basic sports grounds for students to practice their extra curriculum activities. On top of this, rural learners lack access to basic reading materials, struggle with basic reading comprehension, and have limited opportunities for reading practice.

The cultural and religious beliefs in the country also affects the children’s learning. Some religious sects actually believe in older men choosing for marriage young girls from their churches who have not yet been touched. Poverty has also led to families giving away their children for financial benefits and even young girls getting involved with older men for survival. The rate of early child marriages in the country has been on the rise every year with children from as young as 9 years getting married.  Issues such as sexual and reproductive health and rights, gender based violence among other social issues are not well spoken of with young learners. This is because the locals believe that it is unethical to have these discussions with children of that age. However, with technological advancements and the fast paced world that we currently live in, it is important to educate children at a young age so that they are well prepared for whatever they may face as they grow up in as much as these issues are concerned.

The Economic deterioration that has affected the country over the past 20 years has resulted in a larger quantity of the population resorting to informal economic activities. Because of this, there is need to prepare scholars on financial skills at a tender age so that when they get to a stage where they want to practice entrepreneurship, they will be well aware of the skills they need to possess to thrive in a certain economy. 

The program seeks to address the challenges that rural scholars face which include lack of access to reading materials, struggling with basic reading comprehension, and limited opportunities for reading practice in social and financial education. These problems will be addressed by first approaching the relevant authorities which in this case are the Local Government which will be Sanyati Rural District Council and Makonde Rural District Council, local community leaders, churches in the communities as well as parents. These stakeholders will be sensitized about the program and how it will be carried out.

Conducting a staff training event whereby community club leaders and Sunday school (church) leaders will be trained on the designed financial and social skills curriculum and prepare them for when they train the participants in their respective schools. These trainings will focus on effective reading instructions, engaging and interactive training sessions to see if the children will be understanding the teachings.

Social and financial literacy clubs will be formed in the communities. These will be the recipients of the training course and they will be trained on budgeting, entrepreneurship, effective communication, managing expenses among other skills. These clubs will be well prepared for and will act as peer educators teaching and educating their peers and sharing study materials.

Distribution of learning materials will be done in these clubs (sporting clubs, community halls etc) and churches so as to benefit those who go to church and the ones who do not too. In rural areas a chunk of students fail to attend school for various reasons like lack of finances, bad weather, and disability among other reasons. This project therefore seeks to assist all students as they all deserve to have knowledge on these skills. These trainings will take cognisance of the ages of primary school learners hence, the need to make sure that age appropriate learning materials are designed and distributed to the students. 

The organization has used a formative research approach to understand the attributes of the rural communities and determine if proposed interventions would be suitable for the setups.

The organization conducted surveys, interviews and assessments to identify the challenges faced by children in rural setups in acquiring and improving their literacy skills. The organization has a child sponsorship program where we assist children with school fees and basic school needs and we carry out interviews and assessments at the end of every school term. From this we have found that many children lack  access to reading materials, struggled with basic reading comprehension, and had limited opportunities for reading practice. Also, we partnered and collaborated with community organizations, schools, parent-teacher associations and literacy-focused NGOs to mobilize resources, advocate for literacy initiatives and to engage families in supporting children's learning habits.

Also developed a diverse collection of age-appropriate reading materials, including storybooks, and educational resources. Creating a structured curriculum that aligns with literacy development milestones and includes a variety of genres and topics to cater for different interests. The Aflateen curriculum contributed to social and financial education of the students and has proven to be effective.

The organization Implemented regular assessments to measure students’ progress in reading skills and comprehension. Collected data on reading fluency, comprehension levels, and reading engagement. Used this data to track individual growth, identify areas for improvement, and provide targeted interventions with the help of the schools that is the teachers and the headmasters. On financial literacy the organization has given seed funds to certain groups of students to carry out their desired projects. Some of the capital came from their own pockets so that the organization could see if the children had understood the art of saving and also monitored their projects to measure the extent to which the students had understood entrepreneurship and all there is to know to run a successful business.

The research conducted by the organization has proved that there is need for an intervention that will assist in improving rural kids’ access to educational materials especially in the social and financial side as these are still lacking in the primary schools education curriculum. This has inspired the organization’s proposed solution so as to help these children outside of the school setup. The solution would pose a significant impact on the target population with participants reporting increased knowledge and skills related to the educational interventions.

Partnerships with stakeholders like the Local Governments, Non-Governmental Organizations and Community Based Organizations will be essential to expand the reach of our interventions. Capacity building on educators, community leaders and other stakeholders will ensure that our interventions are effectively delivered and sustained over the long term.

Additionally our research highlighted the following insights that will inform our work moving forward: cultural sensitivity that is tailoring our interventions to be culturally appropriate and relevant to communities in which we work will be critical for promoting engagement and ownership. Monitoring and evaluation will allow us to track the progress and impact of our interventions, identify areas for improvement and adapt our approach as needed

The solution to the above problem is replicable and can be adopted and applied in other communities and can be adopted and implemented at a larger scale. Social and financial literacy skills for young learners can be adopted by other communities and the possibility of scaling up the proposed solution support its effectiveness and impact.

 The evidence base of this research has helped enable data driven decision making which also result in impactful solution implementation for both the beneficiaries of the solution and the community at large and make meaningful social and economic impact in the local communities.

 The post COVID era has seen many changes happening in most sectors of development and the education sector is not excluded. The COVID 19 pandemic has affected the learning systems greatly and most of the impact is felt in the rural areas where there is little to no knowledge of e-learning systems. In urban areas learners could and can do online lessons, group discussions etc but in the rural areas it is a different story. Most rural homes in Zimbabwe have no electricity and the network connectivity is very bad. Some rural areas in Zimbabwe are affected by natural disasters such as flooding. Children find themselves unable to cross flooded rivers and end up missing school during the rainy season and also in rural areas the walking distances to school are very long. There is therefore a great need to implement the proposed solution in rural areas due to these factors.

 The fast paced globalization also affects the education system. Rural students are at a disadvantage as they do not have access to technology which affects their learning outcomes. Thus the proposed solution will assist kids in improving their learning abilities outside the school setup.

  Also, the drastic economic changes in the country and the increase in informal businesses makes this the right time for this project to be implemented as there is need for children to be made aware of these economic aspects whilst still young (catch them young) to prepare them for the future

1.What is the impact of providing social and financial skills education in primary schools students' knowledge and attitudes towards money management, financial decision-making, and social responsibility?

 2. How effective is the establishment of social and financial skills training and provision of learning materials in terms of improving student outcomes in these areas?

The program will have at least 2 leaders from each of the beneficiary club trained by the program team so that they can be able to train learners. A financial and literacy curriculum will be designed and will be used by teachers to teach their students

At least 5 social and financial literacy club will be formed in each of the 2 districts. These clubs will be taught on social and financial literacy skills during a period which will not disturb the children’s school and church sessions as will be arranged by the respective team leaders.

  Detailed assessment of student knowledge and attitudes towards money management, financial decision-making, and social responsibility before and after the implementation of educational programs, providing a comprehensive understanding of the baseline and change in these areas.

Focus group discussions with stakeholders, such as students, church/club leaders, and parents, to gather qualitative data on their experiences and perceptions of the educational interventions, allowing for a deeper understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the program.

A final report summarizing the findings from the survey and focus group discussions, including recommendations for future program design and implementation. This report will provide a comprehensive analysis of the effectiveness of social and financial skills education and suggest ways to improve the program. Engagement with the relevant stakeholders to disseminate the findings and recommendations to promote financial and social awareness among students.

Curriculum development, based on the findings and recommendations from the research will be used to develop new curriculum and educational materials that incorporate social and financial skills education into the primary school curriculum. These materials will be pilot-tested in select organizations to evaluate their effectiveness.

Teacher training: based on the findings, the ADF will design and implement teacher training workshops to enhance their capacity to deliver effective social and financial skills education.

ADF will engage with various other stakeholders to advocate for the introduction of social and financial skills education into the communities. This will include disseminating the findings of the research, presenting the case for change, and advocating for the adoption of new policies and guidelines.

Monitoring and evaluation, the organization will establish a monitoring and evaluation framework to track the implementation and impact of the program. As part of the monitoring and evaluation framework, ADF will implement the following strategies:  baseline and Impact assessments that is periodic assessments will be conducted to measure the effectiveness of the educational interventions and to identify areas for improvement. This will involve collecting data from students, teachers, and other stakeholders to understand their experiences and the impact of the interventions. Feedback and Refinement: feedback from stakeholders will be collected and analyzed to refine the educational interventions and ensure that they are meeting the needs of students and educators. This will be an ongoing process to ensure continuous improvement and effectiveness.

The provision of learning materials to young learners will improve their academic performance hence improving the pass rates for their respective schools

Financial and literacy skills training will result in young learners knowing how to run a business. Small businesses for young learners such as selling sweets and making a profit. Students who receive social and financial skills education will have improved knowledge and skills in budgeting, saving, and investing, leading to more informed financial decisions and improved economic wellbeing in the long term.

Rural school students will also get to understand figurative language and be able to summarize and compare characters from the learning materials and trainings that will be given to them.

Increased capacity since ADF will have developed the capacity and expertise to deliver high-quality social and financial skills education programs to children, leading to greater impact and sustainability in its work.

Increased social awareness as the students will also have increased understanding and empathy for the social issues affecting their communities, leading to more active engagement and involvement in addressing these issues.