Program Report ansf literacy Program: The Afghan National Security Forces in the Central & Eastern Provinces of Afghanistan, August 2010-December 2014 United Alliance Global Solutions
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| 2. Classes
NTM-A G7 Literacy Branch designed and utilized a spreadsheet that captured monthly data at the class level. A class was defined as a group of soldiers or police. The makeup of the classes often changed according to the wartime requirements of the unit. For example a class of 30 soldiers may have 10 soldiers that attend every day, 10 soldiers that attend once or twice a week, and 10 soldiers that go to the front lines for a month, then return. The NTM-A spreadsheet did not capture individual student achievement. For quality control and accountability purposes, UAGS captured and maintained individual student records and analyzed the data. In order to evaluate student learning, and for teacher effectiveness monitoring, individual monitoring was important. Although never required to do so, UAGS viewed maintaining and analyzing individualized achievements as a necessary component of overall accountability, quality control, and results reporting. When training schedules vary dramatically from day to day and students are frequently on schedules that must fit around wartime missions, individual data must be collected and analyzed to accurately describe academic successes or the lack thereof. The chart below (Figure 2) illustrates the number of literacy classes conducted from January 2012 to December 2014. As you’ll note, the program progressed steadily with an average of 1,300 classes per month until February 2013. Additionally in February 2013, NTM-A G7 began the implementation of a plan to transition ANP literacy classes to the German-based GIZ. UAGS began transferring responsibility for our literacy classes over the course of a year and was completed by the end of the program in December 2014. When reviewing the class data in this report, the transition of ANP classes to GIZ must be considered. OTTS does not collect or analyze data from GIZ. Figure 2. UAGS Class Data In February 2013, NTM-A G7 Literacy Branch stated that we must reduce the training effort to a smaller size. UAGS was not required to close specific training sites, but was directed to reduce the size of the program by approximately 25 percent. Following this downsize, UAGS consistently performed approximately 800 classes per month (Figure 3, below) for the remainder of 2013. In January 2014, the prime contractor was informed that an internal NTM-A “paperwork delay” led to our task order not being issued in a timely manner and subsequently a lack of funding for the month of January. UAGS was directed to only conduct 1st grade classes for initial entry soldiers and police primarily at Kabul Military Training Center and the Regional Police Training Center. All other classes (approximately 700) were postponed until the situation could be resolved. UAGS was authorized to conduct only 109 first grade classes for the month of January 2014. Additionally, in January 2014, NTM-A G7 informed the prime contractor that the performance-based “continuous education” approach would no longer be used, and would be replaced by a mandatory attendance approach. The ANSF literacy classes were to be grouped according to grade levels and serve only fixed-groups of soldiers and police. NTM-A stated that this approach would require the ANSF to commit to more literacy training if soldiers and police were required to be in specific grade-level classes for set periods of time. The prime contractor alongside UAGS professional educators voiced our disagreement with this approach, stating that this restructure would eliminate many opportunities for literacy training to soldiers with varying schedules. We also voiced that such a change shifted a very successful program that was based on academic performance to a program that was attendance based. We agreed that more training time would certainly enhance the literacy effort and make for a better force. However, the reality of the wartime environment in Afghanistan is that the ANSF has security tasks and missions that sometimes take priority over training and unit commanders need flexibility. We presented research and program historical data to support our position and received support and agreement from the Afghan ministries. However, the decision to modify the contract was made by the Contracting Officer (whose duty station was in Qatar), and the prime contractor and UAGS complied with the directive. To meet the requirements of this modification, UAGS reorganized our instructors and staff to meet the new requirements, assisted the ANA and ANP in identifying new classes and preparing new training schedules, and organized the ANSF units into grade-level classes. From January to December 2014, due to the newly imposed mandatory “time” requirements for graduation, fewer ANSF members had the opportunity to complete the literacy program than in previous years. However, UAGS was committed to working within the new restrictions and finding solutions that allowed as many ANSF students as possible achieve literacy and graduate. As the figure above (Figure 2) describes, UAGS was able to work with the Ministry of Defense and unit-level commanders and coordinate an average of approximately 400 classes per month. Download 221.99 Kb. Share with your friends:
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