Courage G. Wright, 14, from the Zai Elementary School in Grand Gedeh, a southeastern county of Liberia, had no plan of going to school lease to say, she was ready to attend a Catch-Up-Club (CUC).
Courage G. Wright, 14, from the Zai Elementary School in Grand Gedeh, a southeastern county of Liberia, had no plan of going to school lease to say, she was ready to attend a Catch-Up-Club (CUC) initiated by Save the Children under its LEARN II Project. However, Courage was motivated by Jeremiah L. Wright, her brother, who was part of the program.
Every day after the session, Jeremiah would share the new things he had learned. Fortunately, she realized how her brother grew interest in reading everything he saw. As a result of that, she decided to attend the Catch-up Club to improve her reading skills too. When she entered the CUC, Courage and Jeremiah were always engaged into reading and spelling competition at home, which signified that Courage was interested in enhancing her reading skill like her brother.
In appreciation for the Catch-Up-Club, these were words of Courage as she beamed with smiles: “I am grateful to Save the Children for the opportunity and hope to be part of the CUC next vacation.”
Winnie Pyne, one of the community volunteers CUC Facilitators, explained her experience when she entered the training program saying “I was afraid when I first came to the training, but thanks to the program. I have learned so much about letter sounds and can now say with confidence that I am prepared and ready to teach CUCs. I want to say a big thank you to Save the Children for this training.”
The Catch-Up-Club is part of LEARN II, a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) funded project under the McGovern-Dole International (MGD) Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program. It is implemented by Save the Children, Mercy Corps, and Kawadah Farms in four counties of Liberia.
It focuses on improving the literacy of school-age children, increasing the use of good health and dietary practices as we as improving the effectiveness of food assistance through Local and Regional Procurement (LRP). LEARN II is Liberia Education, Attendance, Reading and Nutrition Phase II.
It can be recalled during the COVID-19, Save the Children developed and piloted its new Catch-Up Club approach. The results of this approach were successful, which prompted the adaption of the Literacy Boost Clubs from LEARN I into CUC. Staff were introduced to the approach. With two facilitators for 30 students, a cycle lasts for five weeks. The Catch-Up- Clubs target struggling readers in the upper grades.
Liberia is said to have one of the highest numbers of overage primary students in the world. With this record, the project saw the need to target children that fall in this category starting with 14 years old and above.
The Catch-Up-Clubs were piloted in 10 communities in July 2024 in preparation for students to succeed in their studies when schools reopen for the first semester of 2024–2025.
