Eswatini Ministry of Education and Training - World Bank funded
Implementation and Support of Grade 0 in Eswatini though developing context-appropriate assessments.
About
Grade 0 (pre-primary education) was institutionalised in 2018 to enhance early childhood development and school readiness across Eswatini. The integration of Grade 0 into the national education system aims to reduce repetition, improve foundational literacy and numeracy and ensure children reach developmental milestones from an early age.
World Bank Support:
Since 2020, the World Bank has supported the initiative through the Eswatini Early Learning and Basic Education Project, offering critical financial and technical assistance. This includes teacher training, development of learning materials and infrastructure improvements, enabling the effective national rollout of Grade 0.
Role of JET–DataDrive Partnership:
The JET–DataDrive partnership played a key role in supporting Eswatini’s efforts by adapting the Early Learning Outcomes Measure (ELOM) tools (4–5 and 6–7 age bands) to develop a valid, reliable, and fair ELOM E instrument. This tool helps to measure developmental progress and identify areas of need and success, ensuring children meet key developmental milestones.
Additionally, the partnership adapted the LEGO Engage Primary classroom observation tool to suit Eswatini’s school context. This tool evaluates the implementation of learning through play pedagogy, a method shown to be highly predictive of positive learner outcomes in South Africa and other developing countries.
Objectives
The ELOM E instrument aims to help measure developmental progress and identify areas of need and success within the Early Learning project, ensuring children meet key developmental milestones.
The adapted the LEGO Engage Primary classroom observation tool aims to evaluate the implementation of learning through play pedagogy.
Together, ELOM E and the adapted LEGO observation tool will provide the Ministry of Education and Training with a comprehensive baseline by the end of 2025, offering essential data on both learner development and educator practices, critical for informed policy and programme refinement.
Resources