On 3 February 2020, Iqbal Dhaliwal, Global Executive Director of J-PAL, discusses the journey to scale the evidence-based Teaching at the Right Level (TaRL) education approach across India and Africa, with support in Zambia from USAID Development Innovation Ventures (DIV). In the video, Iqbal explains the importance of systems-level change going beyond an individual project: “It’s not just about Teaching at the Right Level, it’s about changing the whole mindset of how an education department thinks about evidence.”
TaRL is an evidence-based education approach developed by Pratham. Since 2001, J-PAL affiliated professors have rigorously tested the theory of change underlying Pratham’s TaRL approach. USAID DIV grants also supported a study in Uttar Pradesh.
The Catch Up programme, Zambia’s adapted TaRL approach, is led by the Ministry of General Education. The Ministry’s scale-up of Catch Up is funded by USAID DIV and the USAID Zambia Mission and is supported by UNICEF Zambia, VVOB – education for development, Innovations for Poverty Action Zambia, and TaRL Africa.
Pratham and J-PAL have come together to form a joint venture, TaRL Africa, which supports partners working to adapt and implement the TaRL approach. See some examples of where TaRL is being implemented in Africa.