Overview

The problem of improving the quality of education in developing countries is one of the key topics on the agenda of several international organizations and forums. The increasing gap in the quality of schooling creates the conditions of social inequality in the earliest stages of human life. This may adversely affect economic prospects and socio-economic stability of countries and on world economic growth.

To solve these problems the international community is implementing a number of programs to support education in developing countries aimed at improving the quality and accessibility of basic education.

Russia Education Aid for Development READ agreed in 2008 in the framework of cooperation between the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation and the World Bank to promote international development in education and provide support to United Nations member countries in building the capacity of institutions responsible for the measurement of educational achievements and the use of these data to improve teaching and learning.

This scheme highlights the roles and responsibilities of the key actors implementing the READ Program in its aim to deliver global and country level assistance to countries that wish to realize their vision of building a strong and sustainable assessment system.

The READ Trust Fund helps countries to improve their capacity to monitor and support student learning through the design, implementation, and use of strong assessment systems. Eight countries have been selected to receive grants under the READ 2 Trust Fund Program: Armenia, Cambodia, India, the Kyrgyz Republic, Mongolia, Nepal, Tajikistan, and Vietnam. Four countries on the approved list — Armenia, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, and Vietnam—also received grants under READ 1. These countries will continue to build on their earlier work under READ 2.

READ RAS enhances the capacity of Russian agencies, and expert community for delivery of development aid in education focused on quality. These include specific educational institutions, a network of experts that would improve their analytical capacity for applied analysis of learning outcomes and education policy in developing countries. It will offer training and knowledge sharing services to education experts. Experts will receive courses on the technical aspects and awareness on domains of assessment and improvement of learning outcomes.

CICED was established in 2008 in accordance with the decree of the Russian Government. CICED started its activities under the READ Program. Today CICED is a network organization implementing projects in both Russia and CIS countries, bringing together Russian and international experts in the field of education quality assessment, educational policy and international development aid. In an effort to contribute to the global goals to improve the quality of basic education and promoting sustainable development, CICED formulates its mission as: development and introduction of advanced technologies for education quality assessment and management of educational results.