Sri Lanka: English Access Microscholarship Program (2023-2025)

Stay ahead of Everyone - Get Early Grant Info - Premium at 80% off

Deadline: 30-Sep-22

The U.S. Embassy Colombo Public Diplomacy Section (PDS) is pleased to announce an opportunity to apply to be an In-Country Educational Service Provider for one to up to five Access sites in Sri Lanka.

Goals

The Access program’s goal is to provide resources and programming in the following areas:

Build English Language Skills: Develop skills through an interactive, project-based, experiential language learning experience that is centered on the student.
Build U.S.-Sri Lanka Friendship and Regional Stability: Increase Sri Lankan’s understanding of the United States, its history, culture, and democratic values
Develop Future Leaders: Empower talented Sri Lankan youth to become leaders in their local community and
Empower Youth: Enable young Sri Lankans to develop their skills in English language, leadership, critical thinking, and cross-cultural communication.
Model Education Excellence: Share new and relevant interactive and experiential educational practices with English teachers in other schools, students of education in local universities, principals and administrators from the local community, especially those from which the Access students are chosen.
Build Community: Enable Sri Lankan Access youth to engage in civic outreach, enable parents of Access students to understand the program, and connect with local education and civil society leaders to understand local conditions.

Objectives

The recipient will provide:

Recruitment and selection of English Language Teachers who are trained and able to commit to the full two-year program. PDS Colombo will guide the Provider in recruitment and selection of teaching staff and will approve selection of all teaching staff.
Obtainment of prior approval from the Ministry of Education and other local authorities in each location as required to conduct the program.
Recruitment and selection of Access cohort: The Provider must advertise the program in an accessible manner in three languages using community networks, broadcast media, social media, through local schools, or print media to solicit applications from Sri Lankan students who will be ages 13 – 145 at the start of the program in January 2023.
The Provider must review applications, create a short list for candidates and conduct interviews with the candidates. The final cohort selection of 150 students must be balanced among genders and linguistic, social, cultural, religious backgrounds and come from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds with the ability to attend at least 80% of Access activities. PDS Colombo will guide the Provider in recruitment and selection and will approve all final lists prior to notification.
Implement Access Program curriculum: The In-Country Educational Service Provider will coordinate with the U.S. Embassy to develop a curriculum or gain approval of an existing curriculum.
The In-Country Educational Service Provider will offer the curriculum, at no cost, to 30 Sri Lankan students per location (150 total) for one to five of the pre-defined cities to equip students with effective English language communication and critical thinking skills through meaningful interaction, cooperative and student-centered learning strategies, interest and age-appropriate activities, and real-life application.
Implement service-learning component of the Access Program to increase the students’ awareness of issues facing their respective communities, while also giving them an understanding of the ways they can positively contribute to civil society.
Maintain a positive relationship with the local government and other stakeholders.
In addition, the recipient will be responsible, as requested, for the purchasing, maintenance, and inventory management for materials for Access approved by U.S. Embassy Colombo’s Public Diplomacy Section.
Plan and execute programming around identified themes, in consultation with PDS Colombo, to include the components of the English Access Microscholarship Program.

Components

After-School/Weekend Instruction (mandatory)
- The Access Program must deliver 360 hours of total instruction. The first component of the 360 hours should be in English classes meeting at least twice per week.
Enhancement Activities (mandatory)
- The second component of the 360 total hours will be enhancement activities. These activities are aimed at fostering Sri Lanka U.S. cross-cultural understanding, as well as at developing other key global citizenship skills, such as community service and leadership.
Intensive Sessions (mandatory)
- The third component of the 360 hours of program instruction are intensive sessions. These can be conducted at the same location as regular instruction hours or can be held off-site to create more opportunity for students to bond with their classmates.
Community Outreach (optional)
- The Access Program site should serve as a model classroom. Efforts should be made to reach parents and other English teachers in the community, as well as include teachers of other subject matters, administrators, alumni, etc.
Program Implementation Locations
- The U.S. Embassy Colombo intends to implement the program in the following locations, Nuwara Eliya, Jaffna, Trincomalee, Galle, and Kurunagala.

Funding Information

Total Amount Available: $125,000.00
Award amounts: awards may range from a minimum of $25,000.00 to a maximum of $125,000.00. The maximum budget for each location is $25,000.