USAID/Senegal Renforcement de la Litteratie au Senegal (RELIS) | 72068521RFA00008

Opportunity Information: Apply for 72068521RFA00008

USAID/Senegal Renforcement de la Litteratie au Senegal (RELIS) is a USAID-funded education activity designed to raise early-grade reading performance for both girls and boys from kindergarten through second grade. The core idea is not only to help more children learn to read, but also to strengthen the Senegalese education system so it can consistently deliver high-quality reading instruction at scale. RELIS focuses on institutional support and targeted technical assistance across nine regions, aiming for measurable improvements in how the system plans and distributes teachers, books, and funding needed for effective literacy instruction.

A central feature of RELIS is building the Ministry of Education's capacity to deliver strong bilingual reading instruction. The program plans to provide technical expertise, guidance, and hands-on support to reinforce bilingual instruction services in St. Louis, Fatick, Kaolack, Kaffrine, Louga, Diourbel, and Matam. In addition, RELIS seeks to expand instruction in national languages into two regions where it had not been implemented previously: Tambacounda and Kedougou. This expansion is meant to broaden equitable access to quality early literacy instruction, particularly in areas that may have been left behind by earlier rollouts.

RELIS also places heavy emphasis on ensuring classrooms have the right materials. It intends to guarantee the procurement and delivery of high-quality teaching and learning materials (TLMs) that support reading instruction for all USAID-funded literacy work within the nine target regions. In practice, this means the activity is not limited to training and coaching; it also addresses one of the most common barriers to early-grade learning improvements, which is the lack of appropriate books, teacher guides, and learning resources reaching schools reliably and on time.

Another major objective is to pilot, evaluate, and then implement a bilingual reading instruction model that aligns with and supports Senegal's national policy direction, specifically the rollout of the Senegal Bilingual Education Integrated Framework (MOHEBS). By testing and refining an approach that complements MOHEBS, RELIS is positioned as both an implementation and learning activity, using evidence from pilots and evaluations to guide broader adoption and improve instructional quality as the national framework scales.

The opportunity also includes support for innovation and stronger data use, particularly in kindergartens and teacher training institutions. This signals an intent to improve the pipeline of teacher preparation and the availability of practical, classroom-relevant evidence about what is working. Strengthening data collection and encouraging innovation can help Senegal's education stakeholders make better decisions about instruction, materials, and training, and can create feedback loops that keep improving reading outcomes over time.

From a grants perspective, RELIS was released as a discretionary funding opportunity by USAID/Senegal (USAID-Dakar) under Funding Opportunity Number 72068521RFA00008. The award instrument is a Cooperative Agreement, which typically means USAID expects substantial involvement during implementation, such as collaboration on technical direction and monitoring. The ceiling amount is USD 55,000,000, with one award anticipated. Eligibility is listed as unrestricted, meaning a wide range of entities could apply, subject to any additional eligibility conditions in the full announcement. The opportunity was posted May 17, 2021, with an original closing date of July 2, 2021, and it falls under the education funding activity category (CFDA 98.001).

RELIS is also explicitly aligned with USAID's New Partnership Initiative (NPI), which aims to increase participation from New and Underutilized Partners (NUP). This suggests the program is structured to encourage a broader and more diverse set of implementers, potentially including newer organizations, local entities, and partners that have not historically been major USAID implementers, as long as they can meet technical and compliance requirements. Overall, RELIS combines early-grade literacy improvement with systems strengthening, bilingual education support, materials delivery, evidence-building, and innovation, with the goal of producing both immediate learning gains and long-term improvements in how Senegal's education system delivers high-quality reading instruction.

• The Agency for International Development, Senegal USAID-Dakar in the education sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "USAID/Senegal Renforcement de la Litteratie au Senegal (RELIS)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 98.001.
• This funding opportunity was created on May 17, 2021.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jul 02, 2021. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $55,000,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted (i.e., open to any type of entity above), subject to any clarification in text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility.

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