Save the Children’s Early Literacy and Maths Initiative (ELMI), a project supported by Innovation for Education, a partnership between the Governments of Rwanda and the UK, was initiated in Rwanda in early 2013. In recognition of the increased interest and commitment by the Government of Rwanda to increasing access to ECCD services, the project was designed to focus on the quality of service delivery as this relates to school readiness outcomes for children. Early literacy and maths (ELM) skills are essential components of quality education. Children need the opportunity and support to gain these skills during pre‐primary years. Yet, given how new ECCD is in the country, there is a shortfall of resources, expertise and investment in supporting ELM teaching in Rwanda. 

ELMI aims to demonstrate techniques that are pedagogically sound, scalable, and which will ensure that during the critical early years Rwandan children benefit from inclusive, effective teaching and learning opportunities that support ELM skills development at pre‐primary level, and improve school readiness and long‐term learning outcomes for young learners. This includes piloting the introduction of ELMspecific techniques for caregivers in existing Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) Centres as well as designing and piloting a new parent outreach component for parents in communities where children are not able to attend ECCD Centres. Evidence gathered through this project will enable Save the Children, the Rwandan Government and other relevant actors in this field to develop cost‐effective, replicable models, which are appropriate for scale up to achieve maximum impact for children. To support learning and enable meaningful evidence of the project’s results to be produced, a rigorous evaluation process was developed, commencing with a baseline assessment.