Aim of the Project

The aim of Speech Spark is to address the lack of foundation literacy and numeracy skills among primary grade students in Togo, starting out with the rural areas of Kara. This is achieved by training teachers Social-and- Emotional-Learning strategies (SEL) embedded in a structured pedagogy to offer a unique solution that improves student proficiency in reading and maths reaching thousands of teachers and students to break the learning poverty cycle and improve learning outcomes.

With nearly 80% of students lacking proficiency in French—the country’s language of instruction—and around 60% struggling with mathematics, we are dedicated to breaking this cycle of learning poverty. Through a holistic approach, we empower teachers by integrating Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) strategies with the Teaching-at-the-Right-Level (TaRL) methodology, ensuring personalised learning support for every student.

Our project goes beyond the classroom by actively monitoring attendance, retention, and dropout rates to measure effectiveness. We conduct thorough baseline, midline, and endline assessments to track progress and adapt our interventions. By partnering with local educators and community members, we extend learning opportunities outside regular school hours, helping students catch up and thrive academically.

We are particularly focused on increasing access to education for girls, as studies show that empowering rural villages starts with their education. To date, our initiatives have positively impacted over 2,207 students in the village of Tchitchao, with an additional 207 students from neighboring schools benefiting from tailored TaRL sessions.

 This project also aims at getting as many children into formal education and schools in Togo as possible, especially girls. There have been many studies done that show that if you want to empower a rural village, you should start with the girls. 

Speech Spark was founded by Komlan Abalo Bral, a teacher from Togo with over 12 years experience who has dedicated his career to  improving educational opportunities for rural students. He has succeed in implementing school-wide strategies to integrate the SDGs into the curriculum and operations in his local school in the village of Tchitchao, so knows it can be done on a bigger scale.