The Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport approved the policy on school clusters and implementation documents on 18 January 2010. Subsequently, school clusters were established under different categories, including urban clusters, standard clusters, non-standard clusters, and remote clusters.
The establishment of school clusters provides administrative, pedagogical, economic, and community benefits and supports the implementation of the Child-Friendly School Programs. The number of primary school clusters has steadily increased, reaching 1,225 in the 2014–2015 academic year, 1,273 in 2020–2021, and 1,342 in 2021–2022, with an average of approximately 5.44 primary schools per cluster.
By the 2022–2023 academic year, early-grade literacy and numeracy packages for Grades 1–3 were implemented in approximately 28% of primary schools nationwide, with plans for nationwide expansion. Alongside this implementation, the Pedagogical Mentoring Programs has played a crucial role in supporting and strengthening teachers’ instructional practices.
To further enhance early-grade teacher capacity, UNICEF supports the Pedagogical Mentoring Programs by providing financial assistance to cluster-based and school-based mentors in order to promote quality, equitable, and inclusive primary education, reduce disparities between urban, disadvantaged, and remote schools, and improve student learning outcomes.
