USAID—Indonesia
StratComm was awarded a $6.2 million contract by USAID Indonesia to print, bind, kit, and deliver 7.5 million reading books, workbooks, and student and teacher guides to elementary schoolchildren and teachers in roughly 11,000 schools across Indonesia within five months. This project was part of the larger and highly successful USAID PRIORITAS program, Prioritizing Reform, Innovation and Opportunities for Reaching Indonesia’s Teachers, Administrators, and Students. A key goal of the program is to improve education management and governance in Indonesian schools.
StratComm had prior directly relevant experience in fulfilling a similar requirement for USAID in Tanzania. As a company with agility, expertise, and top-notch strategic partners, we were confident we could successfully execute this complicated project.
Collaborating with our partners, we ordered the manufacture of specialty post-consumer recycled paper and managed high-volume printing, kitting, and logistics services. Our team of project managers closely monitored quality control, ensuring that each of the millions of books printed met the client’s specifications. We carefully selected waterproof totes that resisted moisture and other deteriorating elements during ocean transit, and will serve as a container for the books in classrooms.
USAID was updated on our progress on at least a weekly basis, and often more frequently, so that book distribution and teacher training schedules could be coordinated in advance of the containers arriving in country. It is our project management philosophy to provide timely and open communication, which is critical to the success of any project, especially one as complex as this.
Ultimately, the books were printed, kitted, shipped, and distributed throughout Indonesia ahead of schedule, bringing this complex project to a successful conclusion. By providing these leveled reading books and teacher and student workbooks to Indonesian schoolchildren, USAID hopes to supplement and enrich existing classroom instruction while improving children's reading skills, ultimately yielding successful educational outcomes and fostering capacity building.
StratComm is honored to have provided this important service for USAID.
"[StratComm has] helped USAID, as partners, improve literacy in Indonesia by publishing and delivering 7 1/2 million reading textbooks … There are 250 million kids on the planet who don’t know how to read … Working in the education space is really helpful to our mission, but even more importantly, it’s helpful to all those kids who are learning how to read."
- Eric Postel, USAID, in a speech given at the USAID 2nd Annual Veterans International Small Business Opportunities Conference (VISBOC) in Arlington, Va.