Technical Consultant for the Quality Assurance of Filipino Books At The Asia Foundation

Background and Rationale

In 2017, The Asia Foundation (TAF) introduced Let’s Read as its digital literacy initiative. Drawing on the Foundation’s expertise and networks in communities across Asia and the Pacific, Let’s Read works on three interconnected components of reading: content, access, and support. Together, these components ensure children and families create connections with storybooks and build strong early reading skills and reading habits. Let’s Read offers story opportunities for local authors and illustrators and has built Asia and the Pacific’s most extensive free digital library for children. Let’s Read creates, translates, and offers educational content to children at any time, any place, and in a range of languages in Asia and the Pacific used at home and in school improving access to reading materials for young learners, parents, teachers and communities.

The mission of Let’s Read is to build a world where curious and educated readers create thriving societies.

In the Philippines, Let’s Read aims to achieve enhanced learning outcomes in early-grade learning. To achieve this, the project is focusing on the following short-term outcomes:

• Improved quality of local and age-appropriate learning resources
• Increased access to local, inclusive, and age-appropriate learning resources.
• Increased parents and community involvement in reading and learning at home and in schools.

Let’s Read is a digital repository of over 3, 200 storybooks in English and Philippine languages. Among these books, there are 405 storybooks in Filipino, translated from stories that originated in the Philippines and countries in Asia and the Pacific.

To ensure the high-quality content of Let’s Read’s Filipino book collection, a systematic quality assurance process is necessary. This review will focus on the 405 Filipino storybooks in the library to assess linguistic accuracy, cultural appropriateness, readability, and adherence to child-friendly principles.

There is a need for a technical consultant in the quality assurance of the Let’s Read Filipino storybook collection.

Scope of Work

The Technical Consultant for the Quality Assurance of Filipino Books will work on the following:

1. Grammatical Review

• Assess the grammatical accuracy, spelling, and language consistency based on the prescribed Filipino orthography in basic education in the Philippines.

1. Cultural Review

• Ensure cultural relevance of the stories and their illustrations, verifying appropriate representation of diverse Filipino culture, themes, and values.
• Identify and validate the category of each storybook based on the set of categories in the platform.

1. Readability Assessment

• Evaluate age-level suitability of language and ensure story depth aligns with target readers based on the Let’s Read Levelling Guidelines.
• Check for ethical, inclusive, and appropriate representation in storylines, characters, and settings.
• Ensure that books promote positive messaging for children.
• Provide recommendations on storybooks that do not meet the minimum publication standards, indicating the need for further revisions and potential removal from the library.

1. Technical Quality

• Identify and document any technical errors across various platforms (missing pages, incorrect formatting, low-resolution illustrations, etc.)

The technical consultant will use the Let’s Read digital platform to conduct the quality assurance reviews. Technical support will be provided in navigating the platform.

In addition to on-platform assessments, the consultant is required to submit a detailed report summarizing findings and providing actionable recommendations in improving the storybook collection.

All recommendations will be subject for review and approval by TAF Let’s Read project team.

Duration

This initial engagement is expected to run for six months from January to June 2025.

Qualifications

• Proven expertise in Filipino language and literature, particularly for children
• Experience in writing, publishing, and reviewing children’s storybooks
• Experience in quality assurance of educational materials for basic education levels
• Strong attention to detail and excellent documentation skills