Dr. Said Assaf is a Senior Technical Advisor working with the USAID-supported Basic Education Activity, which works with students in kindergarten through grade 6. The program targets marginalized communities in the West Bank and Gaza by providing literacy, numeracy, and social and emotional support for children, parents, and teachers affected by the conflict. It also provides critical support to children with disabilities.
With more than 50 years of experience, Said spent the first 10 years as a schoolteacher and an instructor at a teacher college in Ramallah, West Bank. Said worked in the mathematics department at Birzeit University, where he served as the chair of the department before moving on to become the Director General for Professional Training and then the Deputy Minister for Academic and Development Affairs.
Said spent the past 25 years in programs sponsored by USAID. He has worked with EDC, AMIDEAST, and in partnership with other organizations such as CARE, AED, AIR, and World Learning.
Said has diverse experience in training leadership programs, running international programs and as a curriculum developer. He has authored several math textbooks and was the main reviewer of the grade 1 to 9 math curriculum in the West Bank and Gaza. Arabic is Said’s mother tongue, and English is his second language.
Said earned a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from Al Basra University in Iraq, and a Master’s and a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction – Mathematics Education from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.