Aliia Burkitova

Aliia Burkitova is an education expert and project manager who currently serves as Team Leader on the literacy component of the U.S. Department of Agriculture-funded McGovern Dole Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program in Kyrgyzstan. 

Ms. Burkitova is responsible for the implementation of all literacy activities and closely collaborates with Mercy Corps, and with government entities including the Kyrgyzstan Ministry of Education and the Kyrgyzstan Ministry of Culture and Tourism. Under her leadership, the program has trained 2,936 grade 1-4 teachers and librarians and 505 school administrators in 416 target schools, and has provided 699,300 children’s books to the 416 target schools and 100 partnering public libraries. 

Prior to her role as Team Leader, Ms. Burkitova served as the Grants Manager on the USAID-funded Kyrgyz Republic Active Communities project implemented by Family Health International (FHI360). She also served as the Project Manager for the USAID-funded Kyrgyz Republic Enhancing Employability and Civic Engagement of Youth initiative with the Aga Khan Foundation and as Project Specialist for the USAID-funded Kyrgyz Republic Time to Read (TTR) and Quality Education project. 

As Project Specialist on TTR, she was responsible for improving policies related to teacher capacity and developed policy briefs and training manuals and guidebooks for teachers on formative assessment. Ms. Burkitova has also served as an English language teacher for 1st and 2nd grade students and has held numerous consultancies on World Bank initiatives in education.