Mali: Community Participation Makes a Difference
As former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said, “Education is a human right with immense power to reform. On its foundation rest the cornerstones of freedom, democracy, and sustainable development….”
This right extends not merely to access to education, but also to the quality of education and to an appropriate learning environment. That is why the Government of Mali is committed to improving access to and effectiveness of the nation’s school system, with UNICEF’s support.
And their joint efforts are showing positive results. Take as an example the community of Dougouba. The village primary school has six spacious classrooms. In addition, the community has established an early childhood development (ECD) center for preschool-aged children and a non-formal education centre for adolescents.
The president of the school management committee, Mr. Bakoroba Fofana, explains the rationale behind this initiative:
“In the past, we did not want to educate our children because we considered it irrelevant to our culture and our values. And to confirm this idea, we have seen children leaving school without proper knowledge and good life skills because of the learning conditions they faced. But then we learned about the child-friendly approach through UNICEF. They taught us what children need to learn, such as enough space in classrooms, teachers that are motivated and able to hold classes in an interactive way, safe and clean sanitation facilities. We realized that if we work all together, we can help our children get a good education and learn for life. And it is true! Children behave well, and they bring new ideas to their families, such as good hygiene, drinking safe water, sanitation, etc..”
Parents of children as well as other community members are closely monitoring the conditions at their school. Mrs. Kadjia Djire, a member of the school management committee, says:
“We developed a plan of action that we shared with the school director and the local education committee as well as the communal authorities. On a daily basis we monitor both teachers and students attendance; we help the student council with the cleanliness of the classrooms, the school yard, the latrines, and the use of water jugs for safe drinking; and we organize information sessions with community members on girls education, nutrition, health, hygiene, early marriage, child labour, etc. We also contribute to the availability of school materials, such as pens, chalk, and exercise books. My neighbour volunteered with two other women to take care of our younger children at the ECD center. Other community members participate in making toys for children using local materials, contributing food for children’s snacks, etc.”
Thanks to the efforts of its community, Dougouba is close to reaching the goal of education for all. Younger children go to the ECD center, children aged 6 to 12 attend the primary school; adolescents go to the educational center for development. Brehima Fofana, chief of the village, says proudly: “We used to lag behind, but now we are ahead of most neighbouring villages; they all want to follow our example. Our challenge is to continue to improve the quality of our children’s education so that they gain knowledge and skills to better serve their own children. We appreciate the support of the government and UNICEF, but we count on ourselves first.”
