Challenge
Communities across Mali struggle to provide quality basic education for their children, but especially for the most vulnerable out-of-school children who have limited access to regular learning programs.
To address the challenges of providing educational opportunities for out-of-school children, EDC leads a consortium of 12 national and international organizations from the Malian Federation of NGOs (FONGIM) that have banded together to implement the Access to Education for All Children in Mali project (PACETEM). In partnership with Educate A Child (EAC), a program of the Education Above All Foundation, PACETEM will increase enrollment and retention of 596,597 of the most vulnerable out-of-school children through strategies targeting specific challenges nationwide.
Key Activities
As part of PACETEM, nongovernmental organizations will:
- Raise awareness of the value of schooling, especially for marginalized categories of children, including girls, minorities, nomads, and children with disabilities.
- Establish one-classroom schools in remote locations with low population density
- Use mobile schools to reach children in nomadic and migrating communities
- Bring together religious leaders and education officials to raise awareness regarding the value of providing basic education competencies alongside religious teachings, supplementing Koranic school programs so that students can also gain basic French and math skills
- Establish accelerated learning programs to engage children aged 8 to 12 who are not in school, providing them opportunities to access formal schooling
- Provide intensive remediation classes during the summer months to children who have been excluded from school, so that they can re-enter the school system
- Reach out to families with children who have physical disabilities to provide basic aids (eye glasses, crutches, etc.) to enable those children to enroll in and attend school
- Construct new classrooms in overcrowded schools for better working and learning environments
Impact
- PACETEM aims to enroll 596,597 out-of-school children through alternative educational strategies identified by the Ministry of Education and the FONGIM consortium members
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PROJECT DIRECTOR
DURATION
PARTNERS
Educate A Child (EAC), a program of the Education Above All Foundation; Aide et Action International; AMPRODE-Sahel; AMSS; Plan International/Bornefonden; CARE; EDUCO; Handicap International/Humanité et Inclusion; OMAES; Right to Play; SORO; World Education