Niger: A further step towards education for all

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Published on 04/07/2019
Health and human development
EDUCATION AND SOCIO-PROFESSIONAL INTEGRATION
Niger
In the context of the Quality Education Support Project (PAEQ), Expertise France, CIEP and IIPE have assisted the Niger authorities with the implementation of their strategy to increase access to basic education. This project is cofinanced by the World Bank and Agence Française de Développement via the Global Partnership for Education (GPE). It has built over 1,000 classrooms and trained over 8,000 teachers.

To continue to increase access to basic education (primary and lower secondary education) and improve the quality of its education system, Niger has launched a sectoral education and training programme (PSEF) for 2014-2024. As this involves major reforms in terms of the management of the education system, Niger has obtained a grant from the Global Partnership for Education (GPE), which is supervised by the World Bank. It has been complemented by AFD financing, which has led to the creation of the Quality Education Support Project (PAEQ).

Project management capacities strengthened

Expertise France has been called on to support the implementation of this financial assistance and has partnered with the International Centre for Educational Studies (CIEP) and the International Institute for Educational Planning (IIPE).

From August 2016 to June 2019, a team of three resident experts worked closely with the technical teams of the Niger Ministries of Primary Education (MEP) and Secondary Education (MES). This has built the capacities of the technical teams of these two ministries to manage the Quality Education Support Project (PAEQ), with assistance in financial and accounting management, human resources management, public procurement (for example, for the construction of classrooms), monitoring-evaluation, etc. Sectoral expertise has also been mobilised, for example, for the reform of the teacher training curriculum or the management of this training, both initial and in-service.

 

Over 8,000 teachers trained

In the context of the Quality Education Support Project (PAEQ), and in almost 3 years of implementation, some 1,210 primary classrooms have been built: no other project has built as many primary classrooms over the last 15 years in Niger. For the education quality component, the training of 8,160 contractual teachers, the strengthening of learning assessment systems, and the development of a human resources management strategy are all solid achievements for the future of education in Niger.

A feedback session, which was held on 20th June in Niamey, took stock of all the actions conducted by the team of experts mobilised. This initial assessment will be complemented by an evaluation of the achievements of the support and capacity building conducted in the context of this project.

 

 

Photo credit: CIEP

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