Mali basic education

Program assistance of $3 million in quick disbursing funds will be used for budgetary support, while project assistance ($7 million) will emphasize in-service training, a practical curriculum, and increased access to education. Program assistance will be contingent upon satisfaction of conditions set by the World Bank, relating to, inter alia: increasing access to primary education; broadening private support; improving teacher training; decreasing resources to secondary and higher education and directing them to primary education; and controlling costs. Under project assistance, a permanent in-service pedagogical and management training system will be developed for primary education personnel. Pedagogical training will emphasize a simple approach that will relate teaching methodology to the production of practical skills rather than theoretical knowledge. Management training will include subjects such as double shifting, multigrade classes, and maintenance systems. Several pilot projects and studies will be conducted aimed at increasing girls" enrollment and lowering their drop-out rates. Efforts will also be made in ruralization of the curriculum (i.e., linking school to life). To this end, 4-H Clubs will be established and there will be experiments in teaching the primary grades in maternal languages. The Peace Corps will assist with ruralization activities. To increase community support to education, the project will support a World Bank program to establish Fundamental Education Support Funds (FAEF), which will be provided as matching grants to local initiatives for improving primary schools, e.g., school construction and renovation, textbook purchasing and delivery. The project will also fund leadership and management training for community organizations. Finally, an Educational Management Information System (EMIS) will be established to measure student achievement, and to monitor project performance as well as compliance with program conditions precedent. Amendment of 8/27/91 increases funding by $5 million and focuses on two interventions: (1) creation of Regional Pedagogical Centers (RPCs) as service and training centers; and (2) strengthening of the Regional Directorates of Education (DREs) by creating EMIS units within regional offices. The amendment also supports a Girls" Schooling Unit and a National Action Plan to promote girls" education, provides FAEF funding for school rehabilitation, and funds additional pilot projects as needed. The amendment will allow the project to reach an additional 366 schools and 62,386 children, train up to 500 more teachers, and further improve educational administration. (PD-ABD-323) Amendment of 8/26/93 provides grants to two U.S. PVOs to continue to implement community-based activities in cooperation with local NGOs. World Education will train Parents" Associations in opening primary schools (Ecoles de Base), while Save the Children will develop curricula and learning materials in national languages for use in rural schools. (PD-ABH-053) PAAD amendment of 4/22/94 revises program conditionality for the disbursement of the remaining $2 million of the cash transfer. The revised conditionality will create a legal framework for the development and expansion of private and community education. This framework will address the following five issues: (1) the role of communities in the governance and management of schools; (2) the distinction between schools operated by private entrepreneurs and non-profit schools created and run by community groups; (3) recognition and registration of all establishments with at least 60 students as institutions of public utility; (4) maintaining community interests in rules governing access to land, funds, and facilities for private and community schools; and (5) the obligations of the state vis-a-vis private and community schools. (PD-ABP-262).