UNICEF Burkina Faso: Investing in the Future

Schools for Burkina Faso Schools for Africa

Burkina Faso

Investing in the future

Schools for Burkina Faso

Investing in the future

Schools for Africa

Burkina Faso

Education is the great engine of personal development.

It is through education that the daughter of a peasant can become a doctor, that the son of a mineworker can become the head of the mine, that the child of farm workers can become the president... 窶年elson Mandela

The children featured in this book all live in Sokoroni, a small agricultural village in the west of Burkina Faso.

© UNICEF Burkina Faso 2012 Photos, words, design: Kelley Lynch (kelleyslynch.com) Editing: Helen de Jode and Tracy Schuster Drawings: Siaka Diallo and Fatimata Dembelé; old textbook pieces courtesy of the Ministry of National Education and Literacy Acknowledgements: A big thank you to the people of Sokoroni, especially Seydou Coulibaly, Brahima Sanou and the families of the three children featured in this book: Oumou, Safiatou and Siaka. Without their patience, good humor, hospitality and assistance this book would not have been possible. Suzanne Sidibé, Provincial Director for Basic Education in Kenedougou Province was extremely supportive and helpful as was UNICEF’s Chief of Education, Erinna Dia. Last but not at all least, thanks to UNICEF’s Bernadin Bationo who enthusiastically shepherded this project through from beginning to end, acting not only as translator and informant, but also as photographic assistant, fixer and so much more.

Contents 006 Schools for Africa: Burkina Faso 016

Oumou’s story

The Bisongo: early childhood education

050 Safiatou’s story The primary school

084 Siaka’s story

The non-formal basic education centre

114

UNICEF in action

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About UNICEF

Making a difference for children in Burkina Faso

Schools for Africa: Burkina Faso Worldwide, 67 million children are not in school, 43 per cent of them in Sub-Saharan Africa alone. This equates to one African child in every three. Those who do go to school often learn in overcrowded classrooms where the quality of teaching is poor.

The Schools for Africa (SFA) initiative is a successful international fundraising partnership between UNICEF, the Nelson Mandela Foundation and Peter Krämer Stiftung.

Launched by Nelson Mandela in December 2004, the SFA partnership seeks to provide quality basic education to millions of children in 11 countries in Africa, including Angola, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Rwanda, South Africa and Zimbabwe. Its aim is to help the most marginalised children—particularly girls, orphans and other vulnerable children living in extreme poverty.

SFA supports the implementation of UNICEF’s comprehensive Child-Friendly School (CFS) approach to education. Each country’s programme is somewhat different because it is adapted to local circumstances, but the overall goal remains the same: getting children into school and keeping them there—to give children, their families and their communities the chance of a better future.

6 UNICEF Burkina Faso

Burkina Faso’s challenges Situated at the geographical heart of West Africa, Burkina Faso—“the land of upright people”—shares its borders with Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, Bénin, Niger and Mali. This flat, landlocked country is Sahelian in the north—with low rainfall and high temperatures, but more tropical in the south—with higher rainfall and lower temperatures. Population density is highest in the south.

The ninth poorest country in the world (UNHDI 2010), Burkina Faso’s combination of limited natural resources, little industry, high population density and rapid population growth restricts the economic prospects for the majority of its 16.3 million citizens, 42 per cent of whom live on less than US $1 a day.

More than 80% of the population still live in rural areas—engaged in livestock production and subsistence agriculture—where they rely on shrinking plots of land, fragile soil and increasingly erratic rainfall. To provide for their families many people, including children as young as 12 or 13, migrate to cities or neighbouring countries in search of work.

The Government of Burkina Faso is committed to investing in a better future for its people. It recognises that access to quality basic education for all is essential to lifting its people out of poverty.

Education in Burkina Faso In 2002 Burkina Faso had some of the lowest net enrolment rates in the world and a sizeable gender gap: just 41 per cent of boys and 31 per cent of girls were enrolled in primary school.

Over the past ten years various strategies have increased access to education, particularly for those most likely to miss out: poor rural children and girls. But the single largest boost to enrolment came in 2007 when the government, with the support of its partners, removed the major obstacle preventing parents from enrolling Schools for Burkina Faso Introduction

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and maintaining their children at school: its cost. Across Burkina Faso public primary school was made free of charge. Books and materials were also provided for free, and in a specific effort to get parents to send their girls to school, the government agreed to pay the only remaining fee parents had to pay—the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) fee—for all girls enrolled in the first year of primary school.

Children poured into schools across the country, and they continue to do so. Four years later, in school year 2010-11, 61 per cent of school age children were enrolled in primary school—63 per cent of boys and 59 percent of girls—with gender parity almost reached. (There are still geographical disparities however: net enrolment can be 80% in cities and just 40% in rural areas.)

Today, despite this success, some 40 per cent of school age children are still out of school. Some of these are Burkina Faso’s most vulnerable: children living in extremely poor families, children with disabilities, children and adolescents living on the streets, and children in remote rural areas for whom school is still too far away.

But a great many of them are children who used to be in school and dropped out.

The surge in demand after 2007, coupled with the country’s high population growth rate (3.1 per cent), has pushed schools to the breaking point. With not enough classrooms, not enough teachers and not enough basic classroom materials, students are forced to learn in crowded classrooms with high teacher-student ratios and poor quality instruction. The result is poor student performance and high rates of drop out. Currently almost half of those who enrol in primary school will drop out before they complete the full six-year cycle.

Today the greatest challenge to achieving education for all in Burkina Faso is not getting children into school, but keeping them there. Children who drop out have few options: without sufficient education or skills to do a job some remain in their villages working alongside their parents, but most migrate to cities or neighbouring countries where they work as herders, labourers or domestic help without any real hope for the future.

8 UNICEF Burkina Faso

A better future with UNICEF As a partner to the Ministry of National Education and Literacy (MENA from the French), UNICEF has considerable influence at grassroots and policy levels. Since 1995 UNICEF has been supporting education services to vulnerable groups, as well as informing and influencing government education policy.

UNICEF Burkina Faso has worked closely with the government and other partners to develop and implement strategies focused on increasing the supply of education as well as the demand for it. To increase demand they have worked to make parents aware of the importance of basic education—especially for girls—and to increase supply UNICEF has built almost 1250 classrooms, helping to bring schools closer to the communities that need them.

In 2007 UNICEF Burkina Faso joined the ‘education common basket’ funding mechanism. Their contribution—both technical and financial—together with that of other donors, has made it possible for the government to implement initiatives that have significantly improved access to quality schooling. These include, as mentioned above, eliminating school fees (including PTA fees for girls in the first year of primary school); providing school materials free of charge to students enrolled in primary school; constructing, rehabilitating and equipping classrooms; training teachers; and improving the curriculum.

Much has been done, and much remains to be done. At every level UNICEF’s goals are the same: increasing access to and improving the quality of basic education in the country, particularly for vulnerable populations.

UNICEF: innovative solutions that work In all of its work UNICEF is engaged in developing, monitoring and evaluating innovative approaches that help to improve children’s education today, while building up an evidence base that will feed into the development of www.schoolsforafrica.org 9

more effective education policies for tomorrow. Two key UNICEF innovations—Education Complexes and childfriendly schools—address the key education challenges that Burkina Faso faces: retention and access. These innovations are now making their way into government education policy.

Education complexes: access to education for all UNICEF’s education complexes are designed to respond to the reality of the situation facing children and families in Burkina Faso. The nucleus of the complex is a standard six-classroom government primary school.

Built nearby, as part of the complex, are both an early childhood development (ECD) centre (‘Bisongo’) that serves children aged 3 to 5, and a non-formal basic education centre (CEBNF from the French) for children aged 9 to 15 who are out of the formal primary school system.

UNICEF has been working with communities to build each of these types of educational facilities—Primary schools, Bisongos and CEBNF—since 1995. Each is integrated into the basic education system, but until six years ago they remained stand-alone interventions. The advantages of uniting them into a single education complex became apparent during the 2006 Côte d’Ivoire crisis: Burkinabé who had been residing in Côte d’Ivoire fled that country’s civil war and settled just inside Burkina Faso’s borders. UNICEF, faced with educating vast numbers of children of varying ages and abilities, opened its first education complex.

It quickly became apparent that by working together the three educational facilities addressed the educational needs of all children: the Bisongo played a proactive role by socializing children and preparing them for primary school so they performed better when they got there; the primary school educated children from grades one through six; and the CEBNF acted as a second chance for ‘out of school’ adolescents to get an education and to either re-enter the formal system or go on to learn a trade.

10 UNICEF Burkina Faso

Today, with UNICEF’s support, education complexes are making education for all a reality in 15 villages in Burkina Faso—and the government has taken note. Additional funds would allow UNICEF to build more education complexes and help Burkina Faso to make significant progress towards achieving Education for All.

Child-friendly schools: enhancing the quality of basic education UNICEF has always found that where children are at the centre of learning, the community is involved in the school and the teachers are engaged and motivated, the children’s performance—and thus retention in school—is better.

UNICEF’s child-friendly School (CFS) model takes the wellbeing of the whole child as its starting point. Childfriendly schools are inclusive and gender-sensitive. They have adequate resources and competent teachers who use child-centred teaching methods that make learning fun. They provide clean water, suitable sanitation facilities, and school-based nutrition services—including canteens and school gardens. They are designed so that children feel safe and secure—places to learn and grow with respect for their diverse needs.

The CFS model also engages parents, teachers, students, community members and local authorities in the effective functioning of the school. By working together in School Management Committees (SMC), Mothers of Students Associations (AME from the French) and PTAs, communities develop the capacity to take their children’s education into their own hands, enabling them to address the issues that affect their children’s motivations for coming to school and for staying there.

Since 2010 UNICEF Burkina Faso has built and equipped 47 child-friendly schools to serve vulnerable populations in some of the most remote parts of the country. It has also invested additional resources to convert 180 existing primary schools into child-friendly schools in two provinces.

Schools for Burkina Faso Introduction

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The Government has recognized the potential for this model to enhance the quality of education, and thus children’s performance and retention in school. As a result the model has been included as part of the national education policy. UNICEF and the MENA are currently working to adapt the model to the Burkina Faso context, and pilot interventions are underway in two provinces. In the coming years the government plans to implement the approach on a national scale, with the goal that by 2017 every school in the country will be child-friendly.

The resources to succeed Despite the successes much remains to be done—and resources are limited. The government does not have sufficient funds to invest in all of the measures needed to improve the quality of and access to education.

Without significant external investment the country’s prospects for achieving Education for All—even five years behind schedule in 2020—are low. Schools for Africa funds will allow UNICEF Burkina Faso to: • Open new education complexes in villages where the demand for education is critical • Fully equip Bisongos with the necessary learning materials • Fully equip CEBNFs with the tools required to learn a trade • Construct additional child-friendly Bisongos, primary schools, and CEBNFs in the most remote and needy areas • Convert existing primary schools into child-friendly schools • Contribute to training teachers in child-centred teaching methods • Support capacity building for members of school-centred community based organizations • Promote the empowerment of mothers for school support • Promote both geographical (urban/rural) and gender equity in education 12 UNICEF Burkina Faso

Investing in the future In the following pages you will meet children and community members from the rural village of Sokoroni, located in Kénédougou Province in western Burkina Faso. This is just one community, but their stories provide compelling evidence of how, with UNICEF’s help, education for all can become a reality in Burkina Faso.

Just six years ago there was only one school in the village—a crowded three-classroom block that dated to 1954. Today, thanks to UNICEF, there are four—the old primary school (Sokoroni ‘B’), a new six-classroom primary school (Sokoroni ‘A’), a CEBNF (with three classrooms and three workshops) and a Bisongo—each serving the needs of a particular group of children.

Oumou, 4, attends the Bisongo, allowing her mother to work and her sister, Korotimi, 8, to go to primary school. Safiatou, 12, is in sixth grade at Sokoroni ‘A’ public primary school. Siaka, 16, is a student at the CEBNF. Every morning he attends basic education classes and then spends the rest of his day in the sewing workshop where he is learning to be a tailor.

A short final section, ‘UNICEF in Action’, explains in greater detail how UNICEF works with communities, teachers, parents and education officials to implement innovative, sustainable solutions that are an investment in a better future for Burkina Faso’s children, their families and their communities.

www.schoolsforafrica.org 13

This education complex, with three schools in one centre, is a great opportunity for us. Our youngest children go to the Bisongo, which gets them ready for school. Then, when they go on to the primary school, most of them will stay there. Those who do well in primary school can go on to secondary school. And those who are not in school or didn’t do well in primary school can go to the non-formal education centre and learn a trade. This three-in-one structure provides opportunities for all of our children. This is what will lead our village to an education rate of 100%.

—Oumar Traore Chief’s Representative and President of the Village Development Committee Sokoroni, Burkina Faso

I’m working for our children, to open their minds and give them some of the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in school. I am also working for parents, particularly mothers. I have eight children. I know too well that when you have young children at home it’s difficult to get anything done. —Fatimata Dembele Bisongo teacher

The Bisongo: early childhood education

The Bisongo: early childhood education As primary school enrolment in Burkina Faso soars, the most pressing question facing educators is no longer how can we get more children into school, but how can we keep them there? UNICEF recognises that one of the key answers to this question is early childhood development.

Currently just under four per cent of eligible children in Burkina Faso are enrolled in some form of early childhood development programme. To most parents singing, dancing, drawing and playing look far less important than what children learn in primary school. But research shows that the ‘soft’ skills young children learn in preschool, including the ability to pay attention and focus, work as part of a group, follow a routine, share, make compromises and resolve conflicts, will translate directly into primary school success. Children arrive at primary school ready to learn. And those who start school ahead will stay ahead. Studies show that they do better in primary, and even secondary school, and are far less likely to repeat a grade or drop out.

Helping parents to see the benefits of early childhood development is crucial. In the following pages you will meet Sita Dembelé and her daughters Oumou, 4 and Korotimi, 8. When Sita enrolled Oumou in Sokoroni’s community-based early childhood development centre—or Bisongo—four mornings a week, she understood that it would benefit the entire family: Oumou would spend the morning playing and learning in a safe place; Korotimi who had already missed a year of primary school because her mother needed her help looking after her younger sister, would be free to go to school; and Sita would have more time to work to supplement her family’s income.

Today, as a direct result of UNICEF’s advocacy, early childhood development is part of the national education plan. The goal is for 8.5 per cent of eligible children to be enrolled in some form of preschool by 2015, and 15.5 per cent by 2020. It is hoped that, as a result, more and more children will go on to complete the full course of primary schooling.

Schools for Burkina Faso Oumou’s story

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06:38 After we get up in the morning I help Oumou and Korotimi

wash themselves. After they eat breakfast we leave for school.

07:15 I walk with them until after we cross the river. Then they continue on without me.

Korotimi goes one way to the primary school and Oumou goes the other way to the Bisongo. www.schoolsforafrica.org

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Sita Dembelé Oumou’s mother The Bisongo is very important to me. I have four children at home

chores and look after her younger sister, Oumou, when I had to

and a lot of work to do. Every day I have to pound the grain or take

go to the fields or to the market. I was always worried as I left the

it to the mill, cook, wash the clothes, and help my husband in the

house. What if something happened to them while I was away?

field. I also do a number of activities that allow me to contribute

What if they hurt themselves or got sick and there was nobody

something to our family’s income. On top of all of this, some days I

there to help them?

help cook food for the children at the Bisongo, other days I meet

Korotimi was already almost a year late starting primary school

with mothers in my area or with the other women on the

when I suggested to my husband that if we sent Oumou to the

leadership committee for the Mothers of Students Association.

Bisongo I could do my work without worrying about their safety

It isn’t easy to do all of this and take care of young children.

and Korotimi to go to school—and both girls would get something

As a mother, the children are my responsibility—particularly during their first three years. After that, if the child doesn’t attend the Bisongo, I have to find someone to take care of her when I go

to eat while they were away. He agreed—but I had worked and saved up enough money to pay the fee myself in case he said no.

Now I do my work in the morning while Oumou is at the

to the market or to work in the field—or I have to do it myself. My

Bisongo. Then, in the afternoon when she is at home, I can manage

husband can come and go and do whatever he needs to do without

because I’ve had all morning to get things done. Of course I also

worrying about the children. Not me. That’s why, like many

have this one on my back to look after. Minata is just one year old,

mothers, I used to keep one of my children home from school:

but I’ve already decided that as soon as she turns three she will

Korotimi was just six years old, but she would help me do the

definitely attend the Bisongo.

22 UNICEF Burkina Faso

While Oumou is at school I have a lot to do...

Some days I help the other members of

Other days I buy cereals

the Mothers of Students Association cook

in the village and sell them

food for the children at the Bisongo.

at a profit in the market...

How does UNICEF help?

UNICEF provided five bicycles for use by the Bisongo ‘monitor’ (teacher) and leaders of the AME and SMC. The bikes facilitate the monitor’s travel to and from the Bisongo and allow leadership committee members to travel from place to place sensitising mothers about the benefits of educating their children and inviting women to attend the Association’s general meetings.

24 UNICEF Burkina Faso

or I prepare shea butter...

and roast peanuts to sell at home or in the market.

I was asked to join four other women in leading

I organise meetings with mothers in my area to talk about

My work is never finished:

the Bisongo’s Mothers of Students Association.

educating their children--especially their girls. We also talk

cooking, cleaning, washing

We meet with Fatimata, the Bisongo teacher,

about parents must be involved in their children’s education

the clothes...

once a month to discuss how we can better

and the importance of paying the fees. Many families think

support the Bisongo.

the Bisongo contribution of 1600 CFA per child per year- (US $3.20) plus grain is too much, but this money must pay for many things, including learning materials.

As we talk mothers come to understand that when their children attend the Bisongo it benefits the whole family.

Schools for Burkina Faso Oumou’s story

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26 UNICEF Burkina Faso

Korotimi Ouattara Oumou’s sister I like going to school. Before I used to stay at home and look after my sister all day. It was a hard job. I had to carry her around, feed her and wash her when she soiled herself. Often we were home alone because my mother had to go to the field to work or to the market. Sometimes people we didn’t know would come to the house and I would pick her up and run with her to a neighbour’s house where there was an adult at home.

Some of my friends were also at home like me, looking after their younger siblings, but others went to school. I didn’t like watching them go off to school every morning when I had to stay home and work.

Now, because my sister goes to the Bisongo, I get to go to school too. School is great. I like playing with my friends and working with them in groups. I like learning to write and I like drawing and singing. I like school so much that I have decided that when I grow up I want to be a teacher. www.schoolsforafrica.org

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07:40 Oumou runs to catch up with the other children on their way to school.

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07:50 Fatimata arrives—-with three of her eight children-—to start the day.

Schools for Burkina Faso Oumou’s story

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How does UNICEF help?

UNICEF hires local contractors (supervised by an engineering consulting firm) to construct Bisongos and their associated kitchens to ensure they meet good standards for quality and safety. Then, before the Bisongo opens, the community selects three female monitors and UNICEF trains them to do their job.

30 UNICEF Burkina Faso

08:22 The day begins with clapping and singing. All morning Fatimata keeps the children moving from one activity to the next: dancing, counting, learning sounds, playing games...

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Fatimata Dembelé Bisongo ‘monitor’ I love children, and I have some education. That’s why, when the Bisongo opened in 2008, the community asked me to be the teacher.

I’m not working here to earn money. I’m working for our children—to open their minds and give them some of the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in school. I teach them

I am also working for parents, particularly mothers. I have eight children—three of them are here with me in the Bisongo—so I know too well that when you have young children at home it’s not easy to get things done. But if their children are here, mothers are free to go about their business.

Right now there are 61 children aged three to five enrolled in the

some French sounds, numbers and counting. We sing songs and

Bisongo and I am the only teacher. Initially two younger girls were

dance, and I read them stories and poems. They learn to be

trained to work with me, but they left because they were not paid.

respectful to their teachers and to one another. They learn good manners. And they learn to sit still and to work in groups.

Even when you love children it can sometimes feel completely overwhelming. Like today: I’m trying to read them a story, I’ve Schools for Burkina Faso Oumou’s story

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almost lost my voice, some children are crying, others are fighting and others are running in and out of the room. And I see that

The lack of materials makes my job even harder. I have a few dolls, but not enough for everyone. If I give some of the children a

someone just had an accident on the floor over there and I had

doll, everybody else wants one so they end up fighting over them.

better go and clean it up. With so many children it’s hard to

I have a box of building blocks and some wooden shapes, but again,

maintain discipline and keep an eye on everyone.

not enough. And I have ten slates and some bits of broken chalk.

Fortunately some of the women from the Mothers of Students

How does UNICEF help?

UNICEF provides locally made playground equipment, chairs and wooden toys to the ever-increasing number of Bisongos opening throughout the country. Additional resources would enable us to equip all of these Bisongos with adequate learning materials for the growing number of children that enrol every year.

Association come every morning to cook. If I need help I can ask them, but when it comes to my work in the classroom I am alone.

The Bisongo would definitely function better if we had more materials and if I had some help. I would also like to be paid something for my work. Even so, I am committed to what I am doing here: preparing our children for the future.

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How does UNICEF help?

UNICEF provides Mothers of Students Associations with training in how to conduct income generating activities and then provides them with the money they need to initiate those activities. This takes the form of a capital fund from which short-term rotating loans are given to Association members. Women use the money to enhance their income generating activities, the profits of which benefit members and their families. The interest collected on the loans is used to benefit the school. More funds would enable UNICEF and its partners to provide larger capital funds, in addition to literacy and numeracy training for Mothers engaged in income generating activities.

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Mothers of Students Association Set up to give women a voice in their children’s schooling, Mothers of Students Associations are working in schools across the country to support education—particularly for girls—and to support schools through income generating activities.

Each of the three schools in this complex has its own Mothers of Students Association. All of the women in the village are members

Another way we help the Bisongo is by doing income generating activities. In 2009 UNICEF provided our association with 190,000

of one or more of them. This is because even if they don’t have

CFA (US $380) in seed money. We have been using it to generate

children or grand children in one of the schools now, they will.

income for our families and for the Bisongo. It works like this: every

Meeting together with the other women in the association gives us

three months some of the women in the association take out small

a place where we can talk about our views on schooling and

loans of 5000-10,000 CFA (US $10-20) from the capital fund. Some

children, and what we can do to make things better.

use it to buy cereals that they sell for a profit in the market. Others

We hold a big meeting for all of the members once a quarter during the school year. But the five of us in the leadership committee meet more often. It is our job to make sure the Bisongo

dry mango slices or roast nuts and sell them. Still others make and sell shea butter or a local condiment called ’Soumbala’.

After having use of that money for three months, the women

functions well. This means supporting the monitor so she can do

keep any profit they make and return the money they borrowed

her job. Two or three mothers come in every morning to cook a

along with ten per cent interest. The money goes back into the

snack of couscous for the children. Because we are here we can

capital fund and the interest supports the Bisongo. If all goes well,

also help by taking children out to pee, bringing water from the

that means we contribute 19,000 CFA (US $38) to the Bisongo

borehole, and taking home any child who falls sick.

every three months. Most of this money is used to provide the www.schoolsforafrica.org

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children with food every day. Our husbands provide the maize for

Bisongo would be greater. That would allow us to buy more toys

the couscous as part of the annual Bisongo contribution. We use

and learning materials for the Bisongo and improve the snack.

the money we take in to buy the onions, oil and shea butter we use to prepare it. Our contribution has also allowed us to buy plates and

The Bisongo is important to women. We are always the ones who suggest sending our children there, and if our husbands say

bowls, buckets and cooking pots and to help to provide school

no or can’t pay the fee we will work to find a way. The Bisongo

materials for the children. If there is anything left over we give the

allows us to work, it allows our older daughters to go to school,

teacher a little something for her work.

and it provides our young children with a safe place to play and

The system is working well. The profit from our income

learn—and prepares them for primary school. Children who go to

generating activities allows us to buy clothes and shoes for our

the Bisongo are sharper. They pick things up faster and they do

children and contribute to any shortfall at home. Some of us also

better in school.

use it to pay the annual Bisongo fee. But it would work even better if we had more money in the capital fund.

Most of us never had the chance to go to school. We don’t want our children to be like us. Being illiterate is discouraging. Some-

Currently each woman only gets a small loan of 5,000 to 10,000

times we don’t even know if our income generating activities have

CFA (US $10-20) once or maybe twice in a year. If there was more

earned a profit. If we had gone to school things would be different.

to loan out we could make more in profit and the return for the

Sending our children to the Bisongo is an investment in their future.

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How does UNICEF help?

UNICEF training also makes members of the Mothers of Students Association aware of steps they can take to promote girls’ education and welfare. This includes sensitizing other women about the necessity of enrolling their daughters in school and helping them succeed, participating in the annual recruitment of pupils to make sure girls are accepted in school, and monitoring girls’ attendance to ensure they come to school regularly. Members also learn about preventing early and/or forced marriages of young girls who are in school.

Schools for Burkina Faso Oumou’s story

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10:38 The Children sit in the shade and eat the cous cous we prepared.

11:23 Fatimata finishes the morning by reading the children a story.

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13:18 Back at home, Oumou spends the afternoon playing with her cousin.

42 UNICEF Burkina Faso

Schools for Burkina Faso Oumou’s story

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15:35 My work goes more

slowly during

the afternoon.

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16:40 My husband is a farmer. He has worked

all day to build a granary to store the harvest. www.schoolsforafrica.org

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17:27 My two older children come home from school.

46 UNICEF Burkina Faso

17:40 While Korotimi does her homework I usually sit with

Oumou and ask her about what she did at the Bisongo. I enjoy seeing how her time there is helping to develop her mind.

Schools for Burkina Faso Oumou’s story

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Sending young children like Oumou to preschool prepares them to succeed in primary school.

UNICEF is working with communities and education authorities to provide quality community-based preschools to young children throughout Burkina Faso. www.schoolsforafrica.org

In the past if your child didn’t succeed in school you just said ‘Oh well, never mind. You can come back to work with us in the fields.’

And we really didn’t understand the value of education for girls. Now things are different. We understand the value of education and we know what parents and children would be missing without it.

—Oumar Sanogo Safiatou’s father

The primary school

The primary school In 2002 just 31 per cent of girls in Burkina Faso were enrolled in primary school, compared to 41 per cent of boys. Not only were parents unconvinced of the value of school—particularly for girls—but also sending girls to school meant high costs, both indirect and direct, for their families. Girls who spent their days in school were no longer available to take care of younger siblings, do household chores, or work to earn an income. For many families the cost of school fees and materials was prohibitive. Without sufficient resources to send all of their children to school, parents had to choose, and they chose to send the boys.

UNICEF’s strong advocacy for the promotion of girls’ education has helped bring about change. They have built more schools, designed them with girl-friendly features like separated latrine blocks and brought them closer to villages. The support of UNICEF and other partners has enabled the government to eliminate school fees, provide free school materials and pay PTA fees for girls in the first year of primary school. The result is that today many more girls attend school than ever before. Gender parity has almost been reached and gaps in enrolment have narrowed. However, when it comes to completion and success rates, girls are still at a disadvantage, particularly in rural areas. In 2010-11 59 per cent of girls enrolled in primary school (compared to 63 per cent of boys), and only 49 per cent completed the six-year cycle (55 per cent boys). Of those that stayed on, just 62 per cent passed the end of primary school exam (69 per cent boys).

In the following pages you will meet Safiatou Sanogo. She is now in the sixth grade, and if she successfully finishes school this year, she will be the first of the 16 children in her family to complete primary school.

Whereas just ten years ago it was unlikely that girls like Safiatou would have been in school, today her family’s hopes are riding on her success. An important factor that has promoted girls’ education in her village is the narrative you hear from every parent who has a daughter enrolled in school: girls who get an education will get a job and look after their parents much better than their brothers ever will. Safiatou’s aunt, who is a nurse, has made good on this promise. Safiatou and her parents hope that she will too.

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06:03 In the morning I sweep outside our house and fetch water from the well to wash myself and more for my family to use during the day.

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06:40 We eat rice porridge for breakfast. www.schoolsforafrica.org 55

07:05 I leave for school with my cousins and other children who live nearby.

07:30 When I get to school I play with my friends and then we line up and go into the classroom.

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Safiatou Sanogo Safiatou, 12, is in the sixth grade at Sokoroni ‘A’ primary school When I grow up I want to be a teacher or a nurse or maybe something even better, like a doctor.

I’m glad that I am going to school. Those who don’t get to attend school usually have to work in the field with their parents. I think it’s better to go to school because if you do, then one day you can get a job and help your family. This is especially true for girls. When a girl succeeds in school and gets a job she will help her parents and her family.

It is good that so many girls are in school now. We do the same work as the boys— sweeping the classrooms, cleaning the latrines—we work side by side. Girls are just as good as boys. But if you ask me, girls are smarter. The boys like to play and we like to learn. We work harder in school and we do better. It is always a girl who is top of the class.

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08:56 Geography is my favorite subject. I like learning about what is around me: the land, the rivers the trees and the sky.

09:22 Madame Konate comes in to check

our classroom every day. She walks around to see if anybody is absent or if any of the students in class is sick. She also makes sure the students who cleaned

the classroom that morning did a good job.

Alimata Konate rs of Students Association Member, Sokoroni ‘A’ Mothe g to help if the school is goin in this school. Parents need There are a lot of students s. I don’t have up on things in the classroom ck che to day ry eve e com I to function well. they can’t prepare for ent time every day so that fer dif a at e com I e. tim a regular e turns sweeping out the children are supposed to tak the g rnin mo ery Ev t. visi my is m sweep it again. If a child classroom is dirty I have the classrooms. If I find that a e them to the dispensary. If make sure their parents tak sick, I take them home and n that, for example, and ask why. Sometimes I lear se hou ir the to go I ent abs a child is h his parents. I help them . If that is the case I talk wit der her a be to t sen was a boy is limited. I explain to them re is a future in herding, it to understand that while the talk with them future in education. After I ant ort imp re mo r, ade bro that there is a the cattle and send the find someone else to watch y The d. tan ers und y the ile for a wh Schools for Burkina Faso Safiatou’s story 61 child back to school.

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Brahima Sanou Director, Sokoroni ‘A’ Public Primary School and Safiatou’s teacher When I was a boy my father had a lot of land and 22 children. But

The rapid growth of our population means there is not enough

only five of us went to school—and that was primarily because our

land for everyone. We need to teach our children to do other things.

mothers paid for it. My father didn’t believe education had any

They can’t all be farmers. Education is key for development. It

value. ‘Every day educated people—teachers and civil servants—

provides the basis for the skills people need to get a job. Many

come and ask me to sell them a small piece of land on which to

parents now understand this and it is one of the reasons enrolment

grow some crops,’ he would tell me. ‘Why on earth would I want

is going up every year.

to pay to keep you in school? Clearly there isn’t any value in getting an education.’ When I told him I wanted to train to be a teacher he

We want many more children to go to school, and the government and its partners are making every effort to get them

said the same thing. I found the money elsewhere and continued

there. For many parents the cost has always been a challenge. In

my studies.

2007 the government took a big step by making primary schooling

Eventually my father was forced to re-evaluate his position. It

free and making school materials—books, notebooks, pens and

had started raining less and less and agriculture was in decline. He

pencils—free for all students. Materials alone could cost parents

could no longer feed his family very well. That was when he came

as much as 4000 CFA (US $8) per child per year. Today parents only

to me for help—which I never hesitated to give.

Education may have been a luxury in the past, but with all of the changes taking place in the world today, it is key. Take something as simple as a cell phone. If you don’t know how to read and write, you can’t use a cell phone very well. Mathematics is important for women involved in small commercial activities who need to know how to count and calculate. Educated people who travel from place to place can do so without getting lost. Mothers who are educated take better care of themselves and their children. Even a herder can use what he learns at school. He will know how to better manage

pay the PTA fee, which in this school is 1000 CFA (US $2) per child per year. Most can afford to pay but for some even this is too much.

In 2007 the government also started paying PTA fees for girls in the first year of primary school. This, along with the work we have

How does UNICEF help?

When UNICEF builds a school they equip it with desks and chairs, provide water and sanitation facilities and contribute to teacher training. The Ministry of National Education and Literacy (MENA) trains the teachers, pays their salaries, provides school supplies and contributes twothirds of the food cooked in school canteens.

the cattle if he knows how to read, write and calculate. www.schoolsforafrica.org 63

been doing to make the community aware of the need for girls’

those who continue may not successfully complete primary school.

education, resulted in a big increase in enrolment, especially for

In school year 2010-11 only 79 per cent of our sixth grade students

girls. In that one year the number of girls in this school went from

passed the primary school exit exam. And only 60 per cent of those

40 to 106. Today girls outnumber boys 227 to 187.

who passed went on to the local secondary school. This is in part

Now that many more children are enrolled, we face another

because families can’t afford it, but it is also because space is even

challenge: we don’t have enough classrooms or teachers. When I

more limited in secondary school. They simply cannot take all of the

first started teaching here eight years ago there were just three

students that want to attend. And even if they had the space—say

classrooms and, on average, 50 children in a class. UNICEF built six

another three classrooms—there would not be enough teachers.

new classrooms here in 2006-7—one for each grade. Now each of

So they take only the best. Until recently those who were denied

these classrooms has, on average, 60-70 students per class—and

entrance had two choices: repeat the sixth grade hoping to get a

some have far more. Our fifth grade class has 116 students in one

better score the following year, or drop out.

classroom with one teacher. This makes it hard for teachers to teach; we spend a lot of our teaching time just maintaining discipline. It also makes it hard for students to learn.

Of course, students who don’t learn don’t do well in school. Poor

This is where education complexes like this one are really benefitting the community. Previously adolescents who were not in school had few choices. They could go somewhere to look for work or work with their parents in the field. Now, when they do not

performance is a big reason students drop out of school. Others

succeed in school they have the immediate alternative of going to

drop out because their parents are no longer willing or able to pay

the CEBNF.

the PTA fees. Still others are pulled out to help at home. But even

And for those who are just starting school, the Bisongo gets them ready for school, so they do better when they get there. The

How does UNICEF help?

UNICEF’s child-friendly schools model, set to be rolled out across the country by 2017, will increase access to primary education for children in remote villages—with a particular focus on girls’ enrolment. It will also improve student performance and reduce the dropout rate by providing a childfriendly learning environment and more trained and motivated teachers.

very first class that ‘graduated’ from the Bisongo is now coming through the primary school. I know all of them. Most if not all of them have continued in school and they are better students than those who did not have the chance to attend.

No one school totally meets all of our needs, but these three complementary schools, taken together, allow us to respond to the differing needs of all of our children.

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10:04 At break time I buy a snack: bean beignets with shea butter.

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10:15 Every day at

break some of the children clean the

latrines. Today the

boys bring water from the borehole and the girls do the cleaning.

How does UNICEF help?

UNICEF’s Child-friendly schools always feature spatially separated latrine blocks for boys and girls along with a borehole to provide students with potable water. Separate latrine blocks make adolescent girls in particular feel comfortable at school and safe water means that children stay healthier—and are able to attend regularly.

Hygiene education is an important part of the child-friendly curriculum, contributing to children’s well-being both at school and at home.

www.schoolsforafrica.org 67

Karidia Sanogo Canteen manager and member of Association Sokoroni ‘A’ Mothers of Students ers of Students Association Every day members of the Moth all of the children in the take it in turns to cook lunch for vided by the government primary school. The food is free-—pro and by parents’ PTA contributions.

it some of the children The canteen is important. Without that most of the food has would go home at noon and find family, or that their parents been eaten by the rest of the there isn’t anything to eat are away working in the field and a saying: when you pound at home. In Burkina Faso we have and eat it. After that they millet the hens will come around same for children. If they won’t go anywhere else. It is the to go looking for it elseget food at school and don’t have all of the time and energy where, they will stay here. And ing. they save can be put into learn

11:35 Every morning a group of mothers cooks our lunch. They

start cooking early in the morning and finish just before noon when they fill our lunch pails full of warm cous cous.

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12:14 After lunch I talk with my friends for a while and then I go

home. Classes don’t

start again until 15:00.

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Parent Teacher Association Found in all schools, the PTA is a traditional community-based organisation that works to support the functioning of the school.

The committee consists of both men, who make up the leadership of the PTA, and women, who lead the AME. There are a lot of children in the school and not enough resources.

them understand how the money is used and why it is important.

If the school is going to function well it needs the help of the PTA.

Parents are also asked to give eight kilograms of grain per child

It is our role to work with the teachers to support the school and

per year to the canteen. This makes up two-thirds of our yearly

find solutions to its problems.

grain needs. The government gives the rest.

This involves organising all kinds of work. Every year before the

Attendance and tardiness are other challenges we are working to

beginning of school we mobilize the community to clean the

address. Some children leave home and never actually arrive at

school. We also repair windows, doors and school furniture as the

school. We talk with parents to make them aware of the problem

need arises, and repaint the blackboards.

We buy teaching and learning materials if what the Ministry

and encourage them to follow up. Other children come to school late because they are doing their chores at home. Doing chores is

gives is not enough, we pay the cost of the school’s participation in

fine, but we talk with parents about the importance of ensuring

sports activities, and we give money to the director if he has to

their children can still get to school on time.

travel on school business.

The money to do all these things comes from the PTA contribution of 1000 CFA (US $2) that parents are asked to make at the beginning of each school year for every child they enrol.

Unfortunately getting them to pay has proved a major challenge.

But we never force them. The law is strict on this. No child should be put out of school for not paying the PTA contribution. And if we try to use force they may take their children out of school, and then

Being a PTA member requires a lot of our time, but who better to support the school than its parents? Everything we give is an investment in our children’s futures.

How does UNICEF help?

As part of its child-friendly approach, UNICEF supports capacity building for community members in the PTA, AME and SMC. Literacy lessons, parental education and sensitization on the CFS approach allow community members to better support their children and the school.

both the child and the community lose. Instead we try to make www.schoolsforafrica.org 71

13:21 While I’m home during the lunch break I help my family...

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15:47 I have French and Mathematics classes in the afternoon.

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Suzanne Sidibé Provincial Director for Basic Education, Ministry of National Education and Literacy (MENA), Kénédougou Province School enrolment in this district continues to rise, reflecting the

get in school, they have looked for ways to help schools to function

success of a number of measures. Over the last decade, as part of

well. They are now involved in School Management Committees,

the National Basic Education Plan, the government of Burkina Faso

PTAs and Mothers of Students Associations. They are also working

and its partners have invested heavily in building schools and

to sensitise others in their communities about the importance of

eliminating fees so that most, if not all, of the children in Burkina

schooling their children.

Faso have access to school.

Involving civil society has also helped. As parents have come to understand that the future of their children now depends less on the education they get at home and more on the education they

If you come here during enrolment time you will see long lines of children with their parents waiting to register for school. And today in many schools over half of the students are girls.

In 2012, as we embark on a new National Basic Education Plan (2012-2020), we face great challenges. The first is still access to

How does UNICEF help?

UNICEF’s contributions to the Common Basket Mechanism (which it provides through the agency’s own resources, not donor funding) have helped make it possible for the government of Burkina Faso to eliminate school fees and material costs for children in public primary schools throughout the country.

school. But today, in most cases, this is because the demand for education is greater than the supply. We don’t have enough schools, and the existing schools cannot take all of the children who want to attend.

Retention in school is another challenge. The government is working on measures to address the issues that lead to children

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We often use examples of successful women to convince parents to send their daughters to school. The former Minister of Education came to Sokoroni for the innauguration of the school. Our Provincial Director for Basic Education is also a woman.

When she visits the school everyone is inspired.

—Brahima Sanou Director, Sokoroni ‘A’ Public Primary School

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dropping out. By 2015 we aim to see 75 per cent of the children who start primary school successfully complete the sixth grade.

Children with disabilities are another challenge. Some schools have the facilities to let them in, but most do not. The government

Burkina Faso has limited resources. Achieving our goals will require us to mobilize the entire society. We will also need the help of our partners and donors.

Over the years UNICEF has made a great contribution to

realises that they cannot achieve the Millennium Development Goal

education in Burkina Faso. They have constructed schools and

for education unless all of these children are in school. We realize

CEBNFs, trained teachers, and provided technical, logistical and

that it is unlikely that we will be able to achieve this by 2015, but we

material support to the MENA. Working together we look forward

are committed to ensuring that by 2020 all children will be in school

to the day when our joint efforts will finally result in Education

and they will stay there long enough to finish.

For All.

In order to achieve this we must respond to the reality of this country. We want to educate our children but we also realise that there are not enough jobs for all of them afterwards. Education must be relevant and adapted to the country’s needs. Our plans take this into account. School complexes like this one are an accepted model: those who graduate from the formal school and cannot go on to secondary school now have the option of going on to the

How does UNICEF help?

UNICEF is working to reinforce MENA’s institutional capacity by providing staff with training in the development of gender sensitive curricula and materials, child rights issues, microplanning, etc. They also provide the Ministry with essential logistical support, including motorbikes that allow school inspectors to travel to remote schools for monitoring and evaluation.

CEBNF. And those that do well can go on to secondary education.

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17:30 Some of our oranges are ready to harvest. After school I help my family collect some of the fruit so that it can be taken to the market tomorrow.

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Oumar Sanogo Safiatou’s father My concerns for my children are, in order: feeding them, making

it. That’s why all of my youngest children—except the baby—are in

sure they have a place to live, taking care of their health and then

school. School provides the knowledge, skills and abilities they

finding the means to ensure their education.

need for the future. My dream for Safiatou is that she will progress

This hasn’t always been easy. I have 16 children. Ten are grown up, and one is a baby. Currently five of them are in school—one in the non-formal centre, one in the Bisongo and three in the primary

well in school and if she finishes, that she will get a job that will allow her to take care of herself and to help us.

But there are immediate benefits, too. For example, because

school. The PTA fees really add up. But we try. We tighten our belts

she can read, Safiatou can sort out all of our family papers like birth

and pay little by little.

certificates. And if we ever had to go to court for any reason,

Most of my ten oldest children never went to school. Those who did all ended up dropping out. I never pulled them out; they were performing poorly so they didn’t want to continue. At that time most people had a poor understanding of what school was all

having someone in the family who speaks, reads and writes in French would be really important.

Over the years I have also come to believe that education can even help you do better as a farmer. For a long time I felt a lot of

about. If your son didn’t succeed you just said ‘oh well, never mind,

regret at not having gone to school myself. So five or six years ago,

you can come back to work with us in the fields.’ And we really

when I was about 60, I decided to attend literacy classes in the

didn’t understand the value of education for girls.

village. Now I can read and write in Dioula [the local language].

Now things are different. We understand the value of education and we know what parents and children would be missing without 80 UNICEF Burkina Faso

The world has changed. Today education provides the basis for so much of what you need to know. Without it you are ignorant.

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The education of girls like Safiatou is essential to the development of Burkina Faso.

UNICEF is working with communities and education authorities to ensure all children in Burkina Faso receive the kind of quality basic education that is the springboard to a brighter future. www.schoolsforafrica.org

I am pleased with what Siaka is learning at the non-formal education centre. In fact, I prefer it to the formal school because in addition to receiving a basic education he is also learning a trade. He will be able to make a contribution to the family, not only with what he earns but also by sharing with us all of the things he is learning at school. —Issa Diallo Siaka’s father

The non-formal basic education centre

The non-formal basic education centre Today in Burkina Faso about 29 per cent of children never go to school. For those who are fortunate enough to attend, success is not a given. Over the course of the six-year cycle, a staggering 48 per cent of the children will drop out—mostly due to poor performance—leaving just 52 per cent of the children who originally enrolled (55 per cent boys and 49 per cent girls)—to complete their primary education.

With only enough space for the best and brightest to go on to secondary school, it is clear that what most parents see as the promise of formal education—that their children will go to school and eventually acquire sufficient knowledge to get a salaried job—is not being met. So it is that, armed with a sixth grade education or less, many rural adolescents migrate to cities and neighbouring countries in search of whatever menial work they can find.

With UNICEF’s support, non-formal basic education centres (CEBNF) are addressing these challenges by offering out of school adolescents a second chance at basic education and the opportunity to learn a trade.

In the following pages you will meet Siaka Diallo. Siaka entered Sokoroni’s CEBNF with minimal basic education and a dream: to be a tailor. Today he spends the first hour of every morning at school learning the basic literacy and numeracy that provide the foundation he needs to do well in the tailoring workshop, where he spends the rest of his day. For some adolescents the basic education they receive in the CEBNF provides them with an alternative route into the formal system, but for most it is a path into vocational training in mechanics, masonry, weaving or tailoring.

Parents like the CEBNF: their adolescents now have the chance to learn right there in the village. They no longer worry about them leaving home and putting themselves at risk working as herders, or as hawkers or domestic workers in distant cities. Children like it: they are in school for a shorter time and come away with a practical skill that allows them to support themselves and their parents. And the Government likes it: providing out of school children with a basic education is essential to achieving education for all.

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06:00 I sweep outside the house and light the fire before everyone gets up.

06:21 We have maize porridge for breakfast.

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07:00 My sister and I walk to school.

Schools for www.schoolsforafrica.org Burkina Faso Story title

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Siaka Diallo Siaka, 16, is a first-year student in the non-formal education centre in Sokoroni where he is studying to be a tailor.

This is my first year in non-formal education. I like it. In school I

learning French, but I am also learning so much more. We read

learn a lot of things—how to read, how to write. But what I like

about animal husbandry, health and nutrition and the environment.

best is that I am learning to sew. I have a dream: to become a

We do drama and take care of the school garden. On top of all of

successful tailor and have a big shop where I make the best suits

that I am also learning a practical skill that will bring me a lot of

for people and I become well known and appreciated for that.

benefits in the future.

I didn’t always go to school. I was a herder until I was 11. Then I went to live with my aunt in the city. She enrolled me in night

When I’m not at school I help with the family chores. I help my mother clean the compound. I work in the vegetable garden with

classes. I didn’t have much to do in the day so I told her I wanted

my uncle or help with the harvest in the fields. If there is no other

to learn to sew. She used to send her clothes to a tailor. One day I

work I help my brother with our cattle. He’s working as a herder

asked him if he could teach me to sew. He agreed. For the next

this year. I’m glad it’s not me.

four years I worked with him every day. In the morning I would do my chores, wash, have breakfast and then go to the tailor shop. I

Herding is a difficult job. It’s a lot harder than going to school.

And there’s not much of a future in it. Some people my age leave

would work with him until 6 pm, when I would go home, take a

school to look for work far away from their villages or to work as

shower and go to school.

herders. If I could, I would advise them to look beyond all of that. It

A few months ago I moved back home to Sokoroni. My father

won’t lead you anywhere. One day you will be back where you

told me about the non-formal basic education centre and I wanted

started. But if you go to school and learn a trade you will have a

to go. In night school I was only learning a little French. I am still

future and you will also be able to help your family.

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07:30 It’s my turn to raise the flag before school starts.

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07:58 I have one hour of basic education every morning.

We learn to read and write by studying practical subjects: health, nutrition, hygiene, population and the environment,

gardening and animal husbandry. We also learn about HIV/AIDS. www.schoolsforafrica.org

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Seydou Coulibaly Director of the Non-Formal Basic Education Centre (CEBNF) Non-formal education normally serves children aged 9-15 who

finish six years of primary school and then spend four years in

never had the chance to go to school or dropped out along the way.

secondary school, and maybe even go on to further education or

Drop out rates are high. But this is not about the children as

university before they see any tangible benefit in the form of a job

much as it is about the parents. They may accuse the child of

and an income. Whereas if they send that child to herd someone’s

performing poorly and send them to work in the fields or herd the

cattle, in two years he will receive two animals of his own.

cattle. Or they may say they don’t have enough money to pay for school—education is free, but the PTA contribution can be a lot,

For their part children can become impatient when it comes to school. They are attracted to money and material things. They think

especially if they have many children in school. Other parents with

that if they leave school they can work and earn money. So they

too few children will often withdraw them to help at home. Still

leave home in search of work. In time they return home with some

other parents don’t feel that school fits their needs: a child has to

money, they buy a bicycle and go back to farming with their family.

And there are so many people to feed. The harvest is not enough to

How does UNICEF help?

UNICEF constructs basic education classrooms for CEBNFs and equips the workshops with sewing machines, tools and supplies for mechanics, masonry and weaving. In addition, UNICEF provides support in the form of capacity building for teachers and improvements to the curricula. They also monitor and evaluate the learning that is taking place.

meet the family’s needs and they realise that it would have been good to have the income a job would have provided. That is when they finally understand the necessity of having an education.

This is one of the reasons so many of them are now coming to the CEBNF. When it opened in 2007-8 we had just 40 students. In the years since there has been a continuous positive progression in enrolment. This year we have 83 students (36 girls, 47 boys) and

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of what this centre has Siaka is a good example who only went to night to offer. Here is a child pass a lot of children school, but his abilities sur e time in primary who have spent much mor se from him that he education. One gets a sen Joining the CEBNF has really wants to learn. for him. been a great opportunity —Seydou Coulibaly

demand continues to grow as more parents become aware of the centre and what it can offer their children.

Parents and children both like what the centre offers: it gives them a measure of knowledge and also teaches them a trade. For example, they can learn tailoring—and then they can make clothes for their parents and their community and also earn some money to help their family. It is the same for those who are learning mechanics, masonry or weaving. Having a child who is skilled in these areas is a big advantage not only for the family but also for the community.

I feel good about what we are doing here with non-formal education. Burkina Faso is a poor country without a lot of means.

Parents know that kids will go all the way to the end of their studies before finding a job—if they find a job. That’s why centres like this are so important. It is not a long cycle but it still commits young people to acquiring knowledge and allows them to create something through their own labour, which meets their needs in addition to those of their families and their communities.

08:24 In the CEBNF we have two hours of theatre class every week.

Moumount Sanogo, Theatre trainer and farmer I have been working as a volunteer with the children in the CEBNF since 2009. I work with the

teacher to figure out what themes will reinforce the life skills they are learning in class. We’ve done shows in the village that have focused on forced marriage, FGM/Cutting, HIV/AIDS and family

planning. Nobody here has a television. People can receive some of the same messages we present if they listen to the radio, but there is a difference. The radio is passive and this is active. The

kids love doing it and the people in the village enjoy watching and learning. We are currently working on a drama about the CEBNF. The idea is that if more people understand its benefits, more will enrol.

One of the characters in our play explains it this way: “In non-formal education you will learn something theoretical and you will also learn something using your ten fingers. This school is here to solve the problem of young people having to go away to find work and being exploited.

96 UNICEF Burkina Faso

Alim Sulo

Sewing trainer, CEBNF kshops as I try to make the training in the wor ys followed by practical as possible. Theory is alwa a lot of hands-on work.

hold an At the end of the school year students some of the exhibition where they show and sell

shows the items they made during the year. This shows parents local market what they can do—and it children to the practical benefits of sending their the CEBNF.

09:08 In the workshops the trainer

starts the day with an hour of theory.

Today she is showing us how to make

the bodice for a girl’s dress.

students After three years in the workshops the enticeships. graduate. I help to place them in appr set up their After some time most will go on to themselves. own workshops to work and earn for

le a It feels good to be teaching young peop te a better practical skill that they can use to crea lies. future for themselves and their fami

Schools for Burkina Faso Siaka’s story

97

10:12 After the trainer shows us what to do, we work to make our own patterns.

98 UNICEF Burkina Faso

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13:14 The CEBNF breaks for lunch from noon to three. Today during lunch I go to the field to help my family harvest our sorghum.

100 UNICEF Burkina Faso

Issa Diallo Siaka’s father are boys, both named I have seven children. The first two ‘Siaka two’. Siaka one Siaka. We call them ‘Siaka one’ and r. Siaka two is 15 and is 16 and he is studying to be a tailo ot because I need him right now he is working as a herder—-n shment. A few months ago to herd cattle, but as a sort of puni y school. He got bad he finished his first year of secondar ’s when I decided he marks so he decided to drop out. That ly’s cattle—that way he should spend a year herding our fami if he doesn’t go to could learn what his life will be like I will do with him at school. I’m still thinking about what is sure: having my the end of the year. But one thing option. It’s a waste of children work as herders is not an else to look after the their time. I can always pay someone is important. They learn animals. School, on the other hand, get a job of their own. things that will help them to one day two options: returning So for Siaka two there are really only attending the nonto secondary school or, like Siaka one, sure which it will be. formal education centre. I’m not yet

Siaka two: Going to school is a lot easier than working as a herder. Right now I am out with the cattle every day from 06:00 to 19:00.

I have a lot of time to think——and I’m thinking that next year I might like to go to the CEBNF and learn to be a tailor like my brother.

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101

Issa Diallo Siaka’s father It was our fault Siaka didn’t go to school. We hesitated. He is our

questions in French. And when I go into a shop that has price tags

oldest. We didn’t know which year we were supposed to send him,

on the goods I can’t read them. I have to ask the shop assistant to

and by the time we understood our mistake, it was too late. So we

read them for me. I always wonder if he is lying to me so that he

sent him to live with my sister in Bobo. She said that she would

can charge me more. It is important that my children go to school.

take responsibility for schooling him. I know she had good

I don’t want them to live with the same regrets and limitations

intentions, but night school wasn’t what we had in mind; a few

as me.

hours each night is not enough time to learn much. We brought him back because I heard about the CEBNF and wanted him to take advantage of that opportunity.

There are things that are difficult for me because I never went to school. For example, when I take my produce to the market in

I am pleased with what Siaka is learning at the CEBNF. In fact, I prefer it to the formal school because in addition to receiving a basic education he is also learning a trade. Our family farms and sells our crops, but what we earn is never enough. With Siaka going to school and learning a trade he will be able to make an

Sikasso I have to cross the border [with Mali]. There are customs

added contribution—not only with what he earns, but also by

and police formalities. I can’t understand when they ask me

sharing with us what he learns every day at school. www.schoolsforafrica.org

103

15:32 Because I worked with the tailor I already know a lot more than the other students, but I just act as if I know nothing and do everything the way the trainer says to do it.

How does UNICEF help?

UNICEF constructs basic education classrooms for CEBNFs and equips the workshops with the tools, equipment and supplies to learn tailoring, mechanics, welding, carpentry, masonry and weaving. In addition, UNICEF provides support in the form of capacity building for teachers and improvements to the curricula. Additional funds would enable us to equip more CEBNFs with the tools these adolescents need to learn their trades.

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16:08 We take turns working on the sewing machines.

Schools for Burkina Faso Siaka’s story

105

106 UNICEF Burkina Faso

School management committee The School Management Committee (SMC) includes everyone in the village who has a stake in the CEBNF— including the Mayor, Commune Representatives, parents and teachers.

The arrival of the non-formal education centre in this village was a

quarterly meetings with the community and thinking about how we

big relief for parents and children. Previously our children who were

can make the education our children receive even better.

out of school—whether because they had never gone or because they had bad marks and at some point could no longer continue—

Recently we have been talking about the subjects on offer at the centre. We would like to see the addition of some locally relevant

had few options. Some of the boys would hang around the village

trades. For example, there are a lot of trees here. It would be good

with nothing to do. Others would herd cattle. Most would leave for

if they could learn carpentry. Welding would also be good. Right

neighbouring countries to look for work.

now if something breaks and needs welding we have to take it all

The girls might stay and help their mothers with the housework

the way to Koloko (eight km away). There is also a lot of fruit in this

or work in the fields until they married, but most of them would

area—so much that mangoes often end up rotting on the ground.

also leave to look for work in town.

Perhaps they could learn ways to dry the fruit and sell it.

We didn’t want them to go. We knew they would be exploited,

Having our children here with us is very important. Thanks to the

working long hours for little pay and that they wouldn’t have anyone

CEBNF we can now follow them closely as they are learning and

around that they could rely on. We were worried that our girls

make sure they have everything they need to grow up well.

would return pregnant.

The CEBNF is like a medication for these difficulties. Now our children have another option. They learn to read and write and they also learn a trade that will allow them to stand on their own two feet when they finish.

Our role is to support the CEBNF in any way we can. This means making sure the buildings are clean and safe, handling repairs, making sure students attend regularly, helping with the school

How does UNICEF help?

The SMC was a UNICEF innovation that is now considered so important that the MENA, with the support of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), is now putting it in place in all of the schools in the country. The link is clear: where the community is involved, children’s school performance is better. UNICEF trains SMC leaders members so that they understand relevant education issues and know what is expected of them.

garden, collecting contributions in kind for the canteen, holding www.schoolsforafrica.org

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17:25 When I get home from school I quickly

take down the laundry and start my homework.

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17:50 I meet some friends on the way to my family’s garden.

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18:03 I help my uncle water the garden. He is growing lettuce and tomatoes to sell in the market.

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18:22 My friends and I walk back home. www.schoolsforafrica.org

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Adolescents like Siaka, regardless of their schooling history, deserve the oppo rtunity to learn and to achieve their dreams .

UNICEF is working with education authorities throughout Burkina Faso to provide out of school adolescents with a second chance at education through non-formal basic education . www.schoolsforafrica.org

A good head and a good heart are always a formidable combination. But when you add to that a literate tongue or pen, then you have something very special. 窶年elson Mandela

UNICEF in action: Making a difference for children in Burkina Faso

UNICEF in Action In this final section we take a look at some of the ways UNICEF is working to address the educational challenges faced every day by millions of children in Burkina Faso.

Though Burkina Faso is not on track to achieve Education for All by 2015, innovative UNICEF models such as the education complex Oumou, Safiatou and Siaka attend, will help to ensure that all children—especially girls and children in rural areas—have access to education by 2020.

UNICEF’s child-friendly school (CFS) model, with its focus on the well-being of the whole child, will help to keep children in school. The quality of primary education on offer will improve as the CFS model is rolled out across the country in the years leading up to 2017.

By working with communities, including school officials and members of Parent Teacher Associations (PTA), School Management Committees (SMC) and Mothers of Students Associations (AME from the French) UNICEF ensures the sustainability of these changes and brings communities together to invest in their children’s futures.

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Education for All: a comprehensive approach UNICEF Burkina Faso contributes to the achievement of the

Each of these types of schools is already integrated [as stand

objectives of the national education plan (2012-2020). This includes:

alone facilities] into Burkina Faso’s public education system.

• Increasing gross enrolment from 74.8 per cent (in 2009-2010)

However, UNICEF has found that bringing them together into a

to 100 per cent by 2015, with particular focus on vulnerable children and children with specific needs.

• Increasing the completion rate from 46 per cent (in 2009-2010) to 75 per cent by 2015, with particular attention to girls.

To achieve these objectives UNICEF and the Ministry of National Education and Literacy (MENA from the French) are currently

single ‘education complex’ provides a seamless system whereby all of the children in the village have access to appropriate educational opportunities that take into account their age and their previous experience in formal education.

The Bisongo provides children aged 3-5 with an appropriate preschool education that is followed by an easy transition into

implementing UNICEF’s child-friendly school (CFS) approach in

primary school. On the other hand, a 12-year-old girl who has

three regions of the country—with a focus on very remote

never gone to school or a 13-year-old boy who has dropped out,

villages. The successful implementation of this approach will yield:

will learn at the CEBNF, where the instruction on offer is adapted

• An increase in both the demand for and the supply of education services in the two regions, at both preschool and primary school levels.

• An improvement in the quality of education at preschools, primary schools and non-formal basic education centres.

to their age and learning needs—rather than entering into first grade with six-year-old children.

To date 15 communities in Burkina Faso serving 5160 children and 900 adolescents are benefitting from a UNICEF-supported education complex. Having been thoroughly tested and

Additionally, UNICEF Burkina Faso recognizes that in any

documented, the results of this approach now feed into national

community, children have a variety of educational needs and

level policy making. The government would like to roll it out

the formal primary school cannot meet all of them. To match

nationwide as a means to helping the country achieve Education

educational offerings more closely to the reality of children’s lives

for All. However, limited resources make this difficult. Even now,

and educational needs, UNICEF develops education complexes

some CEBNF are not fully functional: significant resources are

made up of at least a preschool (Bisongo) and primary school or,

required to provide enough tools to effectively teach adolescents a

ideally, a Bisongo, a primary school, and a non-formal basic

trade—be they sewing machines on which to learn tailoring, looms

education centre (CEBNF).

and thread with which to learn weaving or motorbikes and cement

118 UNICEF Burkina Faso

with which to practice mechanics and masonry. Additional

To get more children into these programmes, UNICEF

resources would allow UNICEF to provide similar schooling

developed the Bisongo model, which provides an affordable,

opportunities to more children in vulnerable communities and to

community-based approach to early education. Parents are

make the education complex model more of a reality in Burkina

involved in the building process, women are selected by their

Faso’s national education policy.

The following sections describe the three educational entities that together constitute an ideal education complex.

communities to work in the Bisongo, and parents contribute to the provision and preparation of food for the children.

While Bisongos were previously built as stand alone facilities, UNICEF has found them to have greater value when built in

Bisongos: community-based, child-friendly early childhood development centres As part of an education complex, the Bisongo plays a critical role:

conjunction with or near to an existing primary school, thereby facilitating children’s transition into primary education.

Parents—particularly mothers—find the Bisongo valuable, as

studies show that early childhood education, especially for

it provides a safe place for their children to stay while they work.

vulnerable children, significantly improves children’s chances to

It also frees older siblings, particularly girls, to go to school.

succeed in primary and even secondary education. And children who succeed are much more likely to stay in school.

For years UNICEF was the lead agency in early childhood development in Burkina Faso. Few other organisations were willing to invest. Today, thanks to UNICEF’s strong advocacy, a national strategy has been drafted and adopted and many other partners are involved. Though only three per cent of eligible children are enrolled in Early Childhood Development (ECD)

Some Results Between 2000 and 2011 UNICEF Burkina Faso: • Supported the building and equipping of 83 Bisongos that have served more than 155, 000 children • Worked with the Government to develop the national ECD policy and curriculum • Funded the training of about 4500 members of Mothers of

programmes to date, that will soon change. The government’s

Students Associations (AME) and School Management

national education plan (2012-20) now includes an ECD strategy.

Committees (SMC) around existing Bisongos

It aims to have 8.3 per cent of children aged three to five years enrolled in ECD programmes by 2015 and 13.5 per cent by 2020.

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• Improved the competencies of 350 ECD trainers • Trained over 200 parents in ECD integrated care, including children’s education, health, nutrition, hygiene and safety.

visors to use gender sensitive approaches in the classroom, creating student–led clubs to prevent violence against girls and providing separate latrine blocks for boys and girls. The latter have been found to play an important role in keeping girls in school as

Child-friendly primary schools In Burkina Faso, as in many other developing countries, students

they enter puberty.

In Burkina Faso the child-friendly model will be rolled out to

often attend schools in which the conditions are not conducive to

public primary schools throughout the country by 2017. Education

learning. A single teacher may have 70, 80 or even 100 students in

complexes, while not yet entirely child-friendly, already have many

a class and students may sit on the ground instead of at desks. In

child-friendly features—appropriate furniture, improved water and

addition, schools often lack sanitary facilities, easy access to safe

sanitation, a sports field, a school garden and a canteen. In

drinking water and playgrounds.

addition, the community is involved in these schools through a

UNICEF applies the child-friendly schools (CFS) model to all of

number of associations, including the PTA, SMC and AME. As

its schools around the world—whether formal or informal—as a

child-friendly schools become the norm, both children and

means to improve access to and the quality of education. The

teachers will benefit from more participatory teaching and learning

model rests on the understanding that children’s learning and

practices and more group activities. Communities will benefit from

development are affected by more than just teachers, curricula

the emphasis on life skills and hygiene education.

and textbooks. The entire school and local environment—which includes infrastructure, but also takes into consideration school

Some Results

and community safety, gender and cultural issues, sanitation,

Between 2009 and 2011 UNICEF Burkina Faso built 47 new child-

health and nutrition—also has a profound impact.

friendly schools and converted 180 primary schools in two

In many countries girls face particular challenges when it comes to education. UNICEF Burkina Faso supports a variety of ‘girl-friendly’ measures to promote girls’ enrolment, retention and

provinces into CFS. In the process they achieved the following: • Trained 443 teachers and pedagogic supervisors in UNICEF’s child-friendly schools (CFS) approach

learning. These include making curricula and school materials more

• Developed a CFS manual and teacher training guide

gender sensitive, training teachers and their pedagogic super-

• Sensitised 180 SMCs on the CFS approach

120 UNICEF Burkina Faso

• Provided literacy training for PTA, AME and SMC members • Trained 250 parental education trainers who in turn trained 230 parent educators • Provided financial support to 25 AMEs to facilitate the implementation of their income generating activities • Created 50 functional school gardens • Installed sporting fields in 20 schools • Opened school libraries in 20 schools.

Girls and post-primary education Eliminating the cost of public primary education has had a profound impact on the number of girls enrolled in primary school. But when it comes to post-primary education there is still a sizeable gap: 49 per cent of girls complete primary school but only 28 per cent go on to enrol in post-primary education (compared to 35 per cent of boys).

A host of factors conspire to put secondary school out

Non-formal basic education centres In Burkina Faso 40 percent of children are out of school. There are those who have missed out because they did not start school at the official school entry age. Others may have started school but for various reasons, dropped out without having attained basic levels of literacy, numeracy and other school-taught skills.

CEBNFs give all of these children a second chance at learning— in a programme that is locally relevant and appropriate to their ages and needs. This alternative to formal education offers a shorter course of basic education combined with training in the skills adolescents need to pursue a trade.

The curriculum is practical, featuring life skills such as health and nutrition, hygiene, HIV and AIDS prevention, the environment, gardening and animal husbandry.

The trades on offer at each CEBNF vary according to regionally

of reach for most girls including poor school performance, critical shortages of classrooms and teachers and the burden of school fees. But for many the biggest factor is the distance to the school—often over five km —which is too far to travel on foot every day and raises security concerns.

As a result, girls from rural areas must often move to town to attend secondary school. Parents are reluctant to send them. There is the additional cost of room and board, but more troubling is the likelihood that their daughters may return home pregnant, bringing shame on the family.

In response to these difficulties UNICEF Burkina Faso has developed a model girls’ community house in the city of Manga. This supervised and subsidized boarding house provides a safe place for 100 girls to live while they are attending school. Additional funds would allow UNICEF to duplicate this model where need is greatest.

specific employment and production needs and may include some Schools for Burkina Faso UNICEF in action

121

or all of the following: mechanics, tailoring, welding, carpentry, weaving and masonry.

While the benefit of these centres is clear, the high cost of equipping them with the essential tools to teach students a trade

In the future UNICEF and the MENA will continue developing new

has kept their number low. Additional funding would allow UNICEF

courses of study tailor-made for local conditions.

to build and equip more CEBNFs thereby serving more out of

An end of year exposition provides CEBNF students with the

school youth.

opportunity to showcase and sell their handiwork in the local market—and presents parents with a compelling reason to send their out of school children to the CEBNF. If relevance is one of the keys to the success of CEBNFs, then flexibility is the other. Each child’s schooling history is individually

Some results Between 2000 and 2011 UNICEF Burkina Faso: • Built 48 CEBNF serving 6122 students • Provided CEBNF with the following: 36 received mechanic

assessed and the child is channeled into one of several tracks that

tools; 16 received carpentry materials, 9 received masonry

provide the right combination of literacy, basic education and

material/equipment, 44 received sewing machines, 13 received

vocational learning to meet their specific needs.

For those who have never been to school, attaining a certain level of basic education is key to getting the most from their subsequent vocational training. These adolescents are streamed into a four-year track where they acquire basic school and life skills. Training during the first two years is in the local language.

The final two years are in French. At the end of the four years students who are of the right age and have caught up sufficiently have the option of transitioning into the formal school at secondary level or continuing on at the CEBNF and learning a trade.

Adolescents who come to the CEBNF with some education

weaving materials, 2 received dyeing materials, 17 received agricultural equipment, 4 received gardening equipment,18 received animal husbandry equipment, and 17 received environmental education equipment • Participated in the training of 250 MENA trainers and specialists from other ministries who contribute to the CEBNFs • Provided the MENA with 81 motorbikes to facilitate monitoring and evaluation activities at UNICEF built schools and CEBNF • Made technical contributions to reviews of the CEBNF curriculum and learning materials (particularly books) • Gave 130 kits to new CEBNF graduates; the kits contained

take a minimum of one year of basic education classes while

equipment related to their trade and allowed them to set up

attending one of the workshops to learn their chosen trade.

their own small workshops.

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Water, Sanitation and hygiene (WASH) in schools: an essential component of child-friendly schools

Mobilizing communities: it takes a village Some of UNICEF’s most important partners in promoting child-

Poor water, hygiene and sanitation contributes to poor

ren’s education are community members: mothers and fathers,

health, and consequently, to loss of school days due to

local leaders, principals, teachers and the children themselves.

diarrhoeal diseases. Moreover, when girls reach puberty, the absence of spatially separated blocks of latrines for boys and girls can cause girls to drop out or miss school—particularly during menstruation—for lack of privacy.

UNICEF was the first to promote WASH in schools in Burkina Faso. As part of the CFS model, all UNICEFsupported ECD centres, primary schools, CEBNF and education centres are all equipped with safe water and improved sanitation infrastructures. These, combined with training in hygiene—with particular emphasis on using latrines and proper hand washing with soap and water after using the bathroom and before eating—have been proven to increase school attendance and improve the health of all students. By bring-ing this information home to their families, children become agents of change—and better health—in their communities.

Such improvements will become the norm in primary schools in Burkina Faso as the CFS model is rolled out across the country in the years leading up to 2017.

As part of UNICEF’s child-friendly approach to schools, the entire community becomes involved in the education of its children.

Committees and associations are formed to ensure continued support for the children and the school. Traditionally public primary schools in Burkina Faso have relied solely on the Parents and Teachers Association (PTA). Today all UNICEF-built schools and an increasing number of government-built schools—whether they are Bisongos, primary schools or CEBNFs—rely on two other associations that play an important and complementary role in the functioning of the school: the School Management Committee (SMC) and the Mothers of Students Association (AME).

Each community is different and has different needs. UNICEF provides these community-based organisations (CBOs) with a foundation in children’s rights, micro-planning and parental education. Then, working together, members address local needs and find locally appropriate solutions to the challenges they face.

Poverty is still the primary obstacle to education in Burkina Faso. As in other developing countries, the poorer a child’s family, the less likely that child is to attend and complete school—his or www.schoolsforafrica.org

123

her labor is needed to contribute to the family’s survival. And

Parent Teachers Association (PTA)

though schooling is free, the PTA fee [1000-2000 CFA (US $2-4)

The first community-based organization in schools was the PTA.

per child per year in the primary school] and SMC contribution

This traditional association has long played a role in collecting

[2000-5000 CFA (US $4-10) per child per year for the Bisongo and

money for school needs and food for the canteen. The money is

CEBNF] can still be prohibitive for some families.

The effects of poverty are exacerbated when the child is a girl,

used to take care of a variety of major needs including repairing broken desks and chairs or purchasing new ones, helping new

has a disability or lives in a remote, rural area. Education for these

teachers find a place to live, paying for the transport of books and

children is often seen as an unnecessary investment. Some of the

supplies from district headquarters to the school, and purchasing

most vulnerable children suffer from a combination of these

additional classroom materials if there is a shortage.

excluding factors.

Getting the entire community involved in promoting the inclusion of all children in school allows communities to develop

School Management Committees (SMC) UNICEF supports the development of democratic school

and implement sustainable, homegrown solutions that work. For

management committees. These include more than just parents

example, parents of out-of-school children may receive a visit from

and teachers. Everyone in the community is a member—from the

a member of the AME or the SMC. If, for example, the child is not

Mayor and local officials to teachers and parents. This provides a

coming to school because the family is too poor to pay the school-

broad base of support for the school.

related fees, arrangements can be made with the teacher for a

After being elected or appointed by the community, the men

payment plan. If the child is out of school because her parents

and women in the leadership committee attend a week-long

don’t allow her to attend, community members talk with her

training to learn their role in the proper functioning of the school.

parents about the value of education and convince them to let

This includes maintaining the infrastructure, doing repairs, keeping

the child come to school. And if it is a health problem that is

the school safe and clean and working with the Director and the

keeping a child out of school, members of these CBOs might

community to create an environment that is conducive to learning.

offer to lend the parent money to take the child to a doctor.

Working together, communities are far more powerful and flexible. They know how to best solve their own problems.

124 UNICEF Burkina Faso

A UNICEF innovation, the MENA has been so happy with the benefits SMCs bring to schools that they are building them into the plan of every public school in the country.

Mothers of Students Associations (AME)

It started with the fundamentals: each mother in the asso-

In Burkina Faso, as in many countries, men dominate much of

ciation was responsible for making sure her own daughters were

public life and discourse. It was no different in the PTA, where

in school.

women, though they were members, were seldom given the opportunity to speak. After repeated efforts to change this failed,

Members also agreed that it was important to encourage other families to send their girls to school and then to check that the

one school inspector decided he would try something new: setting

girls who were enrolled were regularly attending. For the AME

up a women-only association for the mothers of the students. It

leaders charged with doing this work, walking everywhere would

worked. For the first time, women were able to express their

have required more time than they could spare. By sending bikes

views on schooling and to discuss the best ways to make things

to AMEs in UNICEF-built schools where girls’ education was low,

better for their children. Today its role is complementary to that of

UNICEF helped to make this possible.

the PTA: AME members help with the day to day running of the

Later the women from the AME proposed the idea of doing

school by making sure the food is cooked in the canteen, the

small-scale income generating activities, the proceeds from which

classrooms cleaned, the students are present, clean and following

would help to support to both their children and the school. Today

the rules for good hygiene. Though not compulsory, the MENA

UNICEF provides the “seed money” and AMEs loan it out to their

has encouraged schools across the country to set up AMEs.

members on a revolving basis. The women keep the profits from

When, as a result of UNICEF’s advocacy, the MENA began to

their activities and use this extra income to help feed their children

promote girls’ education country wide, AMEs became a natural

and to pay PTA and Bisongo fees if their husbands cannot—or will

ally. Most of the members are illiterate—a condition they believe

not—pay. The ten per cent interest charged on each loan is used to

is at least partially responsible for their lower social status—and

support the school.

they do not want their daughters to share the same fate. Knowing that their girls still have less opportunity than their boys to go to school and to succeed, women in the AMEs decided to include promoting girls’ education as one of their responsibilities. Having their own association gave them the freedom to find the best ways to do that.

Schools for Burkina Faso UNICEF in action

125

Ending the cycle of poverty for children, their families and their communities begins with education. —Anthony Lake Executive Director, UNICEF

About UNICEF UNICEF’s goal is to make a difference for all children, everywhere, all the time.

All children have rights that guarantee them what they need to

bustling cities, in peaceful areas and in regions destroyed by war,

survive, grow, participate and fulfill their potential. Yet every day

in places reachable by train or car and in terrain passable only by

these rights are denied. Millions of children die from preventable

camel or donkey.

diseases. Millions more don’t go to school, or don’t have food, shelter and clean water. Children suffer from violence, abuse and discrimination. This is wrong.

UNICEF works globally to transform children’s lives by protecting and promoting their rights. Their fight for child survival and development takes place every day in remote villages and in

Their achievements are won school by school, child by child, vaccine by vaccine, mosquito net by mosquito net. It is a struggle in which success is measured by what doesn't happen—by what is prevented.

UNICEF will continue this fight—to make the difference for all children, everywhere, all the time.

For further information contact

UNICEF Burkina Faso UNICEF - Ouagadougou 01 BP 3420 Ouagadougou 01 BURKINA FASO Tél : (+226) 50-30-02-35 The Schools for Africa initiative is a successful international

Fax : (+226) 50-30-09-65

fundraising partnership between UNICEF, the Nelson Mandela

www.unicef.org/burkina faso

please visit www.schoolsforafrica.org.

Foundation and the Peter Krämer Stiftung. For more information

To fund all of its work UNICEF relies entirely on voluntary donations from individuals, governments, institutions and corporations. We receive no money from the UN budget.

128 UNICEF Burkina Faso

Schools for Africa

Burkina Faso