Le développement du secteur de l’éducation au Bénin
w Evaluation à mi-parcours
cumbersome procedures for the disbursement of funds, insufficient knowledge of procedures by some managers, and delayed execution of work. In addition, the measures taken by the Government which were not originally foreseen in the education plan, combined with the growing and unregulated student intake, have affected the implementation of the plan and undermined the initial assumptions. This raises the problem of how to ensure a sustainable and balanced management of the sector in the medium and long term. Recommendations: • When the implementation strategies for the third phase of the Plan are updated, conduct a thorough examination of the factors explaining the low absorption capacity of budgetary allocations. • Identify all bottlenecks that prevent a smooth allocation of resources and implement appropriate strategies to gradually reduce these blockages. One suggestion could be to draw on the initiative to create focal points for the Plan, and do the same within the structures of the expenditure chain to accelerate the processing of paperwork. • In preparing the third phase of the Plan, take into account the issue of inequitable access (between regions and municipalities, among Ministries of Éducation, between central, deconcentrated [‘départementales’] and decentralized [‘communes’] levels) to the public resources allocated to the Plan. This could be done at the time of updating the financial simulation model. • Implement the new procurement code. Relevance of the education plan
The proposed strategies are consistent and relevant to the strategic directions and action plans of the Ten-Year Education Plan and to the key challenges of the education sector. However, some strategies, such as the regulation of student intake in upper secondary and higher education and strategies for promoting equity, need to be better articulated. Other issues, not considered in the education plan, but which need to be given consideration, include the functioning of schools and the role of the school principal as important issues to improve the quality of primary education, as well as the improvement of girls’ schooling in secondary education. In light of the management capacity in the ministries, the targets and programming envisaged in the area of adult 45