At a time when the President of the Republic, Mr. Mohamed Bazoum is completing the second year of his five-year term, the observation is that the achievements are intensifying for the implementation of the Renaissance III program. In the field of education, vocational training and higher education, the achievements lead to changes in the indicators: Construction of reception infrastructures, with a special component relating to young girls, management of the issue of quality teaching and learning, staff capacity building, etc. Under the impetus of the Head of State, Mohamed Bazoum, the government of Prime Minister Ouhoumoudou Mahamadou is staying the course in the realization of the Renaissance III program.
The problem of reception capacities, acquisition and the low rates of schooling, completion and passing exams are the main challenges faced by President Mohamed Bazoum in the education system when he came to power. two years. Convinced that the achievement of the “beautiful future” to which Nigeriens aspire is linked to the adequate management of the issue of education, the Head of State has initiated reforms and actions to this end.
The solutions envisaged relate, among other things, to capacity building to facilitate access to education, with the design of an alternative model of building classes that is less expensive and more adapted to the environment, with a view to ending classes straw huts. Efforts also concern the improvement of the quality of teaching and learning through the training of teachers, the promotion of their careers and the raising of their level of qualification with the reform of teacher training colleges. Added to this is the fight against school dropout by focusing on the creation of boarding schools for young girls in nearby colleges.
Reinforcement of reception capacities: a construction site of 2,331 classes in alternative and classic models across the country
The commitment of the President of the Republic, HE Mohamed Bazoum and the government to improve teaching and learning conditions in order to impact the quality of the education system is further materializing. On November 5, 2022, the Minister of National Education, Pr Ibrahim Natatou, kicked off a major operation to build school infrastructure in the eight regions of Niger from the Valimo school in Niamey. . As part of this operation, 2,055 classes in the alternative model and 276 others in the classic model are being built. The regions of Niamey, Maradi and Zinder have respectively benefited from the construction of 690, 372 and 306 classrooms; and Tahoua, Dosso and Tillabéri receive, in order, 276, 255 and 231 classrooms. Agadez has 102 classrooms, and finally 99 classrooms for Diffa.
The construction of these 2,331 classrooms is financed from the country’s national budget. This is a high-impact investment in increasing the reception capacity of schools in Niger and consequently improving the quality of education.
Still as part of the strengthening of reception capacities, according to the 2022 government action report, 763 literacy centers and 15 renovated Koranic schools have been opened. This made it possible to take care of 43,363 learners and 434 young people respectively.
Also, 11 grouping centers have been created in understaffed schools with a view to better management of schools, but also to ensure the continuity of education in an emergency situation. As part of the strategy for maintaining and retaining students in school, two boarding schools for girls were built in Kellé (Zinder) and Moujia (Tahoua). And, school food is provided to 457,938 students, including 2,379 in boarding schools. Added to this is the construction of 3 blocks of dormitories at the high school of excellence in Niamey.
At the level of technical education and vocational training, various achievements have also been made to increase reception and learning capacities. Thus, among others, 2 agricultural high schools in Maradi and Tahoua and 11 Trades Training Centers (CFM) (5 in Tillabéri, 4 in Tahoua, 1 in Maradi and 1 in Zinder) have been created. In addition, 2 CFMs were built in Maradi and 3 Technical Education Colleges (CET) in communal districts 1 and 2 of Niamey and 4 of Zinder, etc.
These actions also concern the higher education sub-sector with the diversification of training, the construction of infrastructures (amphitheatres, laboratories) in the various Universities of the country.
Promotion of girls’ education
The boarding schools for girls built in Kellé (Zinder) and Moujia (Tahoua) are part of an important program aimed at promoting the participation of this segment of the population in the development of Niger. This by taking care of the problem of non-attendance or abandonment of school by girls for reasons related to poverty, their accommodation and food with the consequence of early marriage. Hence the initiative to create and manage boarding schools for young girls.
The round table for advocacy in favor of the construction of boarding schools for young rural girls organized on September 21, 2022 in New York under the aegis of the African Union by Niger and UNFPA is part of this mobilization. “I invite you to mobilize generously alongside Niger so that together we win the fight to ensure the success of girls in school and to put Niger in an orbit of progress and prosperity thanks to investment in the best of capital, which is human capital,” President Mohamed Bazoum told the partners on this occasion.
Advocacy was successful as partners made announcements. This is the case of BADEA for financing the construction of 100 boarding schools; Saudi Arabia for 40 girls’ boarding schools; of Luxembourg for an amount of 10 million dollars intended for the construction of boarding schools for young girls.
Efforts to improve the quality of teaching and outcomes
Concerning the concern for quality, the government action report reveals that the indicators generally show progress, even if some disparities appear. “Overall, education sector indicators have seen improvements. Indeed, even if the Gross Enrollment Rate (GER) has remained constant at the primary level, it has evolved from 29.3% in 2021 to 29.4% in 2022 at the basic cycle 2. The success rates at the BEP, in the technical baccalaureate and the professional baccalaureate progressed respectively by 3.6, 15.5 and 20 percentage points”, we note.
However, according to the report, the Completion Rates (AT) in the primary and base 2 cycles have experienced downward changes, respectively from 60.9% in 2021 to 53% in 2022 and 17% in 2021 to 15, 5% in 2022. The same is true for the TA at the Average level, which fell by 8.4 percentage points to settle at 8.6% in 2022. This downward trend is explained by the massive abandonments in the course of cycle caused by the displacement of populations for reasons of insecurity.
At the higher level, the data also shows progress. Higher education indicators have also seen progress. The success rate for the State Higher Technician Certificate (BTS) recorded 10.4 points to stand at 61.5% in 2022. The number of students increased from 89,472 in 2021 to 90,713 in 2022.
Other actions aimed at positively impacting the quality of education and training have also been initiated by the government. The report lists for the education sub-sectors the strengthening of management through the development of tools dedicated to this task.
The reform currently being implemented in teacher training colleges which provides, among other things, that the entry profile for these centers is now the Baccalaureate instead of the BEPC previously, is also part of this approach.
In the same vein, at the level of vocational and technical education, the supervisory staff benefited from capacity building. In addition to the training of 470 heads of establishments and 1,668 trainers and supervisors, 4,636 trainers were followed on classroom practices and the implementation of the competency-based approach in the Trades Training Centers.
Higher education has also benefited from capacity building actions for the benefit of teaching staff in particular with a view to improving the quality of supply. 135 supervisors were trained in quality assurance using an evaluation tool developed for this purpose. Also, 45 teacher-researchers and technologists benefited from capacity building on the development of research projects and scientific publications. Still in the same vein, 44 authorizations to conduct research work and 302 teaching files in higher education establishments were approved. In addition, 89 teacher-researchers, including 9 women, were promoted by CAMES.
Other efforts relate to improving the living and study conditions of students. An envelope of 36.116 billion FCFA was granted to students as scholarships and an amount of 4.964 billion FCFA in social assistance to non-scholarship students over the period. In addition, 120 rooms, the EMIG restaurant and the University of Maradi restaurant have been renovated.
Whether in National Education, vocational training or higher education, the achievements and the mobilization of funds have been intensified. This illustrates the commitment and determination of the President of the Republic, Mr. Mohamed Bazoum and the government of Mr. Ouhoumoudou Mahamdou to provide lasting responses to the concerns in these areas which condition the development of Niger.
Souley Moutari (onep)