Boost for education in a divided country

The idea of saving money for an education is a universal concept. Ami and Alice are no exception. They head to the Adjame market in Cote d’Ivoire’s main city, Abidjan, most days to earn cash for school by selling little bags of water from bowls they balance on their heads.

What is different about them is their age: Ami is six and Alice is seven.

“Last year we didn’t get to go to school,” said the two girls in unison. Alice said her aunt taught her how to be a market vendor instead. Ami said she was confined to fieldwork in her village until she was taken to Abidjan to earn money.

“Every night, we put aside 500 CFA (US $1) for both of us from the sales of our bags of water, which cost 50 CFA (US $0.10) each. We hope to save enough to buy our books and school supplies so that we can enroll in school,” said Alice.

The plight of Ami and Alice is common in Cote d’Ivoire. Only 56 percent of children in the country attend school, and the rate for girls is even lower at 46 percent, according to a report published by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in December 2005.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Cote d’Ivoire is trying to improve enrollment with a back-to-school campaign in conjunction with the government and other UN agencies. The campaign, launched last year, recently received a grant of US $1.5 million from the European Union and will continue to operate throughout 2006.

In addition, UNICEF and the government last month officially launched a UN initiative on improving access to education for girls.

“The education of girls is a question of survival for themselves and for their children. If they are not educated, the girls will likely become illiterate, poor women,” said Youssouf Oomar, UNICEF’s representative in Cote d’Ivoire.

Conflict worsened situation

There are many reasons why school attendance, particularly among girls, is low in Cote d’Ivoire. Poverty and cultural traditions play a significant role.

“It’s a question of culture. Parents do what they can for their sons, but girls are made to help their mothers with household work or be married. It is a pity that this belief persists,” said Issouf Fofana, a teacher in the coastal town of Grand-Bassam, south of Abidjan.

Additionally, the conflict that has divided Cote d’Ivoire between a rebel-held north and government-controlled south since September 2002 has made access to an education even more difficult, according to a UNICEF report on education in the country.

The report says there are insufficient schools in the south, and in the north poor infrastructure, a lack of teachers and the cancellation of year-end exams has denied an education to more than one million children since 2003.

Rehabilitation process

The UNICEF-led back-to-school programme has enabled schools to be re-established in places where parents were unable to invest in their children’s education, particularly in the northern areas of Bouna, Korhogo and Odienne.

The programme in 2005 distributed education kits to students and teachers, re-equipped schools, launched a campaign to promote girls’ education and encouraged radio and television stations to broadcast messages on the right to an education.

UNICEF said that 1,904 schools are now open compared to only 815 before the campaign started. It also said here are now 144,321 girls enrolled in school compared to only 60,215 previously. After a two-year gap, exams were held in August this year in the north.

The back-to-school programme this year aims to build on last year’s gains and will continue to target the north and west of the country. The programme will focus on the education of 450,000 children, aged 6-12 years old - half of them girls.

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