Devon Contract Waste to Aid Mali Plan Project

Mali is the third poorest country in the world with over three quarters of the population living below the national poverty line and on less than $1 per day. Educational opportunities are limited. Only one child out of three is completing primary school with an adequate level of numeracy and literacy and only 40% reaching secondary school. Only 19% of adults and 24% of 15-24 year old are literate.  

The children in Sanankoroba village, Kati District have poor and limited education opportunities due to insufficient and over crowded classrooms with more than 100 students in a class. With the proceeds of sales, Devon Contract Waste have agreed to fund a programme which will improve their quality of education and help them to fight their way out of poverty.

The programme is being implemented by Plan, an international child-centred organisation working for over 70 years in 49 countries around the world.  Their community based projects focus on education, health, water and sanitation and livelihood and help the most vulnerable children realise their potential, claim their rights and have a better future. Plan has no religious, political or governmental affiliation.

Plan has been operating in Mali since 1976, helping poor children to access their rights to health, education, protection and livelihoods. Plan works to bring long lasting improvements to 30,000 children’s lives in 292 communities in the country.

Project Summary

The project aims at improving the quality of education in Sanankoroba village, Kati District through the development of the school infrastructures and the reinforcement of the capacity of the school management structures.

In order to achieve this aim, three classrooms will be constructed and equipped with furniture. The project will help to improve the quality of education by reducing class sizes from 100 to 76 students in the ten existing classrooms. By improving the quality of education the project will help to increase the percentage of children that complete their primary education in future years.  

Trees will also be planted in the schoolyards in order to provide shade and to improve the studying environment of the children. Between the months of March and June temperatures get very high and there is no shade in the school yard. The purchase and planting of seedlings will enable students to stay in shaded areas during their breaks from class. By improving the learning environment it will help children concentrate better and achieve better results.

Training sessions will be organised for the existing School Management Committee so that they can understand their role and responsibilities and learn how to maintain the class rooms and equipments. This will ensure sustainability of the programme as they will be trained in managing the school after the project is complete. The schools will get support from the Ministry of Education and the rural communal councils who have agreed to pay for the maintenance of the new classrooms as well as to provide teachers and learning materials.

The project was designed with the full participation of the local communities involving children, women and men. The primary beneficiaries will include 1008 children and 15 teachers. The secondary beneficiaries will include all of the 7,507 people living in the communities of Sanankoroba.