Girls are well integrated into the mobile schools project in thenorthern part of Mali.

To ensure that the children of the nomadic societies in Northern Mali can receive a good education, the SDC is maintaining its support for mobile schools in spite of the armed conflict raging in the region.

Through its programme to support the decentralisation of education, the SDC plans to continue its support for the Bozo, Peul and Touareg communities by means of mobile schools designed to enable teachers and their class equipment to move from place to place together with the nomad community in which they work.

Currently, these communities are fully exposed to the fall-out of the conflict in the north of the country. In this climate of insecurity and fragility, the SDC is continuing its support for 25 nomad schools where more than 1,200 children, including 700 girls, in the Niger delta are enrolled.

8 nomad schools in Mauritania
The hostilities ravaging the North of Mali have caused thousands of people to flee their homes, including the Touareg children of the eight mobile schools supported by the SDC. Displaced families have taken refuge in camps situated in M’Berra in Mauritania. To enable the children to pursue their classes, the programme appeals to teachers and the organiser responsible for the social mobilisation of the community for their cooperation - they themselves being among those displaced from their homes.

They organise themselves with the support of humanitarian organisations and the school administration committees in order to be able to continue their courses in the best possible conditions. The SDC programme is following the situation with a view to strengthening the children’s learning activities and allowing them to finish their school courses. 

17 nomad schools along the River Niger
In addition, in the River Niger delta area, the programme has started up 17 mobile schools where children can pursue their courses without too much difficulty. Here, in the absence of the authorities of the Ministry of Education, the programme is supported by a pedagogical counsellor from this area who is responsible for monitoring the schools.

To enable local actors to better assume their responsibilities in the management of mobile schools, the SDC programme envisages, among other things, providing training on the most important questions of education. The training is designed for parent associations and members of the school committees to enable them to propose initiatives to meet the needs of the communities. 

The project in brief