As part of a series of workshops in the context of the initiative on Improving Education Management in African Countries (IEMAC/AGEPA)*, a third regional workshop took place in Dakar, Senegal, May 16-18, 2006, following the workshops in Antananarivo, Madagascar (2003) and Nouakchott, Mauritania (2004).

The improvement of education management plays an essential role in achieving the millennium development goal of universal primary completion.  Behind this backdrop, the World Bank, jointly with the governments of France, Ireland and Norway launched the Improving Education Management in African Countries initiative (IEMAC/AGEPA) as a pilot program to explore specific ways to enhance two aspects of education management, focusing on primary education:

• consistency in the distribution of resources to schools, particularly teachers; and
• effectiveness in the transformation of tangible resources at the school or classroom level into student learning outcomes.  

The third workshop served the following three objectives: 

• to share cross-country experiences 
• to provide countries with feedback by international experts and development partners on their activities, 
• to launch the work in the three new countries.

Participants of the third workshop included delegations from the eight countries now participating in the AGEPA initiative, Madagascar, Mauritania, Mozambique, Niger and Senegal, as well as Benin, Burkina Faso and Guinea, and representatives from various partner organizations. 

The workshop outcomes consisted in:

• an increase in the numbers of participating AGEPA countries from five to eight
• visible progress and action in the initial countries in their efforts to improve education management (see country action plans)
• understanding among countries and partners of the need for a more efficient management of resources in the education system and the potential of the AGEPA initiative in responding to it.

The documents related to the conference are only available in French.

For more information, please contact:
Cornelia Jesse: cjesse@worldbank.org
Consultant, Africa Region, Human Development, The World Bank

* Note: The French acronym for the project is AGEPA, which stands for Amélioration de la Gestion dans les Pays Africains