July 8, 2008 --From 1985 to 1999, Mauritania made considerable effort to improve the overall level of education and skills of its population, especially for women.
With the support of several International Development Association-financed education projects, coupled with efforts from partnering international development agencies, the government expanded educational opportunities in primary and secondary education and in vocational and technical training.
During that period gross enrolment rates increased from 41 percent in 1985 to 85 percent in 1999 in primary education; from 14 percent to 20 percent in the first cycle of secondary; and from 11 percent to 13 percent in the second cycle of secondary education.
To help reach the Millennium Development Goals and to continue the effort, Mauritania embarked on educational sector reform. As part of that reform, in 1999, Parliament approved the Education Reform Law, which sought to improve the quality of education and restructure and expand the education system in ways that were relevant to the future needs of the economy.
Government officials are hoping to reduce the size of classrooms from an average 79 students per class to 50.
To successfully implement the reform the Government also prepared a new 10-year Education Sector Development Program (ESDP), whose scope covered the formal education system from pre-school to tertiary to non-formal education and literacy.
The program sought to:
(i) Make education more relevant by using French and Arabic as languages of instruction;
(ii) provide improved access to 10 years of good-quality education (basic education) for the vast majority of the young Mauritanians while achieving equity; and
(iii) make secondary education, technical and vocational training, and higher education more relevant to social needs and responsive to the demands of the labor market.
During the preparation of the ESDP, multilateral and bilateral donors were consulted extensively and, in order to avoid overlaps in interventions, the Government and major donors including UNICEF, the World Bank, UNESCO and the African Development Bank, designed their interventions within the framework of the ESDP.
Current Government Efforts
Today, efforts to reform the Mauritanian educator system continue under the National Education Sector Development Program.
The program aims to address issues including:
Improving the quality and the internal efficiency of the education system
Improving the quality of teaching-learning content (in-service and pre-service teaching)
Promoting access to and equity in the education sector
Improving the administrative, financial, pedagogic management of the sector
In the following Q&A conducted in March of this year, Mauritania’s Minister of Primary and Secondary Education Nebghouha mint Mohamed vall discussed continued government efforts to improve education in Mauritania.
Can you describe government efforts to address some of the education system’s challenges?
NMMV: At present, we are working in the context of a program designed in 2001, i.e., the National Education Sector Development program, which spans the period from 2001 to 2011 and is divided into two phases. The partners involved in its implementation are the World Bank, naturally; France, through its Coopération française and the Agence française de dévelopement; the African Development Bank; the Islamic Development Bank; the United Nations System, through UNFPA, WFP, UNICEF and UNESCO; Spain; and Japan.
What are some of the key projects that are part of the program?
NMMV: We shall put in place our 2008 program, including the Emergency Program for Construction and Facilities. We plan to construct 307 classrooms in Nouakchott and 300 in the rest of the country since, in past years, we assigned higher priority to the regions than to Nouakchott. At the secondary level, we will construct about 150 classrooms. We cannot do more, as we do not have the funds to go any further.
Is classroom size a problem?
NMMV: This year, classes have been large compared to those of last year. In Nouakchott and large urban centers, classes were averaging 79 pupils per classroom. There were classes ranging from 60 to130 pupils. The measures implemented this year enabled us to place 9,632 teachers in classrooms. And this year we have 12,250 teachers, including the 400 coming out of teachers’ colleges and others that we managed to recruit.
What we have done is to take a classroom number and cut that number in half. Given the number of classrooms that we plan to build this year, we hope that next year we will have 50 pupils per class, instead of the 65 per class that we have this year. The problem is in the rural areas, where schools are small. Small schools are those with enrollments ranging from 40 to 100 pupils.
What programs have been put in place for women in the education system?
NMMV: The programs developed by various Mauritanian governments since the 1990s all encourage the schooling of girls. [They include] school outreach and parental awareness efforts, in which religious leaders have participated. Programs to promote school attendance have been developed. Many incentives have been provided, including funds to support girls’ school attendance, school cafeterias, etc. All of these programs have resulted in gender parity at the primary level. At the secondary level, girls account for 46 percent of enrollment. In higher education, the figures are lower, with women accounting for 24 percent of enrollment.
How are you involving stakeholders in the plans?
NMMV: We are now at the end of the first phase of this program. As we move into the second phase of our national program, the president of the Republic is committed to holding national education workshops, since he feels that education should be everyone’s concern. Therefore, the programs implemented must involve all segments of Mauritanian society. The objectives are to bring politicians, intellectuals and teachers together to discuss the challenges facing the educational sector, the goals of the Mauritanian people, and the type of strategy needed to reach those goals.
Officials are looking at ways to improve school attendance among Mauritanian girls.
Following these national workshops, the second phase of the program will be drawn up and financing for it will be sought from our development partners. We will involve them, of course, in discussions occurring during the national workshops. Their contribution must consist not only of funding, but also of intellectual input.
We shall give people an opportunity to express their opinions, and a technical committee will examine all opinions. There will be debates on television and radio, and a dedicated Internet website will be created. Everyone’s contribution will be sought: not only the opinions of Mauritanians, but that of anyone interested in education.
What is the World Bank’s involvement in Mauritania’s education sector?
NMMV: The Bank has been involved in the education sector since the mid-1980s, and has been steadily involved with no interruptions. The initial programs – one, two and three – involved the primary and secondary programs. The fourth program concerned technical and vocational training and the fifth was a study of the restructuring of higher education. The current program covers the entire educational sector, including pre-school and literacy.
The Bank has also played a very large role in mobilizing other partners and in involving them in the various programs in place. I can state that the Bank is our primary partner in the education sector, but that doesn’t mean that we don’t have some worries about the Bank. These worries have to do with the fact that government funds are generally shrinking. Two years ago, Mauritania was seen as a country on the verge of becoming a petroleum producer. Right now, we are not one.
In 2006, the funds reserved for the education sector were far below what we now hope to receive from the Bank, and below the needs of the sector, which are still very considerable. Therefore, we can scarcely hope to finance the Government’s programs despite the commitments of the international community and the Paris Club.
The first time around, the Bank’s contribution [to the first phase of the program] was US$50 million, while for the second phase provision for Bank financing is estimated at US$15 million. The two commitments now involve US$65 million from IDA, but the sector’s needs are still enormous.
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