Education and Training
Basic education is a key factor in reducing poverty and inequality. It helps reduce population growth and prevent health risks. Furthermore, high primary school enrolment rates rate usually correlate with more responsible citizenship, as well as good governance. Basic education also provides a strong foundation of human capital, one of the engines of economic growth.
International mobilization for the Millennium Development Goal of ensuring universal primary education by 2015 has led to significant improvements in access to education.
The challenge remains considerable, however, with regard to the inclusion of the most vulnerable (the poor, rural populations, and girls) and to the provision of quality education, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, where nearly one child out of two does not complete primary school. In addition, rising primary school enrolment requires better management of secondary and tertiary education, which must be linked to economic and social development needs, as well as to labor markets in both the formal and informal economy.
In 2007, AFD joined the international effort by raising €136 million for basic education and vocational training, €108 million of which was earmarked for sub-Saharan Africa.
In particular, AFD aid helps beneficiary countries improve the performance of their education system within the framework of the “Fast-Track” initiative, a multilateral effort in support of education in low-income countries. Joining in the effort to harmonize international aid, AFD provides a significant portion of its funding (78%) as sectorial aid and technical assistance.
Vocational Training
AFD programs take into account the need for vocational training, which received a larger share of the portfolio of projects thanks to two new projects for Morocco and Congo approved in 2007 (see box). AFD pays close attention to the need to strengthen national capacity in oversight, resource management, and the training of trainers; and to increase community participation in the management of training programs.
Funding for 2007 targeted 4.7 million children in primary schools and 1.15 million in secondary schools, and will provide 45,000 young people with access to vocational training centres.
El Hadji Dame Baye, schoolteacher in suburban Dakar, Senegal
« The situation in our schools is improving thanks to external aid »
« We are at the heart of a poverty-stricken area, so parents do not always have the means to support the schooling of their children. Yet the school must care for the children despite the difficulties that we encounter in our classes and the number of students we welcome.
Nevertheless, the situation in our schools is improving thanks to external aid. This aid has enabled teachers to access ongoing training and equipped our schools with additional equipment.
This is important, because a well-educated person enriches society and will ultimately save it ».
Our videos
Project story: Education in Senegal
Financing an education program in Togo
Togo’s education system is marked by a structural imbalance between basic education, which receives insufficient public resources, and higher education, which is overdeveloped in terms of the absorption capacity of the labor market for its graduates. In addition, access to quality education is constrained by imbalances in geography, socioeconomics and gender.
To support the education sector in Togo, AFD has approved a €10 million grant. The grant, which conforms to the guidelines of Togo’s national action plan for the sector (“Education for All”), aims to improve the steering and management of the education system, train pre- and in-service teachers as well as administrators, and reduce disparities in access to education.
The main goals up to 2010-2011 are to increase the primary school completion rate to 82% (compared to 75% in 2005), reduce the proportion of repeaters to 12% (compared to 20% in 2005), and increase the ratio of girls to boys on the gender parity index to 0.9 (compared to 0.8 in 2005). France is a leader and the primary donor in the education sector in Togo.
Find out more about AFD and education
 |
 |
 |
Project database Education |
 |
Publications Education |