As we learned in our pre-service training, its difficult to know where to start when you talk about Malian education. Its a huge complex subject, and I could fill pages and pages on my observations and opinions. But since many of you have expressed interest in it, I’ll try to start with the main overlying structure and problems.
Language and Literacy: First, Mali is a huge country, filled with many diverse ethnic groups and though French is the official business language, there are between 7 and 11 other national languages. Thus, it is common for a teacher to be placed in a village that speaks a minority language that he does not. Consequently, the students are taught in French or Bambara, 2 languages that none of them understand. Therefore, unlike the American system, Malians take many different paths to learn to read and write. If they would like to learn French, they attend a formal government school. Adult or young Bambara learners attend community literacy centers.. Those that drop out of formal school attend trade school literacy classes or begin learning Arabic at the madrasa (koranic school). These various institutions have been set up over time to try to accommodate the diversity in languages and in lifestyle, thus trying to provide an option for everyone. However, despite the combined efforts, on the part of the Malian government, non profit organizations, and foreign aid, Mali still has one of the highest illiteracy rates in the world! According to the World Factbook, the literacy rate of Mali in 2009 was 46%. However, that varies greatly depending on rural and urban settings. In a recent survey of our village, James found that only 40% of adults had been through primary school or literacy class, and from experience, we know that maybe 1/2 of those people can read and write at a functional level.
Access to Education: We currently live in the densely populated Sikasso region, so access to Education is not as difficult as it is in the far north of Mali, where formal schools are few and far between. Near us, most villages have a primary school (Grades 1-6), though many only have 3 classrooms, meaning they can only take new students every other year. However, after 6 grade, finding a school becomes more difficult. The nearest middle school is often 10-15 km away and the nearest high school is even further away at 15-50km. Therefore, families usually send their children to live with a relative or friend in a town where schooling is available. However, this means the family must pay for food and living expenses as well as transport to and from that town. Often, the family decides that high expenses are not worth the seemingly irrelevant education the child receives, especially when they are at an age where they can be a valuable worker around the house. Nevertheless, the formal schools are being built by the national government and NGOs and access is constantly improving.
Quality of Education: Once a village has a school, the question is: can it handle a school? In the US, we are incredibly involved in our schools. The school board and PTO monitor the curriculum and state of the buildings, etc. Parents are constantly volunteering as chaperones, lunch ladies, team banquet organizers. They sign permission slips and look over their children’s homework, and habitually ask “Hey, what did you learn in school today?” and actually expect an answer! However, all of that came about organically, because in America, we started to promote the idea that children are the future and they are worth the investment. Now, Westerners have built schools all over Mali believing that education is the key to development (and I agree). However, part of my job as a volunteer is to convince Malians that taking care of that school is worth their time and that its their own responsibility to care about the quality of their school. Every village is different, but in general, repeatedly low test scores and the difficulties with multiple national languages has created a huge lack of morale within the Malian education community, leading to discouraged and lazy teachers. However, when poor test scores come back or the village sees that the teachers are not spending time in their classrooms, they often don’t understand that its their job to fix it. There is usually no parent-teacher organization and a school board that only meets a few times a year.
These are only some of the factors that make education work so difficult and frustrating in Mali. Some days, it seem s to be a vicious cycle that can’t be remedied. However, on those days, I have to remind myself that I can’t expect things to change overnight. I can change things little by little by encouraging the school board to meet, talking with my neighbors about registering their kids in school, and providing feedback to the teachers to help them improve. I also work to promote the idea of girl’s education through “Take Our Daughters To Work Day” Camps and awareness activities with the teachers. Certainly, these efforts are only a drop in the bucket, but I do believe that improving the education of the next generation of Malians is the surest way to encourage slow but steady development for this country.
No comments:
Post a Comment