Benin Secondary Education Support Project (PAESB)

  • P Project/Program

? Activity Status: Unknown

Key Information

The Benin Secondary Education Support Project (PAESB) has made strengthening of school infrastructure a top priority. Four administrative departments (Atlantique and Littoral in the south and Atacora and Donga in the north) were chosen for construction and fitting out classrooms. Over three years, 62 four-classroom units and 112 latrine units have been built. The French Development Agency (Agence française de développement) AFD has provided €10 million in grants to PAESB, which also focuses on the quality of education. In addition, students are being given a central role in the governance of their schools, where they are represented by a “government” and “ministers.” For example, Kouandika Idani, a 19-year-old student in the 9th grade, is “Minister of Health” at her school, located in Kouandé, in northwest Benin. She has worked actively in awareness-raising targeting the girls of her school, on hygiene and the phenomenon of student pregnancy. “The students understand the messages better and endorse them because it is other students who are communicating them,” she says.


Lead Implementing Government(s)

Benin

Location(s)

Sub-Saharan Africa

Benin

Government Affiliation

Government-affiliated program

Years

2017 - 2022

Partner(s)

Not applicable or unknown

Ministry Affiliation

Ministry of Education

COVID-19 Response

Unknown

Geographic Scope

National

Meets gender-transformative education criteria from the TES  

Unknown

Areas of Work Back to Top

Education areas

Quality

  • School facilities
  • Teacher training

Skills

  • STEM

Cross-cutting areas

  • Adolescent pregnancy/childbearing
  • Menstrual hygiene management
  • WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene)

Program participants

Target Audience(s)

Boys in school, Girls in school, Youth

Age

Not applicable or unknown

School Enrolment Status

All in school

School Level

  • Lower primary
  • Upper primary
  • Lower secondary
  • Upper secondary

Other populations reached

  • School administrators

Participants include

  • N/A

Program Approaches Back to Top

Community engagement/advocacy/sensitization

  • Technical assistance/capacity building to civil society organizations or governments

Facilities construction/improvement

  • Construction/improvement of classrooms

Health and childcare services

  • Adolescent-friendly health services

Menstrual hygiene management

  • Educating girls about menstruation

Teaching

  • In-service teacher training – pedagogy general

Tutoring/strengthening academic skills

  • STEM - in the classroom

Water and sanitation

  • Construction/improvement of sex-specific toilets

Women's empowerment programs

  • Leadership training

Program Goals Back to Top

Education goals

  • Improved academic skills (literacy and numeracy)
  • Increased grade attainment
  • Increased progression to secondary school
  • Increased school enrolment (general)
  • Reduced absenteeism

Cross-cutting goals

  • Improved critical consciousness
  • Improved sexual and reproductive health
  • Increased advocacy/civic engagement
  • Increased agency and empowerment
  • More equitable gender attitudes and norms
  • Reduced child marriage