This amount represents the funding needs expressed for the execution of the action matrix of the first three years of the National Consultations on Education and Literacy in Cote d’Ivoire (Etats Generaux de l’éducation et de l’alphabetisation in Cote d’Ivoire).
The Ivorian Minister of National Education and Literacy, Ms. Mariatou Kone, officially handed over the proceedings of the ‘Etats generaux de l’education et de l’alphabetisation to the Prime Minister, Patrick Achi, on Wednesday during a ceremony.
“For all the projects, it is a total of 865.75 billion CFA francs that will be needed in the next three years to implement the planned activities to make the change in line with the vision of the people,” Mariatou Kone said.
According to Professor Mariatou Kone, to date, expressions of interest amounting to 250 billion CFA francs have been received from, among others, the French Development Agency (AFD), which has promised 40 billion CFA francs,
The World Bank, the Jacobs Foundation and private companies have also expressed their willingness within the framework of the eligibility mechanism of Cote d’Ivoire for the financing of the global partnership for education.
Some 313.8 billion CFA francs of promises have been registered, said the Ivorian Minister of National Education and Literacy, in front of an audience of personalities and stakeholders in the education system.
These nationwide consultations are meant to promote “a resilient school based on the roots and openness, equity and equality of opportunity, a quality school for all, a school for the promotion of the individual and the society.”
They should also usher in “an effective leadership and new attitudes in the country’s education system, as well as a peaceful school, free of politics, embodying the development ambitions of the Nation,” she went on.
The Deputy Director General of UNESCO in charge of education, Stefania Giannini, hailed the initiative of these General Consultations. For her, they reflect a “national surge for the Ivorian school.”
“I congratulate you for the quality of this process that has involved all stakeholders in the education system to make education the lever for development of the country,” she added.
For his part, Ivorian Prime Minister, Patrick Achi, congratulated all the stakeholders of the educational community: parents, elected officials, institutional and administrative actors, civil society, trade unions, political parties, religious organizations for their mobilization and their commitment.
These National Consultations on Education and Literacy in Cote d’Ivoire have helped formulate a roadmap for the Ivorian school that “will give us the heroic strength to believe in our destiny, because we have prepared with fervor that (destiny) of those who will succeed us,” the head of the Ivorian government concluded.
AP/fss/abj/APA