AMU and the Success of its COMMUNITY BASED EDUCATION INTERVENTION (CBEI) Project

Overview

Over the past eight years Mwana Ukundwa Association (AMU)* has developed an innovative program aimed at improving the quality of education delivered through public schools in desperately poor communities.  This "Community Based Education Intervention" (CBEI) was started in partnership with a Norwegian organization called Stromme Foundation. The low quality of education in these schools was caused by the fact that parents could not afford to pay school fees for their children, and government support was insufficient. 

A detailed evaluation by AMU identified lack of school infrastructure -- especially classrooms and children's desks -- the virtual absence of teaching materials, and the inadequate training of teachers in improved methods of child education, as the biggest obstructions to improved quality of education.

In 2002 a pilot project introduced CBEI in three carefully selected schools.  The dramatic success of this program has resulted in its expansion to additional schools, and demonstrated the viability of  school-based intervention, as opposed to the traditional sponsorship-based assistance.

* In Rwanda, the letters of the acronym used by Mwana Ukundwa Association are arranged according to the French word order, hence AMU.

 

From Child Sponsorship Project to Community Based Education Intervention

The need for developing a more holistic approach to the problem of poor quality education in Rwanda emerged as AMU's child sponsorship program encountered problems arising from desperately poor schools and poorly trained teachers. It was evident that providing individual-level sponsorship support was insufficient in the provision of a reasonable quality of education.

During the evaluation carried out in 2001, a number of issues were raised:

• The school fees, scholastic materials and health care provided to individual sponsored children were not enough to ensure quality primary education. Something had to be done to improve the schools' capacity to offer quality education.
• The project was not involving both communities and local government at a satisfactory level.
• The project was not effectively contributing at meeting the UN Development Millennium goals especially concerning the Education For All by 2015.

 

To meet these shortcomings, AMU and Stromme Foundation decided to implement a different approach focused on schools and leveraging community involvement.

 

Initiating the CBEI Pilot Project

In 2002 AMU opted experiment with the development and implementation of a program aimed specifically at improving the quality of education in poor communities in Rwanda.

With the help of Stromme Foundation AMU engaged community support and mobilized school administrators and students to forge a new community-based process towards sustainable educational improvement.  This program took a name of "Community Based Education Intervention" (CBEI).

After twelve months, the program was evaluated by external evaluators. The evaluation concluded that "Community Based Education Intervention is very successful and is recommended to all other Stromme Foundation partners in Eastern Africa."

 

Community Based Education Intervention (CBEI)

During the pilot program, AMU worked with three schools in Kicukiro districts (Gikondo, Mburabuturo and Karugira). In 2005, we added other two primary schools which are Nyarurama and Bwerankoli. In 2008 we added the sixth school named Gatenga 1.
These partnering schools had one main criterion in common: they were desperately poor and most of the children who attended them came from poor families

 

Table 1: School enrollment in partnering primary schools since 2002 until 2009

Name of school	Number of pupils
	2002	2004	2006	2009
Gikondo	1918	1954	2164	2301
Mburabuturo	1332	1352	1466	1686
Karugira	418	609	800	894
Bwerankoli			776	863
Nyarurama			819	826
Gatenga1				1915
Total	3668	3915	6025	8485

 

According to AMU's assessment, specific interventions were implemented in each of the selected schools. These included construction of classrooms, offices and latrines, rehabilitation or renovation of classrooms, teacher trainings, equipment and furniture supply, developing sports and culture activities, equipping computer labs and teachers' canteens, etc.

Some of the new constructed classrooms. The community contributed with 30%, the government with 20% while the AMU's implemented project topped up with 50%

This modern six-room latrine give three main advantages: (i) separation of boys' side from girls' side, (ii) improving hygiene (iii) enabling students to keep time for sessions after break.

Primary school students in one of CBEI's partnering schools enjoying supplied new desks. Besides desks, schools got dictionaries, text books, chairs, office desks, cupboards, geometry tool boxes, libraries' equipments, teachers' canteens' equipments

Primary teachers from 5 schools during training on HIV/Aids and participatory methods of teaching. Besides those skills, we have also trained teachers in counseling, English language, computer, children's rights, First Aids, event management, sports team management, etc.

AMU children's football team posing for a photo before a friendly match. 

 AMU children's football team just after a two-hour training session. Through developed sport skills, children and youth learn about fair-play, punctuality, discipline, endurance and teamwork.

 AMU children's drumming group

 AMU children's cultural group "Intore"

 AMU children's cultural dancing group. Through it, children and youth learn various life skills like perfection, determination, etc.

Outcomes of CBEI

All these interventions were carried out to improve the children's learning conditions. A lot of immediate changes have been and are still being made:

• 102 teachers have been trained in various skills including HIV/Aids, counseling, children's rights, English language, computer literacy, participatory methods of teaching;
• 203 children who had dropped out were reintegrated back into schools.
• School enrollment increased from 3668 in 2002 to 8485 children in 2009;
• School dropouts rate slowed down from 12% in 2002 to 2,2% in 2009;
• Student pass rates in standardized tests increased from 24% of the primary school leavers in 2002 to 89% in 2009. The education policy in Rwanda has also contributed towards this achievement.
• The gap between children from rich families and those from poor families was reduced as far as quality education is concerned;
• Parents' and community's contributions towards children's education increased as they owned the project;
• Schools which did not have government paid headmasters got them thanks to number of classrooms and other infrastructure which met government requirements.
• Schools developed skills to mobilize resources from different sources; School dependency on external donors was reduced as they mobilized more local partners.
• Transparency in school administrative and financial management increased.

 

 

Continuing Achievements

Community Based Education Intervention offers a number of considerable opportunities both on served communities and on AMU:

• It is a sustainable solution for orphans and other vulnerable children's education as the community project's ownership rises up.
• Once combined with child sponsorship program, CBEI offer a full care for orphan's and vulnerable children's education.
• It proved that schools can achieve what they always perceived as difficult or impossible;
• Parent members of school committees are invested in school administrative and financial management;
• Through increased enrollment, this program helps combat child labor by keeping children in school;
• AMU strengthened its relationship/cooperation with schools, local governments and central government; as result of this, AMU's lobbying capacity increased;
• Through children's open-days which are organized every year, children's rights as well as their responsibilities are better known and respected;
• Through sports and culture, children and youth improve life skills like perfection, discipline, punctuality, teamwork, fair-play, determination, resilience, etc.

 

Community mobilization and Project Ownership

The crucial component to successful implementation of CBEI was  community mobilization. This is the reason why AMU has put in place a community resource mobilization department, and why AMU staff attended different fundraising and human resources courses and workshops.

In 2003 and again in 2008, AMU was been selected as the "Best Mobiliser" amongst all the Stromme Foundation partners in Rwanda, Uganda, Sudan, Tanzania and Kenya.

After the project established stakeholders ownership at the school level, community members have offered themselves as part time volunteers who work together with AMU to ensure that the planned activities are implemented.

Among our volunteers, we can mention businessmen who offer their finances and vehicles, government officials who represent the project in the institutions AMU does not have access, skilled and knowledgeable people who offer their expertise and men and women who give their free labor during project work days.

One of AMU's stated goals with CBEI has been to ensure that the communities surrounding each school feel ownership of the intervention and have a stake in its continued success.

Evidence that this strategy has succeeded is most evident in the fact that last year (2008), external funding accounted for 47% of the total budget; while local fundraising and community contributions amounted to 53%.  Even more dramatically, one of the partnering schools, Gikondo, is now covering 100% of intervention financing.

Gikondo Primary School started with CBEI in 2002. With the help of AMU staff, the school initially raised 20% of that year's budget. As the school mastered the fundraising strategies, through working alongside CBEI and attending training on resource mobilization organized by Stromme Foundation, in 2004 the school raised 30%  by itself, in 2005 parents themselves initiated and raised money for a project to collect rain water from the roofs of all school buildings. In 2006 they accounted for 50% of the budget. From 2007 the school started to take full care of its need. This success is attributable to successful community mobilization and a strong sense of project ownership. 

As long us communities own the project and will be able to sustain it by themselves.  With their success, AMU can shift its involvement to other schools in other communities.

Through their contributions, the project achieved more that what was planned.  Later on, some communities can fully finance their education's initiatives.

Impact of CBEI on other AMU's implemented projects

After realizing that it is much more effective and sustainable to involve the community in the introduction and management entire project cycle, AMU has decided to change its approach with other aspects of its ministry. Since 2005, all AMU's programs (HIV program, child sponsorship, the evangelism program, micro enterprise, and sports and culture activities) have shifted to be community based. We use volunteers, we mobilize local resources and we involve the community stakeholders in all our programs.

 

Need to Expand to other Schools

Observing the success of AMU's CBEI program, many other schools have been requesting AMU's involvement in introducing the concept to their communities.

AMU has developed the experience and institutional capacity to introduce CBEI in other districts in Rwanda. We want to reach more struggling schools and help them to improve the educational experience they offer to their students, and the impact they can have in their communities. The ministry of education also backs AMU in its intention to widen its scope. However, Stromme Foundation is still the only donor partner for this program.

We are longing to have more financial capacities to expand CBEI to other schools in other districts.

The need is great, and the opportunities are many, but AMU  can only expand its intervention as financial means become available.

 

Help us improve education in poor Rwandan communities

If you wish to be involved or offer support, please contact Rose Mukankaka, AMU National Coordinator at:

Mrs. Rose Mukankaka
National Coordinator
Association Mwana Ukundwa
P.O. Box 1719
Kigali, Rwanda

Tel: +250 514648
Mobile phone: + 250 788305900

Email: amu@rwanda1.com , rosegakwandi@yahoo.fr
Website: www.amurwanda.org

 

Kigali, 7th September 2009