Fast-tracking access to high-quality education for Cote d’Ivoire youth

Over the past 10 years, Cote d’Ivoire has experienced stable economic growth and, despite setbacks due to the COVID-19 pandemic, continues to demonstrate promise. To ensure  progress, however, the Government of Cote d’Ivoire (GoCI) must increase access to high-quality education. An OECD analysis of Cote d’Ivoire’s employment situation found that youth face significant obstacles to accessing the labor market, and lack of education is the biggest barrier. Furthermore, youth from rural areas, especially women and girls, are least likely to have access to education that prepares them for the labor market.

The GoCI has set ambitious goals for improving basic pre-primary, primary, and secondary education. As part of this effort, it signed a compact with Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) to improve workforce development and increase economic productivity, which includes improving access to quality lower-secondary education in rural communities. World Education supports these efforts as a partner with Catalyseur de Développement (C2D) and Millennium Challenge Account – Cote d’Ivoire on the Lower Secondary Teacher Education Reform Program. 

Over the past 10 months, World Education and C2D worked with the local teacher training institute (Ecole Normale Superieure), the Ministry of National Education, and the Ministry of Higher Education and Research to reform the teacher training program to prepare instructors for teaching in the colleges de proximite (rural lower secondary schools). Using a co-construction approach— including all stakeholders in the design and development process—the reform considers the needs of rural teachers; focuses on building life skills and integrating gender and social inclusion into content; and uses pedagogical approaches to improve teacher performance. Evidence shows that using co-construction to ensure the appropriate inputs and collaborative development of the new teacher training program, is crucial to its effectiveness.

On February 22, 2022, the Lower Secondary Teacher Education Reform Program reached a major milestone when the Council of Higher Education and Research approved the reformed teacher training program. World Education and its partners have permission to pilot this  program, including a pre-service and in-service teacher supervision and coaching component, during the upcoming academic year. Undoubtedly, the co-construction approach has not only facilitated ownership and sustainability of the reform, but its efficiency too, as all stakeholders bought into the work from the beginning and committed to completing it within the timeline dictated in the agreement between MCC and GoCI.

The next step for the Lower Secondary Teacher Education Reform Program is to organize a master teacher trainer training workshop this summer. This workshop will assure that trainers understand how to equip future teachers with the practical skills and knowledge to succeed. World Education will ensure the integration of gender and social inclusion into the teacher training program. This involves strategies that are gender equalizing, include learners of all abilities, and encourage social cohesion.