Benin

AGSP/Benin At a Glance:

• Program Start Date: October 2004
• Academic Focus: Primary School
• Academic Year Start: October
• Number of Local partners: 2
• Number of Scholarships to Date: 5,196 (Girls: 4,586 Boys: 610)
• Number of Schools: 41
• Number of Mentors: 44
• Geographic Focus: North and South

World Education works with local partners Actions Communautaires pour de le Dévéloppement Durable (ACDD) and Groupe d'Action pour la Justice et l'Egalité Sociale (GAJES). ACDD implements the program in the northern region, and GAJES in the southern region. During the 2007–08 school year, the program has supported 1,200 vulnerable girls and 610 boys in its fourth year in Benin. The scholarship package includes school books, school supplies, backpack, school fees, shoes, uniforms and breakfast.

There are currently 44 mentors volunteering in Benin. They are volunteers who are business women, dress makers, housewives who have at least completed primary school and teachers who have been recruited by the communities. The mentors have been actively monitoring the girls' academic work, they organize home visits, and help organize and supervise study groups both at the school and in the girls' homes.

The President and First Lady visited Benin in February 2008, and AGSP scholars had the opportunity to not only present AGSP to the visitors, but also to express their gratitude for the support the U.S. Government and the American people are providing to them.

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Basic Information

• School year calendar: October – July
• The target areas of this assistance are Bembereke, Parakou and Niki in the north; Zjobodome, Abomé, Bohicon and Porto–Novo in the south.
• World Education has relationships with local organizations GAJES for implementation in Abomé, Bohicon and Porto–Novo and ACDD for implementation in Bembéréké, Parakou and Niki
• To date, visits have been conducted to Porto–Novo by World Education representatives. IETC consultant Toyin Zakariya conducted an AGSP verification trip to Benin June 18 – July 2, 2007. During his stay, he visited schools in both ACDD's and GAJES's zones and met with a variety of AGSP stakeholders to measure the accuracy of program data in FieldLink, the program database
• Most Recent Agreement dates: September 15, 2007 – September 14, 2008
• Funding for Year 4 in dollars: $191,737

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Program Overview

In Year 1, the AGSP provided scholarships to 931 girls in seven regions of the country with assistance from an in–country consultant, Ms. Sika Houngnihin. The AGSP activities in Year 1 were implemented as planned. The program was able to accomplish its Year 1 objectives and the stakeholders began preparing for Year 2 well in advance.

In Year 2, the scholarships were disbursed and the mentoring activities were launched with a high level of enthusiasm and participation on the part of the girls and the communities. Our NGO partners were able to increase the number of scholars this year by 251 girls.

In Year 3, scholarship distribution took place in the first few months of the school year. Our implementing partners again were able to increase the number of beneficiaries of the program. During the 2006–2007 school year, 1,271 girls are benefiting from the program.

In Year 4, Implementing Partners strengthened their strategies by garnering community support through working more closely with PTAs and other CBOs. Beneficiaries this year included 1204 girls and 610 boys.

The scholarships are comprised of books, school supplies, backpack, school fees, shoes, uniforms, and breakfast for the girls throughout the year.

Scholars are selected through a transparent process which increases accountability and inclusiveness. The girls are chosen by selection committees made up of the Head of School Enrollment or his representative, the mayor, the village chief, a member of the community's women's group, the APE president and two other community members.

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Exemplary Practices

GAJES Practice: Use of Numbered Meal Tickets

GAJES produced numbered meal tickets to give to scholars to purchase lunch from different vendors, thus, ensuring accountability and freedom of choice to the scholars.

• GAJES established a classification and numbering system to track use of tickets by scholar and facilitate reimbursement to food vendors. GAJES classifies schools alphabetically and according to groups. A group consists of a grade set from Kindergarten to 5th grade in one school. If a school has multiple grade sets, i.e., several classes at each grade level (1st grade A, 1st grade B, 2nd grade A, B, etc.), the A's are one group, the B's are another group, etc.
• Each girl is allotted a 7–digit number. The first 3 digits are the first three letters of the school name. The fourth is the group's identifier (A, B or C). The last three digits are the ranking of the scholar based on the alphabetical list. Scholars are given three tickets worth 25 CFA each. These tickets are initialed by a GAJES staff member and laminated for durability.
• During recess, a scholar can exchange the tickets for a meal of her choice. At the end of recess, each vendor brings the tickets received to the school management committee or to the head teacher for bookkeeping. This is also a way to monitor that the scholars have eaten. At the end of the month, each vendor is reimbursed for the number of meal tickets received.

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