By Alou Doumbia, Field Director

The school is an essential factor of social cohesion, the fight against poverty and exclusion, the distribution of knowledge and well-being in general. However, it cannot work in isolation because school success is influenced by factors that are both external and internal to the school institution.

To diagnose these factors, you have to take a global approach. A global approach makes it possible to respond appropriately to the complexity of the challenges that the Malian school faces.

What are the challenges our schools face?

These challenges are: the quality of education, fairness (gender and between poor and rich children), access to school, security in schools, hygiene at school, administrative and community management.

All these challenges limit not only the expansion of the school to meet the demand of the rapidly growing population, but also the challenges of the economy that increasingly requires competences in various and pointed areas.

These challenges make our job at Mali Rising more difficult, but also that much more important. I love working with our village partners, teachers, and students to find solutions that keep us all moving forward!