19.07.2016 - Since 2013, Enfants du Monde has been mandated by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation to improve the quality of education in Chad. 78% of people in Chad are illiterate and only one child in five can read and write by the time they finish primary school. There are many reasons for this alarming situation. Children are often expected to help their families by doing domestic chores or working in the fields, and they can only attend school from time to time, if at all. Also the teachers, who are few in number, are poorly trained, and the subjects taught are considered pointless and irrelevant by the pupils and their parents. In order to fulfil its mandate, Enfants du Monde asks everyone involved in education to take part: the parents, the teachers, the headteachers, the teacher trainers and those in the Ministry of Education who train the trainers.

Enfants du Monde uses the educational  approach known as the Pedagogy  of the Text in its training courses for trainers and teachers. Central to this approach is the teaching of subjects adapted to the context, to the pupils and their everyday lives, in the country’s official language and in the local language. The results are striking: the pupils can write and count after only a few weeks of lessons whereas in the past it took them months, if not years, to master these basic educational skills. By mastering these skills, the children improve their life chances, because they will be able to find work to support themselves and their families.

More information on the mandate to improve education in Chad.