Institute for Popular Education
Mali
The Institute for Popular Education (IEP) is an association
of community educators working to develop
alternative approaches to grassroots education in Mali.
In January 1994, IEP began work in Kafi, Mali, on
an adult literacy program designed to reach women in
local communities by sharing information and promoting
analytical reasoning and community action. Literacy
materials focused on six issues identified as critical to
the community: education, gender, community development,
rights, economics, and reproductive health.
"Before, I could not read, I was
never able to give my opinion.
But then I started learning
with other women in my
community. We asked our
teachers, ‘Can you do with our
children what you did with
us?’ They helped us… and now
our children learn with us.”
Woman in an intergenerational
program in Mali
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Women from the first group of classes asked educators
to design a community preschool to allow their children
to benefit from an educational environment similar
to the one created for their own adult literacy classes.
In 1994, the preschool opened and, after two years,
the school served more than 70 children every day.
When the first group of preschool children, most the
sons and daughters of the women who had participated
in the literacy program, were ready to enter first grade,
the women asked IEP to provide a first grade class.
Previously dedicated to providing nonformal alternatives
to adult education, IEP expanded its mission to
reach children in formal education settings. Subsequent
higher grade levels were added to accommodate the
educational progress of the original preschool students.
Education for girls is a main objective of the school,
and they comprise 65–75 percent of the enrollment.
The school emphasizes gender equity to both girls and
boys in contrast to the realities of home and society.
Community women are actively recruited as teachers
and as interns at the school.
A key feature of the program is the mobilization of the
community and parents as advocates and decision
makers in basic education.
In addition,
the increased involvement
of women in
managing their children’s
schooling has
resulted in greater
educational access
and retention rates.
IEP has expanded to
serve 150 rural communities
in three
regions. Participants
range from preschoolers
to adults.
Over 9,000 people
have participated, and the program continues to attract
growing attention as Mali seeks to change the way its
people learn, and how they put their learning to use.
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