Activities in Benin

One of the areas which the nation of Benin is focusing on is education, and the aim of the 4th Project of Classrooms Construction in Primary Schools is to improve the rate of school enrollment as well as the internal efficiency and quality of education. In cooperation with major donor organizations, Benin has formulated a Ten-Year Education Sector Development Plan (PDDSE) to run from 2006 to 2015. Under this plan, 23% of the national budget is being allocated to the education sector to equalize primary education opportunities while working on the improvements mentioned above. To achieve these goals, issues being worked on in the education sector include eliminating gender and regional disparities in school enrollment.

As a result of these efforts, child enrollment increased so rapidly that the existing educational facilities could not handle the additional children. While the enrollment was greatly improved, bringing it to 99% in 2004, this lack of facilities led to a subsequent decline in the educational situation that included a negative impact on the quality of education and the learning environment. To address these issues, educational facilities are therefore desperately needed. According to the PDDSE, 25,000 classrooms are needed by 2015, but the national budget of Benin is insufficient to achieve this target, leading the country to request grant aid from Japan to construct elementary classrooms.

• Exchange of Notes signed on: December 5, 2007
• Amount of grant aid: 1.03 billion yen
• Executing agency: Ministry of Preschool and Primary Education

Under the 4th Project of Classrooms Construction in Primary Schools, 92 elementary school classrooms will be rebuilt in the Departments of Collines, Kouffo and Zou and as well as in the town of Dangbo in Ouémé Department. Additionally, furnishings provided as required at each facility, and restrooms will be constructed.

The grant aid will be in the form of community development assistance. Thus, local design customs and local specifications will be used for construction, and community workers and locally procured materials will be employed. By utilizing a competitive selection method for the contractors using international competitive bidding, cost-cutting will be possibly made and the project will be more efficient than typically seen with grant aid for general projects.

In 2006, the Beninese government announced that "all preschool and primary education would be free", resulting in affecting on funds available for school operation, maintenance and management that had been collected from parents groups and others. This project will therefore provide guidance at the organizational level, strengthen the institutional capacity and enhance the system to ensure that the personnel are in place to properly maintain and manage the educational facilities over the long term. Another organizational aspect of this project is that some activities will take place in conjunction with a project of the Japanese Overseas Cooperation Volunteers in the school health field.