By Joshua Molina | Development Director
A few years ago, the Mali government made a change to the national curriculum for first and second grades. The new curriculum requires teachers to teach in their indigenous language, which is Bamanankan in the Ouelessebougou area. Beginning in third grade students transition from learning Bamanankan to French—Mali’s official language. In 2005, the Alliance was asked to pilot the new curriculum in 12 village elementary schools. The Alliance was honored to be selected by the government to pilot the program and has seen great success over the years as children have learned to read and write in their traditional language.
This year, twenty-three teachers participated in the Alliance’s annual French/Bamanakan training. The goal of the training was to aid teachers as they strive to make the difficult transition from teaching in Bamanankan (in grades one and two) to teaching fully in French (by grade five) as required by the Malian government. Teachers were instructed on subjects including grammar, conjugation, vocabulary and dictation. Many teachers in Ouelessebougou were only instructed in French, so this training also serves as a language course for teachers.
Our schools continue to have a girls' enrollment rate that's much higher than the national average. Please help us continue to train teachers and provide educational opportunities for girls in Mali.
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