Mali Community Schools
Meeting Education for All
At the start of 1990s, Mali’s basic education system was failing under the weight of dictatorship. National public primary schools only accommodated 22 percent of the country’s children. In 1991, Mali’s military dictatorship ended, and the advent of the Third Republic promised a new era of opportunity. A democratic and more prosperous future for the country depended on, among other things, the expansion and improvement of education. This case study examines the overall growth and impact of community schools in Mali during the last decade. It focuses on the Sikasso region, where Save the Children and 16 local NGOs, using USAID funds, have supported almost 800 schools—roughly 90 percent of the community schools in that region.