Action Éducation and its partner, the Fondation l'Occitane, have decided to take action to help girls stay in school through the SCOLFILLE girls' schooling support project. The aim is to give a second chance to girls who have dropped out of school at an early age, or who are not in school, by opening "Passerelle" Accelerated Schooling Strategy (SSAP) centres. During the 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 school years, the SCOLFILLE project opened a total of 12 SSAP centres, enabling 180 pupils, mostly girls, to return to the mainstream education system.
In addition to ex-learners from SSAP centres, the project supports girls from vulnerable families to stay in school in 30 public primary schools in the provinces of Sissili and Ziro in Burkina Faso, i.e. 15 schools per province. This involves providing a minimum kit of school supplies and paying the parents' contributions. SCOLFILLE also provides direct financial support to mothers, heads of vulnerable families, to develop the income-generating activities they are already carrying out to support their daughters' education.
In each school, 16 girls from vulnerable families at risk of dropping out are identified by the teaching staff, the school management committees (COGES) and the town council's social action departments. For each girl, the project provides 20,000 CFA francs to support mothers' income-generating activities in support of education. Twenty (20) mothers from displaced families will also receive support during the 2023-2024 school year. In all, 500 mothers will be supported to boost their income-generating activities in the two provinces. The activities identified include cattle, goat and poultry rearing; cereal marketing; cereal production; and the sale of dolo (a local millet beer) and doughnuts.
In the province of Sissili, six schools have already benefited from this support to mothers on behalf of their daughters at school. A total of 96 mothers have benefited. They include Elisabeth Somé and Julienne Somé from the village of Bozo in the province of Sissili.
Somé Elisabeth: sale of almonds and shea butter
"I have 5 children and two daughters have benefited from the project. I received CFAF 40,000 for the two girls. This support has helped me a lot. I'm very happy", says Elisabeth. Elisabeth's two daughters are indeed from vulnerable families. They are looked after by their mother, who struggles to look after them. For the two girls enrolled at the Bozo public primary school, Elisabeth received CFAF 40,000 from the project for the development of income-generating activities. "With the money I received, I bought shea kernels that I dried, sorted and kept in bags. Then I'm going to extract the shea butter", she explains. As well as selling shea butter, Elisabeth also sells dolo (the local millet beer). The extracted shea butter is used for home consumption and for sale. "With the income I earn, I look after my children, especially the school, so that my children aren't like me. I would like to thank the project for its support," she says.
Somé Julienne: agricultural production and sale of doughnuts
Julienne has been widowed for 6 years. She is the mother of 3 children enrolled at Bozo state primary school. Julienne is illiterate. "In our day, girls didn't go to school. They had to help their mothers with housework," she says. With young children and no support from her late husband's brothers, she struggles to look after them. "I don't want my children to be illiterate like me. School is important today. Knowing how to read and write is essential", she insists. After the death of her husband, she inherited his fields. She grows maize, millet and groundnuts. Some of these are used for the family's consumption and the surplus is sold. Julienne's two daughters were selected to receive support for vulnerable families so that their mother could develop her income-generating activities. She received the sum of 40,000 CFA francs for the two girls. "With the money I received, I bought fertiliser for agricultural production and shea kernels to extract the butter I use to fry the fritters I sell. I would like to thank Action Education for the help I received. It enabled me to have a good harvest of maize and millet. I was also able to buy shea kernels", she says.
Somé Elisabeth sorts shea kernels
Shea kernels preserved by Somé Elisabeth
