Finalising construction of a benchmark secondary school in Matana

Context

The World Association of Children's Friends (AMADE Mondiale) and the FVS AMADE Burundi, supported by Monaco’s Official Development Assistance, have been collaborating for several years to help orphans and vulnerable children, who represent almost 11% of the total population of Burundi.

In the education sector, Burundi has made significant progress in primary education (enrolment rate, equality between girls and boys) and has fulfilled its commitment with regard to the EPT programme (Éducation Pour Tous - Education for All). Burundi has placed education at the heart of the long-term development vision set out in its Sectoral Plan for the Development of Education and Training Formation (PSDEF 2012-2020), but there is still much to do at the secondary level to ensure high-quality, effective education in good conditions, particularly for disadvantaged children.

Unlike the primary sector, secondary education is very poorly funded.

To compensate for this gap, the Burundian charity FVS-AMADE set up the “Amie des Enfants” benchmark secondary school in Matana in 2014, a boarding school in Bururi Province, to offer Burundian children, including orphans and other vulnerable children, a high-quality education.

Monaco’s Official Development Assistance funded the construction of facilities for the school, which opened in September 2014 and now has 206 pupils, 10% of whom are orphans and vulnerable children (OVCs). The commune of Matana and people in neighbouring areas also benefit from the school. Farmers and stockbreeders supply food and pupils at the local secondary school have access to the benchmark institution’s sporting facilities and library. Finally, private sector organisations such as Crédit Foncier de Monaco are providing support to FVS-AMADE to pay for orphans and vulnerable children.

Despite the political crisis in Burundi, the school has continued to operate and closed the academic year in June 2015 as the country’s leading school, with a pass rate of 98%.

In order to obtain accreditation from the Ministry of National Education, the school needs to have additional facilities. This project therefore seeks to build two laboratories, provide a water supply, and pay for five orphans and vulnerable children

Project owner 

AMADE Burundi

Main objective

Improve access to high-quality secondary education by enabling orphans and other vulnerable children to attend the “Amie des Enfants” Matana benchmark school.

Sustainable Development Goal No. 4

Specific objectives

• Complete the facilities required for the school to achieve accreditation
• Supply 20,000 litres of additional water per day via a catchment system which serves the school
• Pay the school fees of five orphans and vulnerable children for a period of two years

Beneficiaries

Direct beneficiaries:

• For 2016–2017, 216 pupils including 20 orphans 
• Around 81 households (486 people) living near the school, who will also benefit from the water supply

Indirect beneficiaries:

• 700 pupils at the Matana local secondary school who share the playing fields and library
• People in the surrounding community (sale of food products, creation of jobs)