Mentor & mobilizers program

Working in collaboration with UNICEF, Local Authorities, Elders and Community Education Committees (CEC), HIRDA has since 2003 initiated the Mentor and Mobilization Programme.
With a focus on gender equality and work towards eliminating disparities of all kinds, this programme aims at

1. Ensuring that every child regardless of gender or circumstances has access to quality education.
2. Increasing enrolment and reducing drop outs through home visits by CECs in the catchments area
3. Improving teaching and learning practices in targeted primary schools and NFE centers through mentoring of teachers
4. Improving capacity of CECs in target schools/NFE centres (through education, mobilization and facilitation) on how to owning and manage their schools.

This project was introduced in the Gedo region and part of middle Juba by developing the capacity of the communities’ civil society and also enabling them to take the lead as Mentoring Community Education Committees. The programme targets mainly disadvantaged school age children: (the excluded, the vulnerable and the invisible) and other groups such as teachers in formal and non education, Community Educational Committee (CEC) and Communities in catchments areas.

By implementing programmes that encourage the participation of local community actors and teachers to raise awareness on the programme, HIRDA over the years been able to achieve the objectives of this project. Through this programme, HIRDA was able to employ 13 mentors/mobilizers to improve education quality in Gedo and Middle Jubba regions, donate educational materials to school age children in Bardera district, to reach 343 primary schools and 3 NFE/PFE centers with 7,008 learners, of whom 42.7% are girls.

In addition to contributing to the capacity building of Head teachers, manage and sustain education, this program has brought positive change to both Non Formal and Formal Primary Education. It has also resulted in considerable improvements in the teaching practices/skills for the teachers who benefitted from the mentoring programme in Gedo.