Côte d'Ivoire expands school retention program after pilot success
Summary and headline written by AI from the source article. How we work
Education officials and partners met in Daloa, Côte d'Ivoire, to review the results of a pilot project designed to keep girls in school.
The meeting involves about 60 people, including regional directors from the Ministry of National Education, Literacy, and Technical Education, as well as school heads and information center directors. These participants are sharing experiences and identifying obstacles to help refine the program before it expands further.
The project, known as the Support Package for the Retention of Girls in Middle School (PARFC), uses an individualized support plan to reduce school dropouts among girls in the first cycle of secondary education. The project received technical help from UNICEF and operational support from the NGO CARITAS. During the 2025-2026 pilot phase, the program reached 6,961 girls across 66 local middle schools.
The initiative focuses on five areas: providing one-on-one support for at-risk girls, educating the school community, promoting sexual and reproductive health, improving access to water and sanitation, and strengthening institutional capacity. Results from the pilot phase showed that the admission rate for participating girls rose from 6.1% to 71.5% between the 2024-2025 and 2025-2026 school years. During that same period, the repetition rate dropped from 68.7% to 22.7%, and the exclusion rate fell from 25.2% to 5.9%.
While the project saw success, officials noted that they still need to address insufficient school infrastructure and improve coordination between different partners. The program is scheduled to expand to 403 establishments during the 2026-2027 school year.
