In the face of insecurity, some schools in unstable regions of Mali have remained closed. In response to this situation, Studio Tamani, the media of the Hirondelle Foundation in Mali, has decided to use the airwaves to reach these schoolchildren deprived of education. This initiative was set up in partnership with the Ministry of Education and UNICEF Mali.
From now on, the education of Malian youth will also be carried out by the radio stations of Studio Tamani's partners. In mid-November, our project in Mali launched a programme called "School on the Radio", in partnership with the Ministry of Education and UNICEF Mali. Broadcast daily between 10 and 11 a.m., it gives primary school children between the ages of 6 and 12, i.e. 30% of the Malian population, the opportunity to benefit from distance learning.
This initiative does not claim to replace school, but aims to fill the training gap for children deprived of school education and to strengthen the learning situation. The idea here is to avoid, as far as possible, long-term dropouts, which greatly jeopardise the chances of returning to school when the situation allows for a return to the classroom.
This educational project was implemented in two phases. During the first phase, launched in June 2020, the 190 lessons produced were broadcast through 75 radio partners of Studio Tamani. These lessons covered primary levels 1-2-3 and 4.
The second phase of the programme plans to reach 500,000 primary school children (6-12 years old) in the priority regions of Segou, Mopti, Timbuktu, Koulikoro, Sikasso, Kayes, Gao and Bamako. A ceremony was held to launch this phase of the project on 31 October, in the presence of the Minister of Education, the Unicef representative and the Technical Advisor to the Ministry of Education. The lessons are broadcast by Studio Tamani's network of partner radio stations, which includes 85 Malian radio stations. They are also available at all times on the Studio Tamani Facebook page.