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31/12/2008

Suriname, the green country pressed between Brazil, Guyana and French Guiana. A country of 500,000 inhabitants, a multicultural society (Hindus, Creoles, Javanese, Chinese, White People, Indians, Maroons,...). Suriname, a Dutch-speaking outsider on the large Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking subcontinent.

Suriname is, just like any other country, a country with opportunities and threats, a country with plusses and minuses. This is also the case in the field of education. An at first sight manageable number of 322 elementary schools contrasts sharply with the logistic difficulties to reach schools in the interior. A multicultural group of pupils with different language backgrounds is confronted with a school language which they sometimes do not speak at home.

The figures for elementary education are therefore not always very good in comparison with other countries in the Caribbean Region. The percentage of repeaters is very high; for instance: about 27% in the first grade and 19% for grades two till six. The pass rate for the final test in the sixth school year is about 55%. The number of early drop-outs in primary education is high: every year almost 8% of the pupils... the result of a shortage of qualitative educational tools, obsolete curricula, deficient extra training and continuing education for teachers, insufficient competent teachers and a deficient system for testing, moving-up and selection.

In 2008 VVOB has several educational projects that come to an end. We integrate the most important educational and process findings of these projects in our new educational programme, called PROGRESS (see below). As such we can continue working on the sustainability of these project results. It also allows us to increase the efficiency of the new programme. Of course there is also sufficient attention for a qualitative exit-strategy and handover of these projects to the Ministry of Education.

PROGRESS!

The name has already been mentioned: PROGRESS. This acronym stands for Programme (More) Effective Schools Suriname. PROGRESS would like to enable schools to realize a higher qualitative education. We try to achieve this by aiming at capacity development of departments of the Ministry of Education, the increasing of the quality of pedagogical institutes, the drawing-up of a sustainable professionalisation system for the educational sector, and the collection and analysis of educational data.

For the development of the PROGRESS’s objectives we work with the Ministry of Education and other partners in the educational sector. We take care that the objectives of our programme are directly linked and embedded within the Surinamese educational policy. As a matter of fact this is a continuing process that we will also pursue in the next years of the programme. Continuous consultation with the education policy makers is a necessity in order to guarantee the success of the programme.

‘Attention for partnership and ownership’ are therefore no hollow phrases within PROGRESS. We do everything in consultation with our partners. This is not always the quickest way, but it is certainly the most certain. We are convinced of that.

Ownership

Educational reform is a lengthy process, and PROGRESS has only just started. Therefore, we cannot present much spectacular results yet. In 2008 we lay the foundation for the elaboration of the programme. The biggest realization in 2008 is the enlarging of the ownership within the Surinamese educational sector. This happens in different ways: an elaborate study of the current situation, participative studies, the official launch of the programme by the Minister, the big media attention for this launch, the participative elaboration of a book about the future of the Surinamese education,... Not really ‘big’ milestones, but still milestones that are much needed for the future of the programme.

Consultation with other donors and partners

Harmonization with other donors is important. Therefore, VVOB is actively involved in consultation processes with all main donors in the educational sector. This leads to concrete cooperation with UNICEF in 2008. VVOB and UNICEF develop, together with the Surinamese Ministry of Education, the book ‘Ik geloof in jou’ (I believe in you) which describes in a comprehensible way an ideal future for the Surinamese education system. The book will appear in 2009 in an edition of 10,000 copies. This is enough to provide everybody within the Surinamese educational sector with a copy. In that way everybody can go along on the ship of the fascinating educational reforms that the Ministry of Education would like to unfold in the coming years, together with VVOB and others.

Big challenges

The challenges PROGRESS will face in 2009 are no peanuts... For example: delineation of a professionalization policy, the elaboration of vision texts for a number of departments of the Ministry of Education, the drawing-up of a step-by-step plan for the reform of the teacher training colleges, the elaboration of a plan in order to expand the Surinamese Education Management Information System,… Furthermore, we would like to remain focused on good communication and consultation with our main partners.