77 classrooms bring students in from the dust

In rural Niger most elementary school students sit in the dust under a shade hanger of dried millet stalks. Classroom structures are rare, school supplies few and children go thirsty each day. And many have nowhere to relieve themselves but the surrounding fields. All in all, places for learning are sorely needed. 

So Plan works with communities and Niger’s Education Ministry to build classrooms, latrines for teachers and students, water systems and school gardens, using ecologically friendly technology. Results include:

• 67 classrooms have been built in Dosso and 10 more are now being built in Tillabery
• equipping 73 classrooms with desks and materials
• 19 water sources have been installed next to school buildings supplying students with drinking water
• 17 teacher houses have been built in Dosso region, providing lodging for the teachers whom are mostly not from the communities where they work
• eight libraries have been built in the Dosso region
• 21 community development centers have been built for adult literacy classes and community leadership trainings, including parents’ associations and school boards