[14/November/2009]

SANA'A, Nov. 14 (Saba) – Yemen and donors are to start on Sunday a four-day workshop to assess the project of improving the secondary education and girl student enrolment.

Executive director of the project at the ministry of Education Ahmed al-Arashi said the workshop would be the first activity by an assessing mission since the project was launched in early February.

It will review progress on the implementation of the project targeting, during the first phase, a number of Yemen's 21 governorates, he said, adding the project would cover all Yemen later.

The project is aimed at improving the enrolment of girl students particularly in the rural and remote areas as well as reducing the gap between males and females at the schools, he said.

On the other side, minister of Education Abdul Salam al-Jawfi met on Saturday in Sana'a with the coordinator and representatives of donors.

The meeting discussed cooperation between Yemen and donors in the educational field, programs implemented by the ministry in collaboration with donors and measures taken by the ministry to protect the students from the pandemic of swine flu.

During the meeting, al-Jawfi reviewed accomplishments related to improving the quality of education in Yemen under the national basic, secondary and girl education strategy; first and foremost an increase in the number of the students going to school and limiting the educational gap between males and females.

For her part, donor coordinator Suzan Ayari stressed the importance of continuous coordination to carry out joint programs including a comprehensive educational survey that would be launched in mid-December.

She also urged further cooperation to tackle obstacles facing education in some districts of the war-ravaged province of Saada in the far north.

The meeting brought together the WB, the USAID, the UN World Food Program, Japan's International Development Agency JICA, the GTZ and the embassy of the Netherlands.

FR
Saba