Thanks to the generosity of individual donors in Switzerland, from whom funds were collected within the framework of UNESCO’s direct marketing campaign, the IBE is currently supporting a 2-year project (2010-2012) for the development of bilingual Zarma-French reading booklets and teacher guides for alternative rural schools in Niger. The aim of this project is to develop, pilot test and provide 735 primary students aged 9-10 with a bilingual Zarma-French reading booklet, as well as to provide teacher guides to 15 schools.
The official language of Niger is French; however, since 2001, there are 10 other national languages recognised, of which the 5 most spoken (Hausa, Zarma, Fulfulde, Tamashek and Kanuri) are used within the framework of experimental schools and bilingual pilot schools. These schools recognise and promote the fact that the mother tongue can be used as a vehicle to allow for a more effective introduction to the official language, and better learning outcomes, as well as better integration of students within their sociocultural environment.
In these schools, the appropriate pedagogical material is desperately needed, as the current situation greatly hinders the work of teachers, especially in the alternative rural schools in the Dosso region (southeast of the country), who are the beneficiaries of this project and whose language, Zarma, is the second most spoken language in the country.
The project is being implemented by the IBE and the Ministry of Education of Niger, through the Division of Curricula and Pedagogical Innovations (DCIP), the Division of Secondary Teaching of Basel (DECBI) and the University of Niamey.
