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CLASSE Extension - R.C. Purdy - n/a Empowerment & Civic Engagement Cote d`Ivoire 2007 - 2010 R.C. Purdy Chocolates Ltd. |
Education Combats Child Labor in Côte d'Ivoire
RATIONALEThe Winrock International project called Child Labor Alternatives through Sustainable Systems in Education (CLASSE), conceived to reduce and prevent child labor, began as a pilot project to provide vocational and non-formal education in community schools in Côte d'Ivoire and Mali. Results indicated a need for further support of child labor prevention efforts in cocoa-producing regions to meet international labor standards, as well as a need for investment in relevant education. The CLASSE program's response to these mandates has been to strengthen agricultural vocational education for both in- and out-of-school young people to foster education while simultaneously increasing community awareness on child labor issues.
OBJECTIVES
Continuing the work of the CLASSE project, Winrock aims to strengthen agricultural and educational practices to support a "new generation of farmers" who can increase local agricultural productivity and profitability; raise the awareness of targeted parents, students, club members and school officials on issues of child labor and educational alternatives to child labor; and improve the policy environment concerning issues of education and child labor.
ACTIVITIES
The three-year project, funded by R.C. Purdy Chocolates, Ltd., will adapt the original CLASSE program model to expand to a village near Adzopé, where Winrock has been working under a separate CLASSE project. Winrock staff will collaborate with regional education officials, school administrations and school management committees to determine which site would have the most impact and apply a community-based methodology for identifying the beneficiaries for the out-of-school youth.
CLASSE field agents will be responsible for carrying out thematic components including in-school vocational training for primary and secondary school students; out-of-school agricultural vocational education; a scholarship/micro-credit loans system; community participation activities; and child labor awareness activities.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Currently, Winrock works with 10 communities in three separate departments in the southeastern part of Côte d'Ivoire. To date, the CLASSE program has trained more than 2,260 children and young people in agriculture education, leadership and life skills such as child labor awareness, HIV/AIDS prevention and entrepreneurship.