Mauritania - Improving Education Quality, Results, and Access for All Operation

Overview & Synopsis

Mauritania Improving Education Quality, Results, and Access for All Operation (IQRAA) for Mauritania has the development objectives of improving the quality of basic education and access to secondary education, with a focus on adolescent girls, and strengthening education service delivery in refugee-hosting areas. Component 1: Improve the Quality of Basic Education. This component expands access to one year of preschool for five-year-old children nationwide, strengthens teacher effectiveness through a hybrid continuous professional development model that combines distance and in-person delivery, introduces remediation in literacy and numeracy, and advances competency-based curriculum reforms with an emphasis on foundational learning and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Sub-components include preschool expansion and educator training aligned with the national early childhood education strategy; deployment of a hybrid teacher training platform using scripted lessons and digital content; design and rollout of remediation modules in literacy and numeracy; and classroom practice enhancements that prioritize early grade reading, numeracy, and modern pedagogy. Component 2: Improve Access to Secondary Education with a Focus on Adolescent Girls and Strengthen Education Service Delivery in Refugee-Hosting Areas. This component increases lower and upper secondary intake capacity, especially in underserved and refugee-hosting areas, through the construction of inclusive, gender-sensitive, and climate-resilient schools; reduces distance and safety barriers for girls; and lowers household cost constraints through targeted incentives. It also strengthens system readiness for refugee inclusion and integrates refugee and host-community learners into the national education system. Sub-components include construction and equipment of climate-resilient and gender-sensitive secondary schools using updated design standards; scholarships and stipends for vulnerable girls alongside community outreach to shift norms; language bridging, accelerated learning, and tailored teacher support to facilitate transition to the national curriculum; and enrollment and tracking of refugee and host-community students using the Education Management Information System (SIRAGE) with unique student identifiers. Component 3: Strengthen Governance of the Education System. This component operationalizes SIRAGE for timely production and use of statistical yearbooks, including dedicated modules for early childhood education, inclusive education, and refugee education; reinforces evidence-based planning, monitoring, and resource allocation; and expands school-level participatory management through School Management Committees and School Improvement Plans linked to transparent grants and grievance redress. Sub-components include full deployment and use of SIRAGE for sector planning and monitoring across all cycles; capacity building for data analytics and results management; and nationwide expansion of functional School Management Committees with clear procedures for planning, budgeting, implementation, and feedback. Component 4: Technical Assistance under Investment Project Financing. This component supports the enabling environment for results through targeted institutional strengthening, including establishment of a national preschool agency and revision of preschool quality standards; development of play-based learning and a family program on early stimulation, nutrition, and protection; scale-up of scripted lessons to upper primary and pilots that integrate edutainment and artificial intelligence for foundational skills; establishment of a robust learning assessment system within the National Evaluation Unit; gender diagnostics and integration of gender-responsive interventions; fiduciary and environmental and social capacity; program coordination and monitoring and evaluation; and stakeholder communication and change management.