Learning in Peace, Educating without Violence – APEV Transformation (2024–2028)
A sustainable education programme for northern Benin
Improving learning, preventing violence, and building peace through education.
The APEV Transformation programme aims to sustainably improve the quality of basic education in northern Benin. Its goal: to strengthen students' competencies in mathematics and French while promoting gender equity, social inclusion, and a culture of peace in schools.
This project is part of the Quality Education Support Programme (PAQUE) of the Swiss Cooperation. It builds on actions carried out since 2018 and integrates the recommendations made during the final review workshop of the APEV-Innovation phase, where education stakeholders called for the continuation and deepening of this work.
Context
The departments in northern Benin face growing insecurity, weak learning outcomes, and persistent inequalities. Armed groups in border regions, gender-based violence, school dropouts, and a lack of prospects for youth continue to weaken the education system.
APEV Transformation addresses these challenges by strengthening the capacities of education stakeholders, improving access to inclusive education, and preventing violence and radicalisation.
Objectives
- Strengthen the skills and practices of education actors to better address gender, social inclusion, and the prevention of violent extremism.
- Facilitate access to and completion of inclusive, quality basic education for girls and boys in safe, supportive, and empowering school and community environments.
- Strengthen youth leadership and skills, particularly among girls, in peer-to-peer support for fundamental learning.
- Enhance the capacities of sectoral ministries and local governments for better governance of the education system, with a focus on academic success, gender, social inclusion, and violence prevention.
Implementation: how the programme works
- Train 12,000 teachers in a child-centred transformative pedagogy.
- Equip schools with innovative resources (guides, kits, interactive teaching sequences).
- Launch an online platform for continuous professional development of educators.
- Establish 5 community centres to support educational continuity and family engagement.
- Engage young people in producing audiovisual content to be shared within their networks and communities.
- Support school-based initiatives, improve school climate, and develop peer tutoring mechanisms.
Sample activities: writing and numeracy workshops, community animation sessions, civic film screenings, positive discipline training, awareness campaigns, and youth-produced video content.
Areas of intervention
Departments of Alibori, Atacora, Borgou, and Donga.
Beneficiaries
- 12,000 trained teachers
- 120 pedagogical advisors and inspectors
- 2,805 school principals
- 466,000 primary school students
- 33,600 engaged parents
- 215 trained community facilitators
- 30 involved local authorities
- 110 youth trained in audiovisual communication, reaching 15,000 network members
Duration
4 years: from November 2024 to October 2028
Donors
Project supported by the Swiss Cooperation, under the PAQUE framework.
Partners
- Ministry of Nursery and Primary Education (MEMP)
- Ministry of Social Affairs and Microfinance (MASM)
- A local civil society partner specialising in inclusive education (to be confirmed)
- Association La Trame, for audiovisual training
Educational resources
Teachers benefit from practical tools:
- Training guides
- Classroom activity kits
- Online modules and digital content
- Interactive sequences focused on reading, mathematics, and life skills
A lasting impact
Integrated into the national education system and aligned with education reforms, APEV Transformation equips stakeholders with the means to create a lasting and profound transformation in educational practices. The project addresses knowledge, behaviour, and the connections between schools, families, and communities.
