As part of the support to the implementation of the Higher Education Development Support Project (PADES), a delegation of higher education stakeholders, and representatives of the World Bank, composed of Bakary CISSE, Coordinator of PADES, and Adama OUEDRAOGO, Head of Education-Training Program at the World Bank, was received at the USTTB last November. were present at the meeting the Rector and Vice-Rector of the University of Sciences, Technology and Technology of Bamako (USTTB), Prof. Ouaténi Diallo and Prof. Mahamadou Diakité, and the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry (FMOS), Prof. Seydou Doumbia.
The purpose of the visit was to inquire about the achievements made in the project financed by the World Bank. At the end of the briefing, the delegation was taken to the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry (FMOS) to see works. The visit concerned the new Faculty Deanship building housing the Administration, the new Computer Science Building and the research laboratory equipped with advanced technology thanks to the project. As a university, the USTTB receives this funding, on the basis of a performance contract, which is in its fifth phase of implementation. As such, it receives an evaluation mission and supervision missions each year.
“The new deanship of the FMOS now brings together the entire administration, from the Dean to the main secretariat, through the teaching departments and vice dean, which not only brings the different members of the administration closer together, but also also to secure them and to put them in trust, “said Prof. Ouaténi Diallo. Today the USTTB records 53 training courses implemented by its different teaching structures. The success of these courses depends on adequate infrastructure and qualified human resources. Hence the need to equip the training structures with infrastructures, management tools and advanced equipment (videoconferencing rooms), to strengthen the capacities of the teacher-researchers and to improve the technical platform in the laboratories.
Thanks to the PADES project strongly supported by the World Bank, says the Dean of the FMOS, Prof. Seydou Doumbia, “we are able to implement the harmonized program of medical training of the West African Health Organization (WAHO) through a Syllabus which contributes to bring clarity to the students, to favor the comparison between training programs, to favor the students mobility in REESAO space “. He also added that the headquarters of the Network of Interconnection of Research Institutions (Mali-RIN) that the faculty will host, will be realized with the support of PADES. “With external funding, this network will allow us to have high-speed internet for online courses, in order to cope with the plethora in the faculty which now register more than 3,500 students for a room with less than 1000 seats “he said.
After PADES, hope for the sustainability of good practices
The World Bank’s Higher Education Development Support Project (PADES), through which it is committed to supporting Mali, in order to help reduce poverty and reduce inequality, aims to build Higher education institutions capacities in Mali to produce highly qualified graduates with relevant skills that meet the needs of the labor market. It does so by improving the governance framework of higher education, while supporting direct improvements in some programs and institutions.
By adopting a pragmatic approach, the Project supports ongoing institutional reforms, aimed at empowering higher education institutions by strengthening the planning, oversight, steering and decision-making capacity of the Ministry of Education. Higher Education (autonomy and responsibilities). The results obtained in the context of the implementation of the indicators are generally satisfactory.
This undoubtedly confirms the maturity of the USTTB in the implementation of the reforms driven by the Project and gives hope for the sustainability of these good practices after the end of the PADES, with a view to finding durable solutions to the current difficulties in its training structures. This will enable them to position themselves as Centers of Excellence in order to meet the challenges of their social responsibility at national and international level.
