23-05-2025 | di COOPI

Chad: empowering Parent-Students Associations results in a model of community engagement

As part of the project “Response to the Needs of Vulnerable Populations and Out-of-School Children in the Sila Region,” funded by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS) and implemented by COOPI – Cooperazione Internazionale, a structural initiative was launched in eight schools in the Sila province: the revival and reorganization of Parent Associations (APE), accompanied by strategic support through the funding of Income-Generating Activities (IGA).

Before the project’s intervention, the APEs operated informally, without statutes, internal regulations, or an organized structure to encourage active parental involvement in school management. No official meetings were held, and mechanisms supporting schooling were weak.

Through a progressive and participatory approach, COOPI initiated a direct dialogue with these community structures. This not only made it possible to assess how they functioned, but above all to draft statutes, internal regulations, and annual action plans, and to provide support in their associative life. The APE members were also assisted in identifying IGAs suited to the local context, in order to ensure stable and lasting income to support school operations.

In this context, each APE received a grant of €4,000 to launch a sustainable income-generating activity. The 90 members, including 30 women, received training in simplified IGA management, basic accounting, organizational structuring, and community awareness-raising techniques. Today, the APEs are not only capable of managing cash books and financial monitoring tools, but have also opened bank accounts with Express Union, ensuring greater transparency in fund management.

Thanks to this initiative, the APEs have gained real autonomy and actively participate in the management of their schools. They are now able to regularly pay community teachers with the proceeds of their IGAs — a strong sign of local ownership and sustainability.

This action is fully in line with COOPI’s approach, which promotes inclusion, community empowerment, and sustainability, while ensuring adherence to the Do No Harm principle, i.e., avoiding harm to local balances. The initiative in the eight schools of the Sila province represents a concrete example of community resilience, where the engagement of parents becomes a key lever for ensuring quality, lasting education for all children in Chad.

COOPI has been working in Chad since 1976, adopting a multi-sectoral approach. In the regions of Lac and N'Djamena, it provides emergency education to displaced children and local communities, offers psychosocial support to trauma victims and promotes peace building, with a focus on women's empowerment, gender-based violence and discrimination, and conflict prevention.