SNV has identified education as a key sector in order to contribute to MDG 2 and 3, which focus on access and gender parity in primary education respectively. The Education for All Oslo Declaration of 2008 attaches importance to universal access to basic education, improved learning outcomes, teacher development and management, and strengthening governments’ education service delivery.

Activities aim at ensuring access to and quality education by improving education system effectiveness, stakeholder involvement in decision making (governance), and increased transparency and accountability to influence achievement of better pupil based ratios. 

Our work in the education sector includes: 

• Facilitating multi-stakeholder forums
• Education Management Information Systems
• Service delivery strengthening (peer to peer learnng)
• Resource brokering
• Civil Society Strengthening
• Education Governance and management strengthening 

Kenya, Mozambique, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe are active in this sector. All the countries’ governments have subscribed to the Education for All (EFA) and MDG targets and have adopted internationally agreed education core indicators into their own national development ambition

Clients 
Clients across the region include national level stakeholders such as ministries of education, provincial directorates of education, local authorities, civil society organisations, local capacity builders, district education boards as well as private sector organisations. In addition SNV reaches community level actors such as school committees, parent teacher associations, boards of governors via meso level clients and locall capacity builders working with these clients as well as with local NGOs.

Partners
Throughout the region the Embassies of the Kingdom of the Netherlands are generally very active cooperating partners in the education sector, providing substantial technical and financial sector wide support in all countries in the region except Zimbabwe and Sudan. UNICEF has country level partnerships in the education sector.