Community Mobilization for Partnership in Schools

The Community Mobilization for Partnership in Schools (CMP) project is a five-year community-school partnership effort to implement improvements in public schools in Jordan. The project complements the USAID Jordan School Reconstruction Project, which renovates and builds new schools by developing community-school partnerships that link citizens more closely to their schools, to the benefit of their children, students, and the whole community. CMP is working with 65 schools to

  • Establish and support community-parent school coalitions (CPSCs) to undertake physical, educational, and behavioral school improvement activities
  • Strengthen community-school support to implement sustainable learning and extracurricular programs within schools
  • Increase community awareness, responsibility, and advocacy for participation in education
  • Promote the institutionalization of the CPSC and community-school model within the Ministry of Education

The CMP’s participatory approach brings together community members, students, parents, school administrators, and teachers – under the leadership of the school principal – to form the CPSCs. The coalitions serve as platforms to advocate for and plan school improvements, mobilize community support and participation, encourage ownership of school cleanliness, maintenance, and repair, and maximize the use of the school as a learning center to benefit the whole community. Through training on best practices for organizational development, fundraising, community involvement, and responsibility for their schools, CMP helps coalitions mobilize communities for implementation of school improvement plans. Parent-teacher associations (PTAs), community-based fundraising, extracurricular programs, student committees, and other participatory mechanisms also function under the CPSC umbrella.

To date, 65 coalitions have successfully undergone training. They have completed a community-school improvement plan and an extracurricular activity plan for their schools, which outline objectives the CPSC would like to achieve using its resources. The community-school concept has enabled schools to mobilize donations and volunteers to renovate school bathrooms, build additional classrooms and repair furniture, and engage students in art, sports, and teamwork and leadership activities. The Ministry of Education has embraced the concept, adding it to their advisory and operational manuals so that all schools can adopt the activities. Because activities implemented by the coalitions must be funded internally, success is dependent on community action. This minimizes the risk of project failure and ensures institutional sustainability.

CMP Achievements at a Glance (65 target schools)

  • 352 training sessions held
  • 938 extracurricular activities held on average each year
  • 8,687 students participated in extracurricular activities each year
  • 320 community members are regularly volunteering
  • 87 community businesses are making contributions
  • 3,435 volunteer hours logged per month by parents and community members
  • 4 annual conferences hosted by coalitions that brought together 882 participants
  • $1,400 raised in cash and in-kind community contributions at each school
  • $700 earned from income-generation projects at each school per year

The Community Mobilization for Partnership in Schools is funded by the US Agency for International Development and managed by IRD. It is scheduled to run from June 2008-July 2013.