The importance of strong community involvement to ensure quality education has been clearly acknowledged under Dimension 5 of the Child Friendly School framework promoted by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports (MoEYS). In the context of the ESCUP program, community engagement is crucial for successful implementation of program activities, given the heterogeneous ethnic populations and cultural diversity in the program target areas. This requires an active approach to include communities and especially minority groups in decision making, planning, design and implementation of education interventions to better respond to the needs of learners. Activities under this component can be divided into two groups. The first group of activities aims to foster active community involvement in identifying children out-of-school and operating programs where community members play a key role (e.g., Community Teacher selection and management, Community-based life skills courses, Scholarship implementation, etc.). Commune-level EFA Commissions will receive capacity building support to animate and manage such activities. Grant funds for this purpose will be channeled through local cluster school committees. The second group of activities under this component will continue to foster cooperation between schools and communities by focusing on the sensitization of state schools to the needs of minority groups (e.g. Cultural Life Skills, Student Associations, Market Simulations, Culture Centers). There are obviously strong linkages between activities under Components 2 and 3 as most interventions require close collaboration between community members and school personnel for successful implementation.

Summary of School Community Partnership Interventions

Intervention Areas	Specific Activities	Problems to Which Interventions Are Relevant
1. Child Seeking Schools	Training of Research Teams Mapping Exercise Grant Provisions to Enroll Children Out-of-school with minority quotas in mind	Exclusionary 'push-out' factors Exclusionary 'pull-out factors' due to low perceived value of education
2. Community Teacher Mgt Boards	Establishment and training of local school boards Community Teacher selection Remuneration of teachers Monitoring and technical support of teachers	Chronic teacher shortages in remote areas Pervasiveness of incomplete schools
3. Community-based Prevocational Life Skills	Capacity building of teachers in selected life skills areas Distribution of materials to schools and children to facilitate instruction Remuneration of community teachers to teach life skills	Low educational relevance and quality
4. Culture Centers	Construction of traditional buildings on school grounds to promote cultural awareness among minority groups	Exclusionary 'push-out' factors: Low sensitivity to student needs
5. Student Associations	Selection and training of teacher leaders Set-up of clubs focusing on culture and environment Funding of clubs and implementation of self-selected activities	Low educational relevance and quality
6. Cultural Life Skills	Capacity building of teachers in selected life skills areas Distribution of materials to schools and children to facilitate instruction Remuneration of community teachers to teach life skills	Exclusionary 'push-out' factors: Low sensitivity to student needs
7. Market Simulation	Planning with community and students Set up of market-like simulation at the completion of life skills courses to allow students to practice acquired skills Community participation in MS festivals	Exclusionary 'pull-out factors' due to low perceived value of education
8. Community Announcement Boards	Set up announcement boards in remote villages to increase communication between parents and schools Update boards periodically	Exclusionary 'pull-out factors' due to low perceived value of education
9. Community-School Semester Meetings	Periodic meetings of parents and school personnel to discuss educational issues	Exclusionary 'pull-out factors' due to low perceived value of education
10. School Fairs	Beginning of the year festival to raise parents' awareness of schools opening and school improvement program	Exclusionary 'pull-out factors' due to low perceived value of education