AGSP Mentoring Guide Production Workshop

March 23, 2009

Ambassador Milovanovic (second from left) helps to open AGSP Mentoring Guide Workshop in Bamako.

Ambassador Highlights Need for Successful Mentoring

On March 23, 2009, U.S. Ambassador Gillian Milovanovic and the Malian Minister of Basic Education, Mme. Aminata Sidibé, helped kick of a four day workshop aimed at promoting the use of mentoring in the field of education in Mali.    This workshop, organized by World Education, Inc. brought together Africa Education Initiative (AEI)/The Ambassadors’ Girls Scholarship Program (AGSP) partners to prepare their staff for the upcoming distribution of AGSP Mentoring Guides,

The purpose of these five-day Mentoring Guide Workshop (MGW) was to improve the quality of the mentoring component of AGSP through a training of trainers (ToT) that provided general training methodology as well as specific content from the newly developed AGSP Mentoring Guide. Each of the 21 implementing partner was invited to send two participants to be the NGO Partner’s voice at the conference. The workshop was facilitated by World Education AGSP staff conference. The format for the workshop allowed for significant group work, exchanges, and opportunities to facilitate sessions from the Guide.

At the Opening Ceremony, remarks were made by the US Ambassador to Mali, Gillian A. Milovanovic, the Minister of Basic Education, and WEI AGSP Director, Kadiatou Coulibaly. Also present was a representative from the Ministry of the Promotion of Women, Children and Family and the World Education Mali Country Director.
 
The workshop focused on teaching the partners how to use the Mentoring Guide and how to teach their mentors how to apply it in the field.  Content also included collecting and receiving feedback on facilitation and presentation skills, practicing sessions from the Guide, presenting and receiving critical content relevant to using the Guide, and other training methodology.  The NGOs also developed Mentoring work plans to take back with them for implementation in the field.