Establishing Student Councils - Phase III

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The Office of the Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI), located in the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, announces an open competition for applications to partner with an existing grantee to complete Phase III of a national project, Establishing Student Councils, in Yemen. This final phase of the project involves full adoption of the student councils model by Yemeni education officials at both the local and national levels and the establishment of new councils in the remaining governorates. This project reinforces civic education by giving students practical experience with the principles of transparency, democracy, civic responsibility, and political participation. The project, Establishing Student Councils, exposes students to democratic approaches and principles of participation, respect for diversity, tolerance, and political processes. The successful applicant must show capacity to replicate an existing model for high school-based student councils currently underway in Yemen. Given the important role parent councils play in school administration, the selected applicant will also support the creation of parent councils in schools without them and strengthen existing parent councils. The selected applicant must work side-by-side in a non-financial partnership with the existing grantee, the Academy for Educational Development (AED), for implementation of a national expansion of the project, Establishing Student Councils, which has been under implementation since 2007. The selected applicant will expand the project to a critical mass of schools in each of the following governorates: Sayoun, Hadhramout, Al-Mahrah, Al-Baidha, Abyan, Lahj, Aden, Al-Dhaleh, Dhamar, Rayma, Al-Mahwit, Hajjah. As phase III implementation has begun, AED is currently establishing student and parent councils in ten schools within one district of the governorate of Aden. The selected applicant will target additional districts in the governorate of Aden. At this time security concerns have prevented the projects expansion to Sa’adah, and Al-Jawf. Special consideration will be given to applicants who demonstrate the ability to expand the project to these governorates.

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