Wheelbarrows, bags of cement, the comings and goings of workers, but also the overhaul of training programs: there are works underway at the Bouaké INFAS. The objective: improve working and studying conditions on the site, as well as training for nurses, midwives and biomedical technicians in Côte d’Ivoire.
These two actions are part of a program launched in 2013, with AFD’s support, which had already previously built the pedagogical, management and administrative skills of the staff. Support is also being provided in the field of research (methodology, research techniques, production of scientific publications…).
The training programs are also being revised. “The program used to be made up of models. The models are now available in teaching units with lectures, tutorials and practical work”, says Sévérin Kramo, senior manager at the Bouaké INFAS. “In the field, the training notebook for student follow-up has also been revised to provide practical training that is more suited to improving patient care.”
Training cannot be effective without quality facilities for the students. Improving them is therefore a major focus of the program.
“The school was built to receive a maximum of 240 students, i.e. 80 per training cycle. For the time being, only 200 can be accommodated on-site”, says Sévérin Kramo. “But our student numbers have been increasing over the years. In 2018 alone, we had 1,032 learners actually enrolled at all levels.”
The school already had many needs and they have increased with the decade of crisis experienced by Côte d'Ivoire. The facilities remained closed throughout almost the entire period and have deteriorated. The same goes for the equipment.
Rehabilitation and extension works were consequently launched in early 2019. The construction should be completed in the first quarter of 2020, with the school’s capacity doubled.
In addition to the rehabilitation of existing facilities (boarding school, library, multipurpose buildings, administration, infirmary, canteen…), the program includes the construction of a 300-seat amphitheater, some twenty classrooms and tutorial and practical work rooms and a 580 m² central foyer. It will have a student center with shops, an ATM, a pharmacy… “We’ve come a long way. By next year, we’ll be working in satisfactory conditions”, the branch manager is already pleased to say.
A new training cycle for health auxiliaries will be added to the INFAS program at the beginning of the next school year. For three years, 1,500 young people, aged between 18 and 30 with a health BEPC or CAP diploma and recruited via an entrance exam, will be trained as nursing auxiliaries, obstetrical auxiliaries, auxiliaries for sanitary techniques specialized in hygiene and sanitation, as well as in the activities of pharmacy dispenser and manager, medical biology and medical imaging. Health auxiliaries are key actors in the health system and provide daily assistance and care to patients. They handle the basic care and make their skills and human qualities available to patients. They are supervised by the qualified nursing staff (nurses, midwives, biomedical technicians).