In late October, six Y-Press journalists and three adult chaperones visited Benin to examine the life of youth in the relatively new democracy and the challenges they face. In addition to today's story, their reporting was featured in The Star on Dec. 30. Those stories can be read at www.indystar.com/Ypress.

The reporting team: Zoe Hayes, 18, Lebanon; Chris Reissaus, 17, Carmel; and Jonathan Gainer, 14, Keisha Mitchell, 18, Jessika Officer, 14, and Elisabeth Randall, 17, all of Indianapolis.

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Only half of all Beninese kids attend school, according to the Beninese government. The government is working to change that by making elementary education free for all citizens, beginning this year.

The change will involve an estimated 1 million children (based on population estimates) and will be a step toward increasing the country's literacy rate, which now hovers near 41 percent, among the world's worst, according to the Benin Education Fund.

"I believe that those who have never been to school have a very different way of judging things," said Christiane Agossou, 17, an orphan who attends public school in Cotonou.

Now a college student, Fabrice Houessou, 23, is an educated Beninese who sees his country's problems in a practical manner. He's decided he'll use his education to help fix them.

"One day I want to be able to teach medicine to the people," Houessou said. "If I can help them fight poverty, AIDS and other problems, I will be very happy with my life."

For 16 years, Benin's constitution has clearly supported free education, reading: "The state and public authorities shall guarantee the education of children and shall create conditions favorable to this end."

However, the Benin government didn't have the necessary money until now to fund education for all, government officials said. The money was freed up because international loans were forgiven on the condition that the money be used to improve health and education.

The country's newly elected president, Yayi Boni, has made educational reforms an important part of his administration.

Since taking office in April, Boni, 52, has worked to increase the number of schools and create higher teaching standards. He also has appointed a female minister of education, Colette Houeto. Since her appointment, she has toured Benin and closed inferior schools.

Yet the young democracy still faces many other educational challenges.

For example, many youth are taught by unqualified teachers, according to education experts, including the International Foundation for Education and Self-Help. IFESH helps by sending American teachers to train Beninese teachers and provides additional training in new education methods. It also supplies Benin schools with donated textbooks.

In order to better prepare students for careers, the classrooms in Benin have become more focused on vocational education, using skills and problem-solving. Before 1990, schools focused on memorization skills. The shift to vocational education rendered many veteran teachers unqualified to teach these new skills.

Last semester, for example, professors of the medical school in Cotonou went on strike to protest the lack of standards for all teachers. After the strike was settled by the government, students chose to attend school during their summer break to make up for the time their teachers were on strike.

Youth in rural Benin have been at a greater risk of never attending school at all.

Houessou, who attended school in a rural village, explained: "Rural area students have a problem with education because we don't have enough schools, don't have enough teachers."

The shortage of teachers is so great in rural areas that some who graduate from high school are hired to teach the younger students in their villages instead of going on to college.

But those in school aren't guaranteed a job once they graduate, as they were under the Marxist government that preceded democracy.

"There are a lot of young people who are jobless, even though they are very well-qualified," said Nick-Aurel Houessou, 16, who attends a private high school in Cotonou.

Some graduates resort to working as security guards or as drivers of motorcycle taxis, he said. Others choose to study overseas. For example, according to the United States Immigration Office, 268 Beninese university students were studying in the United States as of March 31, 2006.

New organizations have sprouted in Benin to combat the job problem and to teach students new job skills.

One is the Songhai Center, which was established in the early 1980s. It educates young adults about farming and agriculture. The staff helps develop independent young farmers.

Students, as part of their 18-month training program, conduct research into better farming methods, test the soil to determine what plants will best grow there, and volunteer on farms for hands-on experience.

If the young people Y-Press interviewed are any indication, they already believe success in education means success for Benin and its people.

"I go to school in order to succeed in the future. I go so that I'll become somebody one day and be able to take care of my children," said Nick-Aurel.

Added Amadou Samson, 11: "If we work hard to study well, we will be happy tomorrow."