This report presents an analysis of howeffectively the current policies in Mauritania engage theprivate sector in basic (primary and secondary) education.The analysis draws on the engaging the private sector (EPS)framework, a product of the World Bank’s systems approachfor better education results (SABER). SABER-EPS research inMauritania found that despite impressive gains in increasingenrollment and achieving gender parity at the primary level,access to post-primary schooling remains low, and ensuringequity in education is a challenge. School providers inNepal include institutional schools, which are private, andcommunity schools that receive government funding. Based ona review of existing policies SABER-EPS offers the followingrecommendations for Mauritania to enhance private sectorengagement in education to meet the challenges of access,quality, and equity: (1) improve the regulatory environmentto support a greater supply of post-primary schools inunderserved areas; (2) strengthen accountability measures,including regularly collecting and disseminating comparableinformation on school performance, while increasing schoolautonomy; and (3) consider providing additional support topoor and marginalized students attending independent schoolsand post-primary schooling. The report provides an overviewof SABER-EPS, followed by a description of the basiceducation system in Mauritania, with a focus on the privatesector and government policies related to private provisionof education. The report then benchmarks Mauritania’s policyenvironment utilizing the SABER-EPS framework, and offerspolicy options to enhance learning for all children inprimary and secondary school.