Lucky school children are resuming school
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© UNICEF/C.Ivoire/2011/Langue |
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Pamela, 12 and Arouna, 15, are two out of the 296 school children who fled from Yaakro to Tiebissou. They are now enrolled in terminal year of Group I Primary School, Tiebissou. ........................................ |
by Gisèle Langue Menye
Tiebissou, February 18, 2011 - Pamela Yao is a lovely girl aged 12 and Arouna Sawadogo, a shy but charming boy, 15 years old. Both teenagers are school children recently enrolled in the terminal year of the Tiebissou I Primary School. They first started the school year in Yaakro, their home village located 2 kilometers away from Tiebissou.
But tensions between the country’s political parties heated up, as both presidential contenders claimed victory, as an aftermath to the Ivoirian Presidential election. Violence spread over their homes in November and their village considered being a virtual borderline between the two parts of Côte d’Ivoire, turned out to be a battlefield for armed troops.
Pamela and Arouna are part of the 1,279 who fled one month ago, from Yakroo to Tiebissou. They were warmly welcomed by members of their extended families who live there. Tiebissou is a small town in the middle of the forest but a peaceful land for these affected and fearful displaced people.
“UNICEF partnering with Save the Children is coordinating the education response in this Central Côte d’Ivoire Area. Our continuing advocacy efforts are directed towards key decision makers at national and regional levels, for having all children back to school”, noted Dr Léonard Kouadio, Team Leader in UNICEF Bouake zonal office.
Tiebissou I Primary School is supposed to register 24 displaced school children. Priority was therefore given to pupils who are writing their First School Leaving Certificate exam this year,
explained the Primary School Education Inspector, M. Brou Brou. “The high demand for pupils in need for education was dispatched amongst 10 schools. So far, only 96 out of 296 children have
been enrolled. We are still carrying on our advocacy efforts for the 200 children, still left out of school”, he asserted. “Children’s right to go to school is a fundamental of the Convention on the Rights of the Child”, Dr. Agostino Paganini, UNICEF Representative in d’Ivoire, reaffirmed.
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© UNICEF/C.Ivoire/2011/Langue |
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Pamela, 12 and Arouna, 15 are part of the displaced school children from the village of Yaakro who have been enrolled in Group I Primary School, Tiebissou. ....................................... |
Bringing Hope
Pamela and Arouna are very lucky. They received a school kit with school supplies such as textbooks, pens, pencils, eraser, pencil sharpener and a UNICEF branded school bag. In order to sustain the learning environment, ten teachers also benefited from teachers’ kits and each of the 10 targeted schools to receive displaced pupils is granted with a recreational kit.
Pamela, her mother and her elder sister are living with her aunt Mariette a food retailer who is striving to care for her extended family members. Although schooling was disrupted for 3 weeks, Palema is not giving up: “I work hard catching up with my class mates. My teacher and my new friends Mariam and Sarah are very supportive. Even though I miss my school in Yakroo, I feel safe here, there are no military troops”, she confessed.
“Displaced children are integrated in this school. They play with their classmates, they share books and school manuals but an urging problem to be solved is access to the school canteen. As they were not registered at the beginning of the school year, we are expecting WFP to support with food. I hope a rapid response will be found soon” added, Yao Kouakou, the Director of Tiebissou I Primary School.
When I asked them what their future looks like for them, Pamela confides: ”I would like to work with UNICEF. I like to be helpful to other people”. Arouna’s dream is to become a professional cyclist. “When I was a child, a cyclist race went through our village and I said to myself that I would like to be like the racing champion”.
For them, the future looks bright as they are working hard to make their dreams become true. But in Côte d’Ivoire, estimated 800,000 school children have not resumed schooling yet. Therefore, this year, their right to education is seriously jeopardized.
