Teachers Forum
January, 2003

Answer: In general, it must be said that since the national forum on the education of girls (Scofi)*, held in Fatick six years ago, we have noted changes in the way people think. Structures are being created at the district and county levels. There is a concerted mobilization on the part of the local authorities (religious, administrative, and customary) for the registration of girls in school, for keeping them there, and against early marriage. We have not been outdone in that matter.

We wanted to show that girls are as good, if not better, in their performance than boys and that they have good qualities. Here, for instance, classes are mixed, but we do not accept that girls should feel inferior. We mix girls and boys during sporting events as well as in the sharing of class responsibilities. In addition, we equip girls with school supplies, so that their parents will not complain about their daughters costing them too much money.

* The Fatick Forum, held in 1995, was an initiative of the state of Senegal, to create the conditions for a massive registration of girls in schools, but mainly to strive to keep them in school. This initiative works against prejudices limiting girls to household chores and early marriages, which are the rule in certain communities. This forum established the launching of Scofi (education of girls). Fatick is the main town of a region about sixty miles away from Dakar.

A: There was an imbalance, which meant that girls did not pursue their studies. Our school was established in a suburban environment, i.e. an environment populated with people who are the products of an exodus. Consequently, this environment is at the crossroads between a rural and an urban milieu. In such an environment you will find conservative people. Their mentality doesn't allow a girl to have the same chances as a boy. Visit any family and you will see that girls are confined to household chores, while the boys must go to school to improve the future conditions of the group.

A: In 1982, 1983, and 1984, the percentage of girls in classes never exceeded 30%. In 2001-2002, out of 1,254 registered students, there were 654 girls, a rate of 52.15 percent. In the second year of the intermediate class of primary school, there are more girls than boys. For instance, in a class of 90 pupils, there are at least 55 girls. Beyond the figures, their superiority is sometimes validated by their results. In the end, parents no longer think that girls are only good for watching over the house when they are not in, or for taking care of the household chores.

A: We want to strengthen girls' capacity by targeting the 15-18 year old age group because 80% of the girls who fail the entrance exam in the first year of secondary school remain in the streets, or wait for a husband, while a boy is immediately placed as a trainee in a carpentry or mechanics workshop. It is this period that harbours dangers, because girls go to parties, and get involved with the wrong people. This exacerbates the crisis of puberty, which happens around the age of 14. Thus, we keep an eye on the company kept by those girls. We do not hesitate to approach families in order to try to understand certain failures. Sometimes I have complained to families because a relative comes from Europe and wants to marry a student. In those families, they call it the consolidation of the lineage through endogamy. Unfortunately, this works to the detriment of keeping girls at school.

A: We want to develop access to computer training, to permit these children to leave the traditional framework of education and allow them to integrate in society. That is why we take care of the girls who have finished their schooling in what we call "problem-solving" classes. We lack the financial means, but I am looking into the possibility of making of them good seamstresses, to teach them in the making of dolls, and using computers. In addition, each targeted person sees us three times a week, in contrast to once a week a year ago. We call this program the "child saver". I am against certain accepted ideas. Traditionally, when a child fails in school, the parents question his or her intelligence. This is wrong, because you can fail in school and succeed elsewhere. My father used to tell me: when a child spends a lot of time by himself when he is young, he risks losing a lot of time when he grows up. I put this wisdom into practice in my understanding that school cannot be intended only for the 7-14 target age group. The 15-18 age group also has its room there, even after the end of elementary school at 14.

A: For the last three years, there has been a School Milieu cell (CEM). We wanted to go beyond the standard role granted to the parents, specifically the dues-paying associations, and other groups. The CEM aims higher by making use of sport and cultural associations (ASC), local NGOs, and the Groups for the Advancement of Women (GPF), etc. There is an unlocking of the community. This permits us to appeal to the local midwife, the nurse, the carpenter, the plumber, the brick-layer, for talking with the pupils, or for work. We have not lost our hope of introducing a culture of community partnership.

A: The nursery school was founded in 1999. With the help of UNICEF, Schoolchildren of the World, and Belgian friends, we have converted a classroom in which we take in children to introduce them to the tripartite world of food, education and health. This nursery school accepts children between two and a half and six years old. In Senegal, it should be noted that public preschool education is the poor relative of education. This does not prevent us from making an effort. For instance, out of 45 registered children, 27 are girls, i.e. 60%.

Finally, this experience inspired the Ministry of Early Childhood and Family. For that purpose, we make parents aware of the importance of preparing their children to integrate into elementary education. Today, the results are satisfactory, in spite of limited financial means.

Q: And the library? A: The library has created a real craze. The students organize themselves in groups of ten and read and discuss the books one by one. We have equipped this room to receive the one hundred fifty books given to us by the Organization for Library, Reading, Development after a competition won by one of our pupils. We manage to contribute to the transportation of the administrator by taking subscriptions. The founding sponsor, named Haby Sow and known as Nafissa, was a teacher in this school. While she was alive, she invested much of herself into this library.

A: Absolutely. I have a lot of plans to write, to try to show that it is possible. I want always to participate in furthering the quality of education and the level of the pupils.