"I'm happy to help these internally displaced children stay in school"

"When the director of my school told me that I was going to receive a dozen children displaced by the crisis in the north of the country, I was anxious. I wondered how I was  going to look after them? How would they react?" This is how Assetou Diakité, 32, begins her testimony. She is a teacher in  Zogofina school, at Ségou, a town in the center of Mali. 

In her second-year primary class, she is responsible for 42 children, including 15 coming from other parts of the country, displaced with their families by the current crisis.

Assetou's fears were quickly dispelled. She and 158 teachers received training in how to facilitate school integration of these children, who may have some adaptation difficulties.

The Zogofina school group, like 45 other schools in the city of Ségou, received support to improve their intake capacity and enable pupils to learn in better conditions. Some have benefited from the construction of temporary learning spaces, while others have received school and learning kits. More than 19,000 children, including 3,732 internally displaced persons, are assisted and accommodated in these facilities.

The construction of these temporary learning spaces and the training of teachers are activities implemented by UNICEF and its partners through the project "Providing access to quality and inclusive education and child protection services to children affected by the crisis and promoting a protective learning environment in Segou" funded by European Union humanitarian aid.