Making Secondary Education in Senegal a Reality for More Children

Making Middle School a Reality in Senegal

For many parents in Senegal, having their children go to middle school close to home was just a dream. Because many communities do not have a local middle school, that children generally have to walk children in Senegal15 to 60 miles to get to school.

That's one reason only 21 percent of school-age children in Senegal attend middle school. The lack of education is particularly acute for girls—more than a quarter of them never learning how to read and write.

Creating high-quality middle schools that will give more Senegalese citizens the skills they need to participate in the political, economic, and social development of their country, is the ambitious objective of the Children’s Learning Access Sustained in Senegal, or CLASS, project.

The five-year initiative, funded by USAID and implemented by the AED Global Education Center, works to help an increasing number of children, especially girls, continue on to middle school. CLASS plans to construct 18 new schools and rehabilitate 12 others in three regions of Senegal: Fatick, Kolda, and Tambacounda.

These regions are marked by high levels of poverty and low rates of girls’ enrollment. On March 10, 2004, the first construction project began with the official bricklaying ceremony for a school in Kothiary, a rural community in the Tambacounda region, attended by 400 community members, and other dignitaries.

The day marked the beginning of a critical partnership between the local community and the Ministry of Education, according to Denakpo. To further demonstrate their commitment to improving the education of their children, members of the local community promised to contribute to the construction and equipment of the future middle school.

“Together we will create a treasured space in the community where adolescents, teachers, and parents can come together to build a better future,” said Larraine Denakpo, who directs the CLASS project in Senegal.

For more information, contact Larraine Denakpo.
Search
  Execute Search