Not much else, are we tempted to answer this question which is of burning relevance today, if not the myth of an educational establishment once the flagship of the Senegalese educational system.
Formerly an educational institution, the establishment has recently become a high school of excellence and welcomes the best female students in the country at the end of the elementary cycle. Indeed, the Mariama Ba High School of Excellence (Lemba) first pre-selects the 50 best ranked girls from the sixth grade entrance competition, to subsequently select the 35 best following a second competition. This double filter, unlike access to the Military Prytaneum or the Military Health School for example, places all girls in the country’s CM2 class on the same footing, in that it is organized at the end of year, when the students have finished receiving all of their lessons, but above all it leaves no room for chance or luck, and thus gives full credit to the competition which therefore becomes the most selective organized by Education National of Senegal.
However, as soon as they are admitted to Lemba, the residents, like their parents, become disillusioned and have to endure an endless ordeal linked to their harsh “boarding school” conditions and especially to the untimely outings to which the girls are forced. They are systematically released every weekend from Friday at noon, the slightest pretext is often used to send them home while lessons continue to be given in other establishments in the country.
These untimely outings, in addition to having a negative impact on teaching, are very expensive for the students’ parents, especially those from within the country, constitute permanent stress for the girls and their parents, and above all they are a real threat to girls, who often travel at impossible times to return to school or their homes.
Respecting the time limit seems to be a challenge at Lemba, the country’s high school of excellence.
Otherwise, how can we understand the decision to begin renovation work in this establishment at the start of the school year, when the authority had all the latitude to carry it out during the long school holidays? What is the rationale for closing the school in the absence of an emergency, because there is no threat to the safety of the residents despite the dilapidated state of the buildings? Last school year, students lost weeks of classes due to problems related to the availability of water in the school. The current one looks worse if the State of Senegal does not take its responsibilities by postponing it sine die the renovation work which has not yet started, or by proposing a viable alternative plan, capable of allowing girls to receive their education on time in correct conditions, in the same way as other students in the country.
As I reach out to you for this unprecedented and ludicrous situation, please understand that the residents of Lemba and their parents are in disarray. It was only this Thursday (October 3, 2024, Editor’s note) that we were presented with a fait accompli, by informing us of the closure of the establishment and that teaching will be relocated to the Lycée Lamine Guèye in Dakar. Does the latter have the capacity and logistics to properly accommodate Lemba students in addition to its numbers? Mariama Ba High School has many students who come from the interior of the country and the suburbs of Dakar. How can we, 4 days before the start of the school year, ask their parents to find them accommodation in Dakar and their provide food and transportation? Today, we have just been informed that the start of the school year has been postponed until October 14 for the only high school of excellence for girls in the country.
In any case, very young, fragile and defenseless girls have been forced to endure harsh conditions that we do not dare to inflict on students for a long time. They necessarily impact the intellectual level of girls. Thus, the results of Lemba in the General Competition are today mixed and are not up to those of the Diourbel High School of Excellence, although it was recently created. First at the entrance to sixth form, if the Lemba residents find themselves left behind at the end, it is proof that their level has generally fallen when that of the others has improved. Does the Lemba lower the level of the best female students in the country, if we admit that the General Competition still celebrates the best talents in the country’s First and Finale classes?
Thus, this cry from the heart of a parent of a student only aims to inform public opinion, alert the authority and plead to come to the aid of the residents of the Lycée d’excellence Mariama Ba de Gorée, so that they can receive their teachings decently.
We are calling on the authorities, and in particular the country’s Minister of National Education, the mayor of the city of Dakar and the mayor of the commune of Gorée, human rights organizations, feminist associations in the country and all Senegalese on the situation of their daughters, nieces and sisters whose only fault is having worked hard to be among the most brilliant among them and for whom the State has volunteered to replace their parents (who have the merit of having previously well supervised them) to further and better prepare them for a future life full of hope and the exclusive service of the Nation.
Dr Mamadou Badara SECK – Ape Member of Lemba
[email protected]
