Thiès, Jan 8 (APS) – The elementary school of Sinthiou Yoro Sadio, a “semi-urban” locality located on the outskirts of the city of Thiès (west), aims to find solutions to the glaring lack of equipment it faces. is confronted, with a view to improving the quality of its teaching.
The problem of reprographic equipment, for the mass printing of tests and other educational materials, was particularly at the heart of the discussions between the new director of the school, Yaya Diatta, and the parents of the students on Tuesday.
This restitution meeting follows Mr. Diatta’s participation in a forum of school stakeholders in Fandène.
During this forum, the Elementary Mathematics Learning Program (PAME), an initiative supported by Japanese cooperation, was presented to parents.
This program offers tools to simplify the learning of mathematics, a subject which often constitutes the weak point of students in primary school.
These materials include books and videos to show in class. Hence the need for a video projector.
It also provides for the recruitment, by school management committees, of at least three facilitators, to supervise students in maths, three days a week, outside of class hours, using a guide made for this purpose.
Given the insufficiency of educational works produced by PAME, it was planned to compensate for this lack through reprography.
One of the commitments resulting from this forum was to support reprography and to educate parents to have their children do exercises at home.
According to the director, the Sinthiou Yoro Sadio school needs reprographic equipment, namely a new, quality printer and photocopier.
The photocopier she has is “aging” and often breaks down. “The big problem is reprography,” insisted Yaya Diatta.
He took the opportunity to raise awareness among parents, grouped in particular within the school management committee (CGE), of the challenges facing the school structure, to improve its teaching and, by extension, its results.
Given that the method of teaching has changed, reprographic devices have become necessary for good quality learning.
Teachers sometimes need to print images for teaching purposes.
All the schools that do not have one must go to the city center to multiply the hundreds of copies of their composition exams, tests or homework.
Which costs a lot of money, noted Mr. Diatta.
The school needs material and moral support
The CM2 teacher, Mamadou Cissokho, says he asked each student for a lump sum of 2,000 FCFA, for the whole year, to cover reprography costs. Which is far from enough.
Security is another concern for the school, which saw its gate torn off and a window damaged after returning from the Christmas holidays. This is because the school does not have a security guard.
The school needs the “material and moral support” of the community, of which it is an emanation, pleaded the head of the establishment.
He indicated that several correspondences have already been sent to personalities, for the moment without much impact.
The president of the school management committee, Idrissa Ba, welcomed the holding of this meeting, believing that it is for the exclusive benefit of students and parents.
Like several speakers, he praised the work done by the teaching team which deserves, for this, to be supported.
He urged parents to get more involved and “not expect everything from the state”.
At the end of this meeting, the parents, who came in large numbers, committed to making contributions of at least 1,000 FCFA, to help the school acquire reprographic equipment.
Located not far from the road leading to the Ila Touba highway, the elementary school of Sinthiou Yoro Sadio, formerly a village of Fulani herders, has experienced exponential urbanization in recent years.
The population has exploded and beautiful buildings are springing up like mushrooms.
However, even if the school, created in 2004, “is growing very quickly, its pace of transformation is not proportional to that of the neighborhood which houses it”.
More and more people are coming to live in the neighborhood, wishing to transfer their children there, reports the head of the establishment.
With its six classes for a total of 273 students, the school plans to expand to accommodate the ever-increasing demand. This year, she had to refuse transfers due to lack of space, reports the director.
The school is “at the top of the table” in the department, with 100% success at entry into year 6 and more than 94% at the CFEE, he rejoices.
Even if it administratively depends on the commune of Fandène, Sinthiou Yoro Sadio, which has become a sub-district of Keur Massamba Guèye is, in fact, attached to Thiès. It is about ten minutes’ drive from the city center.
“Geographically, we are from Thiès, there is no reason why we should not benefit from the same study conditions as the other schools in the city. We have electricity, only the equipment is lacking,’ says Yaya Diatta, who maintains that his establishment is a “semi-urban school” and not a “bush school”.
This meeting, which mainly targeted parents of candidates for the CFEE and entry into 6th grade, also addressed questions of marital status and supervision at home.
According to Yaya Diatta, the number of candidates without civil status documents has been reduced to three, even if the lack of this document will not prevent them from participating in the exams.
The director said he hoped for a “better future” for this school, which can count on a “dynamic, hardworking and committed” teaching team.
NAME/UK
