A new classroom for better schooling
As is the case in most rural areas of Senegal, marginality and poverty are the main reasons for people to leave their places of residence in the hope of better conditions in urbanized areas. As an NGO, on the one hand we are working, through social agriculture projects, to accompany local farmers in paths of emancipation relative to good and sustainable agricultural techniques and the processing of products up to the marketing of them, and on the other hand we are cooperating with local institutions to support those paths necessary to ensure individual knowledge and skills.
Realizing that there can be no future of dignity and rights without the growth of the people, we have committed ourselves to the construction of a new classroom that will enrich the school in Keur Yakham ( Thiés ) and this is to foster better literacy for the youth of the village. Interviewed by us, Mr. Faye, a representative of the school’s Pedagogical Team, had painted an unedifying picture, pointing out that the lack of a suitable number of classrooms to accommodate all the pupils was one of the many difficulties. Overcrowded classrooms slow down and prevent good schooling. With its own funds, ASeS has therefore worked to close this gap, knowing that this is an important but limited intervention because much more needs to be done.
As reported by the Team representative the difficulties are also representative of the poor state of the other classrooms, the lack of real fences to ensure the safety of students, small windows and the absence of doors. These are just some of the problems related to schooling and education in this village as the real crux of the matter is that this opportunity is precluded to those who do not have adequate family income. In fact, not a few children are forced to drop out of school due to lack of means by poor parents who cannot guarantee study conditions. It is necessary to work on several fronts, therefore, to give the country and future generations a perspective; it is necessary to activate economic development consistent with the principles of sustainability and social equity. Our presence in Senegal and the projects we are supporting aim to do just that: to produce additional income for beneficiary families and to strengthen the social role of farmers, especially women who are not infrequently forced to support their entire families with what they earn in the fields.
The intent is to reverse and smooth out the factors driving the propensity to emigrate from small rural villages with lower economic capacity. Land abandonment is an issue that should not be underestimated because if this process is not halted, guaranteeing those living in the villages an equitable redistribution of income as well as goods and services such as access to schooling and training for the younger generation, the risk is that the rural people who move out will be destined to increase the ranks of the poor and marginalized urban dwellers.
