We had a presentation by our In-Country Consultant, Ibrahim Seck, on Senegalese education. Here are a few interesting facts about their system.
1. The first schools in West Africa were in Senegal.
2. The state runs the schools and there is a common curriculum for all the schools.
3. They go to preschool for three years (ages 3-5). Then they move onto elementary school for six years (ages 6-11). They take a test after that to get into middle school which is 4 years (ages 12-15). They take another test to get into high school which is three years (ages 16-18) and they take yet another test to get into higher education (university or professional training).
4. Most of the teachers are men.
5. About 10 years ago, there was a big push for more girls to stay in school and they have a Miss Math and a Miss Science event just for girls to encourage them to study in these areas.
6. Bullying is not an issue in Senegal.
7. Cell phones are not allowed in the classroom but as soon as the students are out of class, so are their phones.
Some things are the same for teenagers everywhere!
Hi Sonja,
ReplyDeleteA question popped into my head as I read #3 from your last post is what happens if the students don't pass the test for middle school? Is it a sorting for which middle school they go to or is it you either go to middle school or you don't go to school after 11 if you don't pass the test?
Thanks for sharing your adventure and learnings!
Tricia