In the Tessalit circle, more than 200km from the city of Kidal, the school year was launched on “encouraging prospects”. On Tuesday, a strong delegation led by the Malian education minister, Mohamed AG Erlaf, officially launched it for the 14,000 children in the locality.
“We started on October 9 as we did everywhere in Mali, but the official launch took place on the 10th with the delivering of new classrooms rehabilitated by the Minusma”, said Akly Ag Wakawalen, Director of the Pedagogical Resource Center (DCAP) of the Tessalit circle, reached on the telephone by sahelien.com.
Today, 13 schools are open out of 26 throughout the circle, but Wakawalen also hopes the reopening of two more this year. With funding from the Trust Fund, 24 classrooms were rehabilitated this year in the circle by the UN mission. According to local school authorities, about 14,000 children are now in the classroom.
“These infrastructures will enable the children in double shifts to be in the minimum comfort that will enable them to study correctly”, said Mohamed Ag Erlaf, Minister of National Education who visited the site. The same is true of Mbaranga Gasarabwe, resident coordinator and humanitarian coordinator of the UN system in Mali, for whom “investing in education means investing in peace”. Today’s children are the adults of tomorrow, we can not build peace without them”, she adds.
However, in the locality, enormous needs still exist in the education sector. “The main difficulty is the problem of teachers, especially in the commune of Aguelhoc. I have 23 teachers who are all from the region so the local resources are present”, explains the DCAP. Now we must look for ways to motivate volunteers in this part of the country where the security situation remains precarious. There are also shortages of school supplies or didactic materials that will have to be filled.