On Monday, November 20, early in the morning, students found their way back to school in Kouakourou, in central Mali.
Boubacar Nientao, a student in the 5th grade of primary school rejoices about the resumption of classes in his village. “Since three years now, we have been between the house and farm work. Today is a day of celebration for my friends and me. My wish is to become a doctor but without school, it’s impossible to achieve it, so I’m very happy”, he says.
According to Assana Djenepo, director of the primary school, the main thing was to bring back the students in class and things will improve as over time. “I am very optimistic because during the recent visit of the Prime Minister, he promised us the reopening of the school and today it is done, so I think everything will return to order within a certain time … “, he added.
The Kouakourou School includes the primary and the junior high, but for the moment, it is the primary school that is operational because of the lack of teachers. In addition to the director of the primary and the director of the junior high, the teachers on the spot are three in number. They have divided six classes among themselves, that is to say that each teacher teaches in two different classes.
At the closing of the school, there were 661 students, but for now, a hundred have found their way back to school. The closure of the school was ordered by the terrorists in January 2015, after the distribution of leaflets in the mosque and other public places. This forced the teachers to leave the village.
Having remained under the terrorist threat for a long time, Kouakourou has been able to regain stability thanks to the presence of Malian soldiers in the locality since last September.
Sahelien.com