February 2013: In Senegal’s worst Koranic schools, the teachers routinely send their pupils to beg on the streets, citing it as a part of their religious learning.
The children, known as ‘talibés’, receive no formal education and can suffer poor living conditions. Boys aged from 3 to 15 must earn their keep on the streets, while girls may be put to work in the school – or daara – itself.
Education project
Watch the clip to learn more and see how Plan is working as a partner in the USAID-funded Basic Education Project, which is supporting the introduction of a formal education cycle and better learning conditions into daaras in Louga and Dakar.
Now in its fourth year, the project has seen 108 daaras enrol in the programme, benefiting nearly 5,000 talibé children. Many of them are excelling, achieving higher results than their counterparts in formal French schools.
President promise
“When I’m president,” vows pupil Abdou, 13, with a beaming smile, “I’ll make everything better for everyone, so that everyone has a nice life and no one suffers.”