A lucky few complete school education

Over the past decade, the government of Senegal has focused on improving education, setting up a countrywide program of state-funded nurseries and providing free universal access to schooling.

This has led to an increase in pupil numbers, though still only three-quarters of children at the official school age were enrolled at primary school in 2009.

Senegal’s literacy rates remain low, particularly among girls – only 56 percent of 15-24 year old girls are able to read and write, compared to 74 percent of 15-24 year old boys (UNESCO 2009).

In rural areas, children may have a long walk to school.  When they get there the learning environments are often far from ideal.  It is not uncommon for class sizes to be well over 50, with spaces at middle school in especially short supply.  Teaching materials such as textbooks, particularly in the local languages (e.g. Wolof), are often limited.

The government has been investing in teacher training and improving school facilities.  But even with improvements in the classroom, poverty is the main barrier preventing many children from staying in education.  Drop-out rates are high as many children are expected to work and only around one in ten Senegalese children complete secondary school.  For girls especially, education is often seen as an unaffordable luxury.

Starting work young

With extremely high unemployment in Senegal (almost half of working-age people are unemployed), young people take apprenticeships where they can (often before the age of 14) in trades such as shop-keeping or girls work as domestic servants in city households.  Frequently, youngsters do not receive a proper wage.

Sometimes apprenticeships are part of an official scheme.  The government set up a system of recruiting young people as volunteer teachers, where after training they work without a salary for two years (though with benefits such as health insurance), before becoming eligible for a paid position.

However many Senegalese opt to look for work abroad and most families have at least one family member who has either emigrated or is working in Europe or America.  These migrants provide an important source of income for Senegal, with the World Bank estimating that around 640,000 Senegalese workers send home over 1.1 billion dollars annually (representing nearly a tenth of the country’s gross domestic product).