Yako, “In the event of rain, wind, dust and the passage of trucks, we are forced to temporarily suspend lessons” … Installed in the open air, the situation of the students of the CP1 class of Yako school B in sector 2, however, is not far from that of their older brothers, placed in so-called improved straw huts, but presenting practically the same discomfort and unfinished programs.
On the morning of October 13, 2021, as usual, Elibié Marcelline Bazémo gave lessons to her 81 students of CP1, in the open air under the shade of a building.
The teacher reassures us that she is not on the field of sports education carrying out a sports activity but indeed in class within the school B of sector 2 of Yako.
After five years of opening, the school for lack of site is still housed within the grounds of School A with four classes, one in the open air and three others with improved straw huts.
The daily life of Madame Bazémo and her protégés is to pursue all day long, the shadow of the makeshift building or that of the trees while carrying out their programs.
“Here, every day has an episode and a story”, Marcelline tells us. And the young teacher has no shortage of anecdotes to illustrate her ordeal with her students.
“In the event of rain, wind, dust and the passage of trucks, we are forced to temporarily suspend lessons to obey the whims of Mother Nature. One day, the parents left with a child who had refused to attend classes outside, and especially on land. I had to tell his father to tell him to come back because their class will be built. This is how he agreed to come back, ”said the teacher.
Being a teacher of homeless students means regularly dealing with multiple absences without counting dropouts.
Also, she adds that when people cross the course, with the noise of the machines, it is imperative to suspend the educational activity in progress.
Elibié Marcelline Bazémo affirms that some students no longer return there after having received permission for their needs. This is due to the lack of fencing and rooms to contain the students.
The situation is such that some students refuse to take lessons under such conditions.
According to Ms. Bazémo, they claim to be well dressed to take lessons in such conditions.
“Once a student slapped his classmate in the face. I got up. By the time he caught him, he fled, I didn’t get him. Whereas if it was in a class, he won’t be able to run away, ”she adds.
These temporary suspensions of courses can lead to the incomplete completion of teaching programs.
“However, these are small classes with 15 to 30 minutes of lessons. The time to pursue the shadow puts us behind. This necessarily affects the achievement of our objectives, which is to finish the program ”regrets the teacher.
Too many distractions lead to forgetfulness. Not knowing which way to turn, the teacher asks the State to take more seriously their fate by building standardized classes.
There is no fundamental difference between taking lessons under the stars and being in an improved shelter.
And it is not Andréa Bamogo / Konkobo, teacher in the CM1 class, who will say the opposite.
His classroom has four walls surmounted by a hangar with a makeshift door.
Despite the difficult working conditions, she fulfills her duty towards the little ones.
Madame Bamogo says she is fighting as best she can to fight ignorance.
Apart from the dust, Ms. Bamogo and her students are also victims of the wind and the rain, not to mention the lack of teaching materials for her work.
“In addition to these bad weather, we lack books and well-built classrooms,” she explains.
While deploring these working conditions, she accuses the authorities in charge of education in the country.
“It’s not at all cheerful to work in such conditions. To make the task easier for us, we want buildings and table benches ”denounces Ms. Bamogo.
Fayçal Roamba is one of his 45 students. This student, whom we met at the back of the class, also maintains that the Burkinabé state is entirely responsible for the situation of his school.
In addition to the need for infrastructure and quality equipment, Fayçal says he is not proud to take the lessons in an extraordinary class.
“We want the authorities to come and help us by building classrooms and giving us table benches and especially books,” he wishes.
The student adds that he is not at all happy with the situation.
“Even if we move up a class, we always stay in the same class. We really don’t like it at all ”regrets this kid, more courageous than his classmates who fled our microphone.
[School B until now without a site]
After 5 years of opening, the school ” B ” of sector 2 has so far been without a site. For the director of the school, François Xavier Banissi, if the school was able to recruit students from its opening despite the lack of infrastructure, it is thanks to the efforts of the association of parents of students (APE) of the school which had gone into debt to build two precarious shelters.
“Initially, the ‘A’ school gave us a class. When the host school had to accommodate two CM2 classes, we had to cede the borrowed room to them, leaving us homeless ”, deplores Mr. Banissi.
He continues that the parents of students took the initiative to build two hangars in 2019, to face this emergency.
Faced with the non-reimbursement of credits by the parents of students, the school contented itself with the class of CP1 and CP2 and did not recruit new students.
François Xavier Banissi reassures that despite everything, the courses will be given to this promotion of homeless CP1, within the limits of the available means, while awaiting the reaction of good will.
“As a teacher, the situation does not please me because our children feel marginalized and dissatisfied with their situations”, deplores the director.
To illustrate his point, François Xavier Banissi says he once discovered a condom already used in the drawer of his desk.
“I called on my colleague from school ‘A’ as well as the guard to give them an account of what I found in my drawer. They came to make the observation ”deplores Mr. Banissi.
Conscious of the efforts made by the government in the direction of absorbing the schools under straw huts, these teachers of the school “ B ” and their director ask the government and any person of good will to come to their aid so that the school can have its site and normal classes.
Around 179 schools under straw huts in Passoré
Questioned on the situation of schools under straw huts in Passoré, the provincial director of preschool education, non-formal primary (DPEPPNF) of Passoré, Saga Clément Ouédraogo said that the problem of school “ B ” of sector 2 is common to several schools in northern Burkina Faso.
“It is enough to take a tour in the municipalities of the province, to notice that there are always children who are still in schools with precarious shelters. Either it is purely in mud or in the form of straw huts ”he indicated.
As for the school “B” of sector 2, its creation intervened to reduce the overcrowding of classes at school “A”.
“The population had considered that an alternative had to be found which consisted first of all in creating a class under straw huts in order to decongest the overcrowded classes” explained Mr. Ouédraogo.
He also believes that the construction of classrooms in the province falls within the remit of the municipal council, especially since the transfer of resources is now in place.
“Unfortunately the funds that are allocated each year for the construction of schools are not sufficient to deal with all the schools under straw huts. And in order to benefit from well-constructed classrooms, it is unfortunately necessary to obtain the greatest seniority among the straw huts schools ”added Mr. Ouédraogo.
According to him, this year, the commune of Yako was able to benefit from the funding of only one school. It is that of Ragounda which is 6 years old in the situation of a school under straw huts. However, he says he is available to direct the State to sites to absorb schools in precarious shelters in the province.
“If at the level of the ministry, we are asked to look for a place for the resorptions of under straw huts, we will prioritize the school ” B ” of sector 2 which is in town” he reassures.
Refuting the thesis according to which it would be a resignation of the State which would explain the plethora of rooms under straw huts, Saga Clément Ouédraogo says it is still counting on goodwill to definitively reduce this evil from which hundreds of schools in the Passoré suffer.
Source: Burkina Information Agency