On October 2, the summer vacations came to an end, and pupils returned to school in Burkina Faso. Since then, we've been continuing our work in 12 pre-schools (CEEP) in the Ouagadougou department. How far have we got?
Fabric for school uniforms
At the start of the new school year, we gave parents 950 coupons made from Faso Danfani, a traditional Burkinabe fabric, for their children's school uniforms. Some parents can't afford to pay for the uniform, so providing them with the fabric is a real boost to kindergarten enrolment.
School expansion
The kindergarten we accompany in Nioko 2, a suburb of Ouagadougou, is overcrowded. 240 children aged 3 to 6 are spread over just 3 classrooms, whereas the norm is 35 children per class. We therefore launched a project to extend the school with a block of additional classrooms. The work is nearing completion, and pupils should be able to use the new classrooms from next week. At the same time, we are refreshing the existing building (painting, waterproofing), extending the refectory and erecting a fence around the school.
Fence walls around 3 schools
The courtyards of the 3 nursery schools in Boassa, Sakoula and Nonghin, on the outskirts of the capital, were open to the passage of two-wheelers, outsiders and stray dogs. We have just finished building low walls and installing gates to fence off these schools.
The result: greater safety for the 241 children under 6 who attend, greater psychological peace of mind for the teaching staff and greater confidence for parents to entrust their children.
Canteen training
From November 20 to 24, in conjunction with the Burkinabe Ministry of Health, we organized training for canteen workers, school principals and directors, as well as the Province's quality controller, to ensure balanced meals for children in 4 nursery schools.
School gardens
Lastly, we are awaiting directives from the Ministry of Agriculture to launch the creation of school gardens in 4 nursery schools in December, which will supply part of the canteens.
