"At the Serigne Issa Dème elementary school, an establishment in the Thiès-Nord commune which welcomes more than 1,000 students, classes will not be able to start until next week. The start of the school year has been made difficult by a disruption linked to the renovation of three classrooms which are at risk of collapsing and there is also a serious shortage of desks and benches." The statement comes from the school's management.

The same situation prevails at Petit-Thialy Elementary School in Thiès-Nord. "For four years, the school has not functioned; it is in a very difficult situation; we are flooded. We had a student body of over 700, but today we have lost more than half of those students, because the number of students is dwindling year after year," confides Gabriel Armand Ndione, the school's deputy headmistress.

Currently housed at the Keur Yaye Fanta school due to the difficulties it is experiencing, Petit-Thialy is forced to adapt the double-shift system. "Two private schools in the Thiès-Nord commune have lent us a total of 10 classrooms, but they are unfortunately cramped. Solutions are being explored with the relevant authorities," Mr. NDione reassures.

For his part, the national vice-president of SOS Consumers, in charge of education, health, and social affairs, El Hadj Ciré Balley Diallo, head of the Thiès regional branch, noted: "The slogan 'Ubi tèy, Jang tèy' is, in my opinion, meaningless, when we take into account the true realities of schools when classes open. While private establishments often manage to implement it, not without difficulty, this is not the case for the public sector, where we are used to tinkering, not to say "taf-yengeul"."

Also to continue: A student who comes to school without the minimum of tools (notebook, writing desk, slate and chalk), a teacher who must readjust according to the new data, schools not disinfected and disinfested, the head of the establishment as well as his deputies who must find their marks, get to know their new students, we are, certainly, at school or in the classroom in physical presence, but "jang amagoul" ».

For El Hadj Ciré Balley Diallo, "we can only start classes when the learning conditions are truly met. In this country, we are unfortunately used to 'taf yëngël', to cheating, tinkering, to get by, and this, at all levels of our administration."