Contents:
- General information and key indicators relevant to education
- General information about the educational system
- Ongoing educational projects
Accurate as of October 2013; unless indicated otherwise, the websites are all in French, which is the official language of Senegal. Acknowledgement: Claire-Marie Toupé.
General information and key indicators relevant to education
Senegal is a western African country bordered by the Atlantic Ocean and by Mauritania, Mali, Guinea, Guinea Bissau and Gambia.
- Capital: Dakar
- Independence date (from France): 4 April 1960
- French is the official language. The national languages are Wolof, Pular, Jola, Madinka, Sérère, Soninké, Malinké, Diola
- Population is estimated at 13,300,410 (2013)
- The median age is 18.2 years (2013)
- In 2011, the urban population represented 42.5% of the total population
- Literacy (understood as age 15 and over can read and write) is 49.7% of total population (61.8% male and 38.7% female) (2009)
- Schooling net rate is 75,5% (2007)
- School life expectancy is 8 years (2010) (rank 50 in the world)
- Education expenditures: 5,6% of GDP (2010)
Sources: Senegal Government website, CIA World Factbook (English) and the Senegal National Agency for Statistics and Demography (ANSD).
General information about the educational system
For a general overview of the education system in Senegal, see the website of the Ministry of Education, Ecoles au Sénégal and Wikipedia. For a list of schools in Senegal (elementary schools to universities) by region, please see here. The Senegal National Center of Educational Resources (C.N.R.E) aims to support the fight against illiteracy.
Finally, Monde de l’éducation : Journal d’informations sur l’éducation au Sénégal et dans le monde (World of education: News on education in Senegal and the world) publishes education-related news of Senegal.
Ongoing educational projects in Senegal
There are a number of educational projects currently ongoing in Senegal, including:
- A ten-year education programme initiated by the United Nations for Africa. The objective is the implementation of a program capable of transforming the educational systems to make them more successful.
- A government-initiated project of volunteering to support education in Senegal
- A website created by teachers to help students to prepare for their exams and to provide them with educational guidance
- Through a private and public partnership, USAID/EDB helps the Ministry of Education enhance the access to, the quality of and the organization of the educational system in Senegal; see here and here
- CampusFrance Sénégal is an initiative of the French Embassy in Senegal dedicated to the Senegalese or foreign students in Senegal who wish to study in France. It helps them through the whole process by providing them with a wide range of services such as information meetings and help with filling in university and visa applications
- UNICEF and UNESCO’s educational programmes include activities in Senegal
- Ecoles de Brousse au Sénégal aims to facilitate access to education for children living in rural areas
Examples of NGOs involved in education in Senegal: Association Rêves d’Afrique, Association Jangalekat, Tche Kanam and iSENEGAL.