Ei-iE

In Senegal more than 3 million children either do not go to state school or find it very difficult to go to school. Insufficient public funding for education is a major obstacle to quality education for all.

Despite a significant proportional investment in education, with 7.23% of GDP and 29% of the operational budget being allocated to education, the education system in Senegal still faces major challenges.

In this context, the steering committee members of the Trade Union Confederation for Quality Education (USEQ), comprising Education International’s member organizations in Senegal, came together for a seminar on capacity building for teacher unionists with the theme: “Mobilizing for proper education funding.”

The workshop, which took place from the 27th to the 29th of June in Dakar, received funding from EI’s Solidarity Fund and aimed to provide capacity building for members so they could identify sustainable solutions, particularly through appropriate fiscal policies. The workshop was part of the campaign for better education funding and achieving Sustainable Development Goal 4 –quality education for all – by 2030.

Abdourahmane Gueye, the Democratic Union of Teachers in Senegal’s (UDEN) General Secretary, underscored the paradox of having funding that was greater than international criteria, but which was insufficient to meet the needs of state schools.

Unions leading the call for better resource reallocation

Unions, represented by Malamine Biaye, General Secretary of the National Primary Education Union (SNEEL), and Hamidou Didhiou, General Secretary of the Free Teachers of Senegal (SELS), stressed the need to think about home-grown and sustainable solutions. They called for a better redistribution of resources to improve teacher working conditions and the quality of education.

Poor school infrastructure

Teachers, such as Ndiak Bob, school principal in Bambey and member of the Teachers Union of Senegal (SYPROS), highlighted the poor conditions of a number of establishments. With overcrowded classrooms and poor infrastructure, unions called for increased funding to ensure suitable and inclusive learning environments

Maïmouna Faye, teacher member of the Single Democratic Union of Teachers in Senegal (SUDES), also underscored the problems at the BST (Brevet de selection technique) vocational qualification level in secondary education as there is a critical shortage of education personnel.

Dr. Seyni Ndoye, teacher-researcher and member of the Independent Union of Higher Education (SAES) also said that universities were facing budgetary shortfalls affecting teacher researchers.

Taking part in the “Go Public! Fund Education” campaign

The workshop provided capacity building for union leaders on the importance of better funding for public education and reaffirmed their commitment to joining EI’s Go Public! Fund Education campaign.

Participants also discussed the current fiscal policy and identified potential tools for adequate domestic funding for public education, including: public-private partnerships, progressive tax reforms, participatory/solidarity funding using resources from local communities or the international community, special taxes/special funds, using technology to improve the traceability and transparency of resources allocated to education and how they are managed, or developing partnerships with international organizations or philanthropic foundations. Unionists now have new skills they can use to put forward concrete proposals to political decisionmakers.

Renewed commitment for the future of education

During the workshop, Senegal’s education unions showed a clear commitment to working for increased and sustainable education funding. They intend to continue mobilizing and raising awareness on the matter to the authorities and to communities in order to ensure quality education for all children in Senegal.