[00:00.00]In Senegal, educators are starting to teach English to younger children in an effort to better prepare them to succeed in future educational and professional activities.
[00:15.27]The preschool students also learn French - the country's official language - as well as Arabic and the nation's national languages, the French news agency AFP reports.
[00:35.03]Senegalese children who attend preschool - also known as nursery school, are generally under five.
[00:46.48]Since mid-January, the education ministry has been testing a program that teaches English in more than 600 nursery and primary school classes.
[01:01.06]It is part of a plan to better connect Senegal with the rest of the world.
[01:08.76]At one nursery school visited by AFP reporters near central Dakar, five-year-old students were heard singing, "Good morning, teacher!"
[01:23.29]The teacher, Absa Ndiaye, said, "They're interested in the lesson, and they start a conversation with 'How are you?'"
[01:35.92]Senegal recently became an oil and gas producer and has seen large population growth.
[01:45.15]However, many young people have been leaving the country searching for opportunities elsewhere.
[01:53.82]In Senegal, French is used in public schools and in government administration.
[02:01.37]Until recently, English was only taught in public high schools and universities, and sometimes in private nursery schools.
[02:14.78]Aissatou Sarr Cisse is in charge of the education ministry's English program.
[02:22.73]She told AFP that even after some students had studied English for up to seven years, they "can barely communicate properly in English."
[02:37.16]"We're starting from a younger age so that they can improve their language skills.
[02:44.34]The aim is to shape people who are open to the world," Cisse said.
[02:51.81]She added that improving their English will give them access to more opportunities to cooperate "with Senegal's partners."
[03:03.63]In March, President Bassirou Diomaye Faye was elected after running a nationalist campaign.
[03:13.30]After many years of strong ties with the former colonial power, he is trying to reset Senegal's relationship with France, without breaking away completely.
[03:29.62]In the schools testing the program, English is taught every Tuesday and Thursday.
[03:37.14]On both days, two 25-minute lessons are taught in nursery schools and two 30-minute lessons in primary schools.
[03:50.15]The subjects taught center on family, colors, everyday greetings, the environment and the weather.
[04:00.55]In Dakar's working-class Medina neighborhood, teacher Mamadou Kama listens to a conversation in English between two 13-year-olds in his primary school class of around 60 students.
[04:18.95]"I can see that the students are motivated. Some of them are asking for English lessons to be (taught) every day," said Kama, who has a degree in English.
[04:34.56]The ministry has invested in teachers who have high English levels.
[04:41.31]However, most of them have not yet received the teaching materials the ministry aims to provide.
[04:49.83]"We haven't had the time to create handbooks," said the education ministry's Cisse.
[04:58.22]"Computers have been ordered, and in the meantime, we have provided students with printed documents with fun pictures."
[05:10.47]The project has been praised by Ousmane Sene, director of the Dakar-based West African Research Centre (WARC).
[05:23.31]WARC handles educational exchanges between the United States and west African universities.
[05:33.51]"English is the most common language at an international level. And it's the most used language in diplomacy and international cooperation, so it's an additional asset," Sene told AFP.
[05:52.77]Additionally, most scientific material worldwide is written in English, said Mathiam Thiam.
[06:02.69]He helped create the English program.
[06:07.71]Thiam added that if people in Senegal do not adapt and improve their English, they will run into many barriers.
[06:18.53]But Sene noted that something needs to happen first: The project needs "... to train and equip the teachers well."
[06:29.82]Some critics of the program point to a lack of teachers.
[06:35.65]Samba Dioulde Thiam is a former member of parliament and retired teacher.
[06:42.81]In an opinion article, he wrote, "On these grounds alone, introducing English at nursery and primary school levels is a pipe dream. It's impossible."
[06:58.39]He noted that intellectuals have been demanding the introduction of Senegal's national languages in education for many years.
[07:09.77]The program involving English could further delay that goal.
[07:15.29]But one 13-year-old student, Aissatou Barry, seems far removed from such debates.
[07:24.88]She told AFP that she "can't wait to study English in sixth grade."
[07:32.80]I'm Andrew Smith.
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Words in This Story
conversation - n. oral exchange of sentiments, observations, opinions, or ideas
primary school - adj. a school usually including the first three grades of elementary school but sometimes also including kindergarten
opportunity - n. a good chance for advancement or progress
access - n. permission or power to enter, approach, or make use of
motivated - adj. having an incentive or a strong desire to do well or succeed in some pursuit
asset - n. a quality or thing that can be used to advantage
adapt - v. to make or become suitable, especially to change so as to fit a new or specific use or situation
pipe dream - n. an illusory or fantastic plan, hope, or story
intellectual - adj. engaged in or given to learning and thinking
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