Press release

USAID donates 17 vehicles and 400,000 textbooks
to support Senegalese middle school education

DAKAR, October 9, 2007 – The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) today presented Senegal’s Ministry of Education with 17 vehicles and 400,000 math and science books to enhance middle school education in the West African country.

USAID Director Kevin J. Mullally and Senegalese Education Minister Moustapha Sourang inspect 17 new vehicles at John F. Kennedy High School in Dakar. Photo: R. Nyberg, USAID

The vehicles are to be used for school inspectors in the regions of Fatick, Kolda, Tambacounda and Ziguinchor to visit rural middle schools, including 30 already built or renovated by with USAID financing. The added mobility will allow education officials to train and evaluate teachers and principals, visit construction sites, and undertake programs to get more girls into schools and to help keep them there.

Over the next several months, USAID plans to build five new schools and renovate two others in each of the same regions.

“With these vehicles, USAID would like to help reinforce supervision of the education system,” said USAID Mission Director Kevin J. Mullally at the donation ceremony at John F. Kennedy High School, an all-girls school built with USAID funds in the 1960s. “We also would like to encourage inspectors, especially those living in remote areas, to ensure quality education for these children.”

Mullally also urged authorities to ensure transparency in the use of the vehicles for education-related activities by maintaining accurate transport records.

Education Minister Mustapha Sourang, left, receives textbooks from USAID Director Kevin J. Mullally. Also pictured here is Johnny L. Houston from Elizabeth City State University. Photo R. Nyberg, USAID

Education Minister Moustapha Sourang hailed the “dynamic and extremely fecund” collaboration with USAID, which has not only ensured that schools were built, but also provided resources for teacher and principal training and community management of the schools.

 “The United States was the first donor to step up to help with middle school education,” he said. “USAID’s education program is extremely important because it covers the crucial aspects of access and quality of education for Senegalese students.”

The 400,000 science and mathematics books presented symbolically to the principals of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King schools in Dakar are in addition to 700,000 elementary books offered though the U.S. President’s Africa Education Initiative since 2005. Senegalese authors and educational experts have worked with counterparts at the Elizabeth City State University in North Carolina to produce the textbooks.

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