COLLECTION OF SCHOOL TEXTBOOKS IN FRANCE.

Action #1

Several actions are to be carried out in order to promote the monitoring and maintenance of schooling and learning in the most remote and disadvantaged areas of Benin. The most urgent items for the next school year are back-to-school kits (schoolbags, pencils, notebooks and khaki uniforms, etc.) as well as textbooks. The NGO in Benin is working on the kits. Our relay in France, on manuals.

« International solidarity is taking place ».

1st observation :

Despite the efforts of the Beninese government, the allocation of school textbooks, particularly for the essential learning of reading and writing, remains insufficient.

Twenty textbooks for classes of up to more than 60 students does not seem fair.

Teachers are required to make photocopies to the nearest town with electricity, often at their own expense. During our visit to the Gbessou public school, they told us about their need for materials, so that each student could take ownership of a book and consult it at home to guarantee individual follow-up.

In the absence of a book, only the most motivated students can hope to progress. The others drop out and end up no longer walking the kms through the bush to get to school. They are also more useful at home ...

2nd observation:

Many schools in wealthy countries have gone digital, making paper textbooks obsolete. The books sleep in cupboards or are discarded to the chagrin of teachers.

Faced with these contradictions, the NGO Solidarité Fênou began to forge links with French schools. Series of unused textbooks are being collected. However, the weight and volume of the books to be transported from France to Benin remain a real headache. The transfer and its financing are under study.

To be continued ...