The Coalition of Synergistic Organizations for the Defense of Public Education held a forum on Tuesday on the sidelines of the Global Action Week for Education to discuss the various issues related to funding in the education system. A forum which brought together different age groups evolving in the field of Education and who are best placed to talk about the issue of financing education. First of all, Cosydep believes that there are efforts that have already been made. “Senegal is one of the countries which have made great efforts in terms of financing education. This year we have more than 575 billion CFA Francs allocated to education. This amounts to 25.6% and over. 6% of the GDP at a time when the world is struggling to be at 4% or a little more of the budget. So, it is clear that efforts are being made “, considers the executive director of Cosydep.
However, Cheikh Mbow recalls that despite all these efforts, the shortcomings remain. Indeed, the difficulties relating to financing can be categorized at several levels. First, Cheikh Mbow tells us, “there are imbalances that exist in sectors such as early childhood, vocational training. But also, the problem of water, sanitation and security. comes back often and questions the lack of funding noted to overcome these difficulties “.
In fact, underlines the executive director of Cosydep, the budget has fallen considerably over the past 3 years. “In 2019, we were at 50 billion, 30 billion in 2020 and this year, 22 billion. Each year we finance less and less in investment to guarantee an appropriate educational environment”.
Another concern according to Cosydep is the effectiveness of education for all. “It would be unfair to condone that there are children who can neither read nor write and who are not in a traditional school, nor a Daara etc … We must therefore show generosity by taking these concerns into account. especially the most vulnerable children … ”
Without forgetting the factors linked to the deficit of teachers who revolve around 40,000 teachers but also teachers who are not happy with their lot despite the size of the budget so much praised. Hence the importance of also working for the pacification of the educational space.
In view of all these remarks, the Coalition of Synergistic Organizations for the Defense of Public Education believes that innovative funding avenues must be put in place. In this case, we can work to have funding through special taxes dedicated to education. We must also work to identify possible funding niches by optimizing and rationalizing the resources that can allow us to further finance the education sector.
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