De nu fordrevne islamister lukkede mange skoler, ændrede pensummet og åbnede Koran-skoler, hvorpå tusinder af elever flygtede – men i dag er alt tilsyneladende fryd og gammen og myndighederne forsøger at få lærerne i arbejde igen.
TIMBUKTU, 4 February 2013 (IRIN): Children returned to school in Timbuktu in northern Mali on 1 February, a week after Islamist groups fled.
Teachers say about half of all schoolchildren fled northern Mali in 2012 when Islamist groups took over much of the north and shut down many public schools, dismantled the curricula (pensum), and sent some children to Koranic schools.
“You cannot imagine the joy I felt in returning to this classroom,” said director of Timbuktu’s main primary school, Coulibaly Ami Doucaré. She abandoned the school last April when Timbuktu was taken over by Islamist group Ansar Dine.
“It is important we save this school year. We will do everything we can to catch up, even if we have to study on Sundays,” she said, appealing to all teachers who fled to return.
A campaign to recruit volunteer primary school teachers has signed up 12 so far.
“Som at komme ud af et fængsel”
Aminata Touré, a student in the 9th class, told IRIN:
“First of all, I feel like I have been let out of prison. I can walk around town, I can dress as I like – look, I am wearing jeans. My second joy is that I have been reunited with my class, my friends, my teachers and my school-books”.
“I thought the school year was ruined, but now I will be able to pass my diploma and go to the lycée (gymnasium) next year.”
Most Timbuktu schoolchildren lost at least four months of the school year.
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http://www.irinnews.org/Report/97409/Schools-reopen-in-Mali-s-Timbuktu
Begynd fra: “Mamadou Mangara, governor of Timbuktu Region, encouraged….”
