Dozens of children from a nomadic village in Chad were given a rare opportunity for their education as they sat crammed together on mats in an open-air school and watched as their teacher wrote simple sums.
According to the International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs, as of 2018, less than 1 per cent of nomad males and 0 per cent of nomad females were enrolled in school.
Seeing kids playing at a nomad camp in Toukra during regular school hours in 2019, Leonard Gmaigue was motivated to establish a mobile school. The 28-year-old recalled the instance that he had nothing when they officially started.
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Gmaigue said that almost three years after, owing to contributions, his school relocates with the community every two months or so, and currently has 69 students of varied ages. Saying with pride he said, “They had never been to school before, none of them … today they can already write their names correctly, express themselves in French, do sums,” Reuters reported.
Not only does he teach, but he has also learned many nomadic lifestyles, such as how to conserve water, eat a high milk diet, and become accustomed to pacing up and moving the school.
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Ousmane Brahmin, a camp leader, said, “We rejoice in the creation of this modest school for … our children, who are making progress despite our difficult living conditions,” Reuters reported.
As Brahim said, “We nomads did not know the importance of schooling, but nowadays we are beginning to understand its importance for ourselves and for our country.”
Chad, one of the world’s poorest nations, with a population of 16 million people, where 7 per cent are nomads, has had an incompatible education.
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