CONFERENCE -
5
Juin 2008
"Le
Système éducatif américain : Quelles perspectives
et contraintes pour le modèle sénégalais?"
Professor Ousmane SENE, Directeur
du WARC et
Professeur Fallou Ngom, Boston University, USA
Pr Ousmane Sene, Director of WARC, Pr
Fallou Ngom, Boston University, Pr Abdoul Sow, Dean
of FASTEF and Mrs Robin Diallo, PAO US Embassy (L-R)
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A large public attended the conference
among them Mr Diouf
who represented the Minister of
Education
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Le Système Educatif Américain: quelles perspectives et
contraintes pour le modèle sénégalais? (The US educational
system: lessons to be learnt for the senegalese educational
model?)
On Thursday, June 5, 2008, from 3:30 pm to 6 pm, the
West African Research center was packed full with a very
large audience eager to hear speakers discuss the burning
issue of education in Senegal at a time when a protracted
strike in the primary education sector is besetting the
whole system. From advisors in the Ministry of Education
to deans, department chairs, faculty and students at University
Cheikh Anta Diop to parents and reporters, they were all
there and intent to learn more about different systems
of education as a way of better understanding the issues
currently challenging the senegalese school.
The moderator of the session, Professor Abdoul Sow, Dean
of the Faculte des Sciences et Techniques de l'Education
et de la Formation (Fastef), after recognizing the presence
of many stockholders in the field of education, thanked
the US Embassy and the west African Research Center for
offering the lecture at a very appropriate time.
He then gave the floor to the Director of the West African
Research Center (Warc), the co-speaker of the day. Professor
Sene, who has a long-standing experience of both educational
systems as faculty at Ucad, study abroad program director
and frequent visiting professor in US universities, first
gave a comprehensive overview on the history of the University
as a global institution marked by borrowings and adaptations
from various parts of the world. He concluded therefore
that it was appropriate to consider possible borrowings
from the american model to the senegalese system and vice
versa, the more so as the US university started as an
outgrowth of the european academic system before being
acclimatized to the american local realities and needs
with an emphasis on the development of industry and agriculture,
practical learning, service to the community, mass education
etc....
He concluded by suggesting that such features in the
american educational system could be acclimatized in the
senegalese model so as to further stimulate economic,
social and cultural development in the country.
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The press covered the
event.
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| Professor Fallou
Ngom, currently a Fulbright faculty at University Gaston
Berger (Saint Louis, Senegal), while concurring with the
first panelist, engaged in a very comprehensive description
of the working and operations of the US university and also
drew some insightful comparisons between the two models.
He insisted on the focus on students and the need to give
them practical training and know-ow, particularly in the
areas of writing, research and practical learning. He also
insisted on the constraints since higher education in the
US, in most cases, is so prohibitively costly that some
of its features could not possibly be offered as alternative
options for Senegal. |
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Mrs Robin Diallo, the Public Affairs
Officer (PAO) of the US Embassy, also took the floor
to discuss the educational advising services offered
by the embassy in Dakar as well as some aspects of the
US educational system. Following the three speakers,
the large public of no less than 130 people, also took
the floor to engage in lively and mind-opening discussions
with the speakers of the day. The moderator, Professor
Abdoul Sow, beautifully wrapped up the session after
2 hours and a half of lively exchanges by emphasizing
the need to further adapt and adjust the senegalese
educational system to the current developmental needs
of the country. The session opened with remarks from
the representatives of the Senegalese Minister of Education
and of the Rector of University Cheikh Anta Diop.
Ousmane Sene Director, WARC
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