The Arabic School in Kissa

So in my previous blog post, I talked about the French school in Kissa.  This is the Arabic school.

Students who finish with the Arabic school are able to read the Koran in it's original language and have the chance to become an Imam (sort of a muslim priest or pastor) or a Marabout (sort of like a theologian), two of the most prestigious jobs available in Malian culture.  In addition to reading and writing in Arabic, the students also learn mathematics, using the Eastern Arabic numberals.  The school in Kissa only has very young students, those that excell here go onto a more advanced religious school in another town.

Before the French colonization, Arabic schools were the only schools in Mali.  Today, French is a much more prevalant language in almost all sectors of Malian life except for religion, and Arabic schools recieve much less funding than French schools.  Nevertheless, many parents still choose to send there children to these schools, even though this education here seems to be much less usefull than a French education, because religion plays such an important role in Malian life.

Back in School!

The rainy season is finally coming to an end.  The people of Kissa are reaping harvests of beans, corn, millet, peanuts and cotton.  New fruits and vegetable that thrive at this time of year, like watermelon, cucumbers, and pumpking are available.  Food is plentiful and people are able to eat a healthy variety of foods.  Also, now that there is less work in the fields, kids are returning to school!

There are two schools in Kissa, an Arabic school and a French school.  The French school is funded by the Malian government and also in large part by the American NGO Save the Children.  It is a first cycle what we would call an elementary school, and it goes to 6th grade.  When kids finish there, they take a test.  If they pass the test, they can go on middle school, and if they pass the test at the end of middle school, they can go on to high school.  There is only an elementary school in Kissa, so students who pass the test at the end must move to a bigger town for middle and high school.  Many students do not pass these tests, and, if they fail it twice, they are done studying.  Most student who fail become farmers, although some move to cities and try to find jobs with the minimal education they have.

To give you an idea of the prevalence of education, at least in Kissa, I would say that about half of the kids in Kissa, especially girls, never go to school, and never learn to read.  Of those that go to school, most make it to middle school, although a significant portion to not pass the test to move on.  Getting from middle school to high school is a lot harder though: last year in my village, 16 students took the test, and only 2 passed.  Getting from high school to college is similarly very difficult in Mali.

Is is also worth noting that there is a huge gender gap in education in Mali, especially in small, rural villages like Kissa.  As you look at the pictures below, notice how much the boys outnumber the girls.  This is due to a variety of factors.  One reason is that boys work is mostly in farming, which lessens during the school year, which girls' work is in the household, which does not lessen in the school year.  Thus, parents lose a helping hand if they send a girl to school, but not so much if they send a boy to school.  Another reason is that school (and the world beyond Kissa) is not considered a girls "place".  Girls are also expected to marry and start having children around age 15, before they might even be finished with middle school, while boys wait much later to marry.  Finally, a have heard a few men (but certainly not all) make the downright sexist and incorrect claim that women are not as smart as men.

Here is the French school in Mali:

This is the 1st and 2nd grade classroom, and the teacher:

There are three classrooms in the school, and each has two grades in it.  In this classroom, students start learning their letters, and how to read and write in French (a language that they've never even spoken before). They also learn some basic Math.

This is the 3rd and 4th grade class:

Here, students continue to learn reading and writing in French.  They also continue learning Math, and start learning History and Geography.

And this is the 5th and 6th grade class:

Here, students study pretty much everything american students do: reading and writing (in French), math, geography and history, science.  They also have homework and spend a lot of time preparing for the big test to decide if they can go to middle school.

So that is what school is like in Kissa!