Kindo Belaide is the only teacher who started classes on October 2 at the Wend-Pengre B school in Ouahigouya, capital of the northern region of Burkina Faso, one of the areas most affected by jihadist terrorism, which has caused more than 6,000 deaths in 2023, according to data from the Armed Conflict Location and Event Dataset (ACLED). The approximately 90 students in the third year of Primary are correcting the level test they took the day before. "They're doing well, they haven't forgotten much during the holidays," Belaide says with relief when she sees the results.
Most of the faculty members of Wend-Pengre B came to work, but had to wait under the shade of a tree in the courtyard because most of the classrooms were occupied by internally displaced persons. By June, Ouahigouya had received 38,000 people expelled from their homes in other parts of the country. It is the third area of Burkina Faso with the most displaced people (at least 256,000, according to United Nations data), as it is the only large city in the north of the country that is not under jihadist siege in its entirety, although its population lives in fear and listening to the sound of constant gunfire. Last September, 53 members of the Burkinabe security forces were killed in an attack very close by, about 20 kilometres away.
During the holiday months we open schools to provide shelter for families
Appouri Anetiambou, Education Inspector of Ouahigouya
"During the holiday months we open schools to give shelter to families," explains Appouri Anetiambou, an inspector of education. One of them is 20-year-old Salimata. She, her husband and three children survived an attack by militants from the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM) – a faction of Al-Qaeda – in their community, Peela Kibitiguia (North region). It was the end of June, in the wet season, and they still remember the rainy nights without a roof. According to ACLED data, there were attacks in the area where they lived that month, including kidnappings of women and attacks on civilians. They fled to Ouahigouya and settled in a classroom at the Wend-Pengre B school.
There, the tables are stacked to the right of the classroom. In the centre, two mosquito nets delimit a bed without a mattress: in one part Salimata sleeps with her husband and three children and, in the next one, another displaced family. In a corner, above a desk, there are two toothbrushes and three boxes of antibiotics for one of the children, who has a cold. Underneath the slate is the kitchenette. Worried that the students would not be able to start the school year because of his presence, the family has been taking out their belongings little by little to make room in the classroom. "We have started to reduce our suitcases so that they can start classes," says the mother.
According to UNICEF, 3.8 million students have been able to return to the classroom this year in Burkina Faso. Rukieta, who is between eight and 10 years old (she doesn't really know), is one of them. She arrived a few months ago in the city of Ouahigouya, where she was enrolled in an accelerated schooling course so that she could regain her knowledge, the habit of going to school and the academic level that corresponds to her. She now continues her classes in the same classroom where she has slept with other displaced people, victims of violence. Èlia Borràs
The principal, teachers and students from the village of Titao travelled to the town of Ouahigouya in the northern region of Burkina Faso in 2020. This school is one of many that have been relocated to flee areas affected by terrorist violence, but it is still operating, only in another enclave. In the image, the students of the relocated school show the teacher the work done on their blackboards, this October. Èlia Borràs
A rural school, about 30 kilometres from Ouahigouya, had to close in the middle of last year due to a violent attack. In April, the population organized for a farmer from the community to lead the classes thanks to the radio schooling program. So, with a radio and a USB key, you can follow the course content. The now teacher is clear: "The place of children is in school." Èlia Borràs
The Radio Schooling Programme is an initiative of the Ministry of Education with the technical and financial support of UNICEF. Implementation on the ground requires the contribution of local partnerships. Due to the danger of many children regrouping in one place, 2,670 radio kits (including a USB key, a solar panel, a radio and a solar bulb) have been distributed. Thus, in case students are unable to go to school, they will be able to continue with the program. Èlia Borràs
During the holidays (June, July and August) schools in Ouahigouya, capital of the northern region of Burkina Faso, became a refuge for families expelled from their villages and homes due to the presence of armed groups that want to control the territory. With what little they could carry, these two young families walked into the city to seek shelter. At the beginning of the school year, in October, they were looking for another space to sleep. Èlia Borràs
Kindo Belaide is the only teacher who started classes at Wend-Pengre School. In the first few weeks, she conducts level tests on the students, since many of them, even though they are old enough to be in school, have never been to school or have suffered interruptions in their education due to the armed conflict in Burkina Faso.Èlia Borràs
According to the education inspector of the city of Ouahigouya, in the northern region of Burkina Faso, 40 per cent of the students enrolled for this course are internally displaced. While access to education is a right, schools have doubled the number of students and are overwhelmed. The Government has built Temporary Learning Spaces to accommodate students expelled from their villages. Èlia Borràs
A girl follows the class of third-year primary students at the Wend-Pengre school in Ouahigouya, the only one that was able to start the 2023-2024 school year on schedule. The rest of the students and teachers waited every day in the courtyard for the displaced families sleeping in the other classrooms to be relocated. Èlia Borràs
2023 has been the deadliest year in Burkina Faso. According to ACLED, at least 5,000 people have been killed as a result of the conflict between the state and armed groups. "If we don't take care of these children, one day they will be the ones who are going to bounce back on us," says the coordinator of the radio education program. In the photo, an ornament welcoming the new year at the Wend-Pengre school. At the beginning of the school year, the same wall served as a kitchen space for the families hosted at the centre.
The radio station 'Notre Dame du Sahel' broadcasts a class every day for approximately 200,000 students who do not have access to school and who live in isolated villages blocked by road. The Radio Education Programme allows these students of all ages to be reached over the airwaves and to keep them connected to the education system. For some time now, they have had to remove the poster from the radio for fear of being a target of terrorists. Èlia Borràs
The Sawadogo brothers along with their sons and daughters, all expelled from their village by terrorist groups. The two oldest daughters do not appear in the image because they are in class. The family has decided to concentrate all their financial efforts so that they can finish their studies in a private institute, since they are on the waiting list in the public one. In addition, for the time being, the family would not be able to pay the public school fees: while in their village the fee was 1.90 euros, in the city of Ouahigouya, the registration fee increases to 7.60 euros for each student, an unaffordable amount for them. Èlia Borràs
Amidou Ouedraogo, the school's principal, explains via text messages that, far from what he had predicted, the school has been able to finish the term "with some normality" and that displaced families have found other shelters.
The reception of those fleeing violence also increased the number of pupils. "40% of those enrolled for this course in the Ouahigouya centres are internally displaced," says Amidou Ouedraogo, director of the Wend-Pengre B school. For the time being, the Ministry of Education, Literacy and Promotion of National Languages has built one of the so-called "temporary learning spaces" here. In practice, it is a shed with tables and chairs that serves as a classroom.
The implementation of temporary learning spaces is one of the pillars of a national strategy, supported by international organizations and agencies such as UNICEF, to guarantee children's right to education despite the instability and disruptions caused by terrorist violence. This package of measures also includes re-engagement courses for those who have requested part of the course, radio lessons and the relocation of some centres to safer areas with temporary facilities.
Rukieta's Academic Sprint
Rukieta is between eight and 10 years old, she doesn't know it well, and she is one of the few students in the Gondologo B school who wears a blue backpack with the Unicef logo. At the end of June, she walked from Douma (about 60 kilometers away) to the city of Ouahigouya, and slept during the vacation months in the classroom where she is now sitting as a student. Before starting classes, they gave him a level test, like every student. The explanation: "Sometimes they come from villages controlled by jihadist groups where schools have been closed; others have never been able to go to school," explains Education Inspector Anetiambou.
Unlike the Wend-Pengre B school, the school year started with some normality in Gondologo B, with more students than usual. "Out of 900 registered, 500 are internally displaced," says the director.
One of the palliative measures that the Ministry of Education has implemented — and the reason why Rukieta can now follow the lessons — is intensive school re-engagement courses. A programme that takes place every morning and afternoon during the holidays so that students can recover the habit of studying and acquire the basic knowledge so as not to get lost at the start of school.
Relocate the school
According to UNICEF, at least 6,000 schools remain closed in Burkina Faso and one million children are unable to go to school due to insecurity. Since 2020, the school in Titao, a village located about 50 kilometers north of Ouahigouya, has moved to this city to continue classes. Principal, teachers and students continue the course in facilities built to deal with this emergency. This measure is known as "offshored schools" and also includes re-engagement courses. Saliata, 10, is one of the students. She had never been to school before, but now she can count almost infinitely thanks to this intensive training and has started classes for the first time. Next to him, sitting with his arms crossed and a constant swing of legs, is Rasmane (eight years old) who is one year ahead. Before the violence of the terrorists forced him to leave his village, he had gone to school. "When I grow up, I want to be a teacher to teach reading and writing," he says resolutely.
In Burkina Faso's schools, it is customary to raise the flag and sing the national anthem every morning. Something that here, in the delocalized school of Titao, they don't do anymore, for fear of exposing themselves too much.
Follow the course by radio
In a rural village about 20 kilometers from Ouahigouya, when a motorbike approaches the school, students get up restlessly and look out the window. They fear they will be attacked again. "I closed the windows and waited for the shooting to stop," recalls Issu Sawadogo. Their school was closed in June 2022, when a group entered the village wielding weapons and attacked everything related to the state, such as the city hall and public buildings. "They told us that if we didn't close the school we were going to lose our lives," explains the teacher, who worked as a farmer but has now been chosen as a community tutor. He leads the classes thanks to the radio education program, which broadcasts a lesson three times a week, since February of this year.
In case the situation becomes too tense, the families here have purchased the school kit – radio, USB key and solar panel – to continue with classes from home. If all this doesn't work, Notre Dame du Sahel radio broadcasts a math, writing or reading lesson every day at four o'clock in the afternoon for at least 200,000 students (also from Mali). Its waves reach 75 kilometers around Ouahigouya. "Radio has been the means we have found so as not to break the umbilical cord between children and education," explains the head of the project in the North region. "It's a community-based educational alternative. If they don't respond, there's no school," says Sawadogo.
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