Following the joint interview between Inspector Oumar Bâ and Mr Bèye on Canal Education, I felt a compelling need to write about the extraordinary Guédiawaye experience. We were then at the end of the second millennium, between 1996 and 2000. The diagnosis for the school district was particularly alarming: the widespread use of double-shift classes was causing a drastic reduction in learning time. School performance languished at the bottom of the Dakar Academy rankings. Faced with this critical situation, pessimism was setting in among parents and local authorities. It was then that Oumar Bâ sounded the alarm.

Drawing on the experience he had previously gained in Fatick, Inspector Oumar Bâ launched this major, galvanising project: the Guédiawaye Education Development Project (Pdeg). The response it set in motion was carried by a deeply committed team, made up initially of the late Mor Mbengue, Serigne Babou (Arabic-language inspector), Ndèye Bâ (pre-school inspector), the veteran Assane Niang and the late Ndiaga Ndiaye, supported by highly involved administrative staff. Later, this core group was joined by Amadou M. Sène, author of the book L’Ecole : mon choix, ma passion (School: my choice, my passion). Together, they led the great local offensive.

Going beyond compliance inspection to save the pupil

Today, the story of Guédiawaye and the rollout of the Pdeg should serve as a manifesto for new generations. It is time to invite young inspectors to make a fundamental break in identity: they must move beyond being the compliance inspector – the one who merely checks exercise books and notes administrative failings – to become the solutions inspector, a true educational engineer capable of responding to the acute learning crisis. The spirit of this method was forged in the heat of action. At a memorable start-of-year meeting bringing together head teachers from both public and private schools, Departmental Inspector Oumar Bâ took the floor. Addressing the gathering with disarming sincerity but absolute firmness, he asked everyone to redouble their efforts before issuing an unequivocal warning: “To those of you in the public sector, there is no longer any question of building the private sector’s success on your laxity! As for those of you in the private sector, no false success.”

To give this demand technical substance, the drawing up of harmonised schemes of work made it possible to plan work effectively so as to follow the real pace of learning from day to day. These schemes ran from pre-school through to primary, including an unprecedented foray into the teaching of Arabic: it was a first in the history of our education system! At the same time, the introduction of standardised assessments provided objective and comprehensive feedback on classes’ level of mastery. These strategic innovations, carried out in concert with determined and committed head teachers and teachers, were powerful levers in improving the quality of learning in double-shift classes. They made it possible to reverse the trend completely, rising to the level of traditional classes and even overtaking the private sector in the Guédiawaye school district. But to complete this model, its natural extension today lies in linking it directly with formative assessment. This macro-educational diagnosis must be used to drill down to the individual pupil, analyse his or her particular weaknesses and immediately provide the necessary remedial support.

The miracle of clinical pedagogy: from obscurity to the academic gown

This clinical and formative approach is no empty theory. It is embodied in deeply moving human journeys, such as that of my former pupil. When he arrived in my CM2 (final year of primary) class, this child could not read. For the head teacher at the time, a certain Yaya Wane, the verdict was final: he had given up on him, judging the boy’s academic failure too severe and irreversible. Yet by refusing the fatalism of laxity and deploying appropriate clinical methods, the miracle happened. Driven by this targeted remedial support and by the child’s vehemence and fierce determination, this pupil managed to overcome his handicap entirely. The destiny of this boy, once condemned by the system, was transformed: he is today a professor of economics at the University of Dakar. On the day of my book signing, he made a gesture of unforgettable symbolic power. Before the audience, he took off his own academic gown and placed it on me, as a sign of eternal gratitude. A moment suspended in time, of absolute emotion, which recalls the sacred, almost priestly, role of inspectors and teachers in a pupil’s success.

Listening to the voice of reform: not standing still

Oumar Bâ’s team blazed the trail, but the spirit of this great man was never one of complacency about the past. His deep ambition is to complete the model, to keep moving forward and to refuse categorically to stand still.

At present, as the whole country is talking about the overhaul of our education system, the highest authorities and decision-makers must lend an attentive ear to this great man.

Schools are not rebuilt with abstract concepts, but by listening to those who have experienced the rigours of the field and overcome the learning crisis through action. Integrating formative assessment and individualised clinical support into the Guédiawaye legacy means moving from crisis management to republican excellence. It is up to Senegal’s young inspectors and teachers to draw inspiration from this forward-looking vision so that public schools once again become the invincible engine of national success.

Amadou Moustapha SENE

Retired education inspector

Author of the book “L’Ecole : mon choix, ma passion”