By RFPosted on 31-10-2019Modified on 31-10-2019 at 18:07
In Mali, education unions are organizing a solidarity day on Thursday to honor teachers who have been kidnapped or killed since the beginning of the year by jihadist groups. These are also the cause of the closure of nearly 900 schools across the country.
Last week, seven teachers were abducted by jihadist groups to Korientze in the Mopti region of central Mali, before being released a few days later. But " today there are four teachers in the hands of these kidnappers. And an instructor-coordinator too, was killed , informs Adama Fomba, the spokesman of the unions of Education. You see, the threat today is everywhere. Not only in the very center, very close to Bamako and the Koulikoro region. Teachers have a hard time working and the state is not in a position today - that's our point - to secure not only schools, but also teachers . "
" They burn notebooks and books "
In the center and north of the country, the threats of jihadist groups are increasing and make it difficult for teachers to work. " They [the jihadists, ed] suddenly come to school, burn notebooks or books. They ask that the children go out and they take some teachers, or they ask to shut down the school systematically and then they leave . It is difficult today to estimate closed schools across the country, but at our last estimate it was almost 700 schools (the Ministry of Education speaks of 900 closed schools ).
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