Burkina Faso: the distress of teachers fleeing the jihadist threat
A primary school in Dori, a town in northeastern Burkina Faso, plagued by the jihadist threat.
OLYMPIA DE MAISMONT / AFP
Text by: RFI Follow
2 min
In Burkina Faso, hundreds of teachers have had to abandon their students following attacks by armed groups and more than 2,100 schools have been closed after terrorist threats.
Today, some professors are waiting for new assignments, no longer able to return to their old post.
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Botou is located in the eastern region of Burkina Faso.
The teachers of this commune have received visits from armed men on several occasions.
The message was clear: no more teaching French in schools.
Fearing for their lives, these teachers left, abandoning the students.
“
They
[the jihadists]
asked us to stop teaching French.
They have come several times.
We were forced to flee.
We resumed.
But when the students came to come and teach, they threatened them and told them it was no use because next year they were no longer going to study in the locality.
And during the bac session, they came to burn down our establishment
.
"
Death of a school principal
After a first threat, the school where Ibrahim (assumed name) taught had to close its doors.
A few days after the resumption, the scenario was the same.
This teacher remembers, “
They don't want to hear about Western languages or civilizations.
They want people to teach Arabic.
We are always afraid.
"
Despite the persistent threat and fear, many teachers have been redeployed to other relatively secure areas or institutions.
On October 16, the lifeless body of a primary school principal was found on the Gorom Gorom-Markoye axis in the Sahel region, just days after the start of the school year.
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Burkina Faso
Education
Terrorism