École normale de Rufisque

École normale de Rufisque
Location
Map
Rufisque

Senegal
Coordinates14°42′49″N 17°16′20″W / 14.7136°N 17.2722°W / 14.7136; -17.2722
Information
TypeTeacher training
Established1938
Closed1958

The École normale de Rufisque was a teacher-training institute for women from French West Africa in Rufisque, Senegal. It existed from 1938 to 1958.

History

The École normale de Rufisque for girls was founded thirty-five years after its equivalent for boys, the École normale William Ponty. Run by the colonial administration, the teacher-training college offered the highest level of education girls could get in the areas of West Africa colonised by France.[1] The first director of the school was from 1938 to 1945 was a Frenchwoman Germaine Le Goff, who had been commissioned by the Senegalese government to create its first normal school for teachers.[2]

The pupils were girls and young women aged between thirteen and twenty, who were from a variety of West African countries.[1]  In the first few years of the school's foundation, a large number of pupils attended from the southern colonies such as Dahomey and a few directly from Senegal.[3] The training scheme lasted for four years. The girls were only allowed to speak French to each other and wore school uniforms they had made themselves. A boarding school was attached to the school and pupils were separated from their families during the school year, from November to July. Graduation ceremonies were shared with the boys school.[1] During the Second World War, the school struggled without financial resources.[4]

A total of around 800 students graduated from the École normale de Rufisque during its existence from 1938 to 1958.[5] One of the first teachers to graduate from the school was Ndèye Coumba Mbengue Diakhaté.[6]

Curriculum

The curriculum of the school was a colonial product, based on nineteenth-century French educational practice. Its established aims were to train women who wanted to be elementary school teachers, as well as preparing women to be the wives of successful men.[1]

Legacy

The school building that has been preserved and has housed the Lycée Abdoulaye Sadji since 1972.[1][7]

Notable alumni

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Barthélémy, Pascale (2003-01-01). "Instruction ou éducation ?. La formation des Africaines à l'École normale d'institutrices de l'AOF de 1938 à 1958". Cahiers d'études africaines (in French). 43 (169–170): 371–388. doi:10.4000/etudesafricaines.205. ISSN 0008-0055.
  2. ^ "Germaine Le Goff: Directrice de l'Ecole Normale des Filles de Rufisque - senegaldates.com". senegaldates.com. Retrieved 2021-03-31.
  3. ^ Capelle, Jean (1990). L'éducation en Afrique noire à la veille des Indépendances (1946-1958). Paris: Editions Karthala. p. 30. ISBN 2-86537-240-5. OCLC 26400600.
  4. ^ a b c "Germaine Le Goff – L'Africaine blanche (1891-1986)". aflit.arts.uwa.edu.au. Retrieved 2021-03-31.
  5. ^ "Lycée Abdoulaye Sadji de Rufisque : Un patrimoine qui meurt à petit feu | seneweb.com". Dossier%20de%20la%20redaction (in French). 2021-03-31. Retrieved 2021-03-31.
  6. ^ a b "Ndèye Coumba Mbengue Diakhaté". archive.wikiwix.com. Retrieved 2021-03-31.
  7. ^ "Sénégal: L'école normale des jeunes filles de Rufisque - A la poursuite de repères perdus !".
  8. ^ "Mariama Bâ (1929-1981)". Les hussards noirs des savoirs (in French). Retrieved 2021-03-31.
  9. ^ "THEME: TEENAGE GIRLS AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT VALUES TRANSMITTED BY AFRICAN GRAND-MOTHERS (International Day of the Girl Child 2016)" (PDF). African Actions on Aids. 2016.
  10. ^ "Annette Mbaye d'Erneville". aflit.arts.uwa.edu.au. Retrieved 2021-03-31.
  11. ^ maliweb. "KEITA Aminata MAIGA rend Hommage aux Femmes leaders disparues. | maliweb.net" (in French). Retrieved 2021-03-31.
  12. ^ "Biographie d'Aminata Tall -" (in French). 2020-09-04. Retrieved 2021-03-31.