Nouakchott Moulay Ould Rais stood expectantly, watching with the father’s eyes as his son and daughter left a public school in the “Sahraoui” neighborhood in the capital, Nouakchott. As the dismissal bell rang at the Abdullah Ould Nouekiz Basic Education School, streams of boys and girls poured into the hallways, carrying their heavy school bags and lunch boxes.
It was on a Friday, and the faces beamed with joy that the weekend was approaching. As for Ould Rais, a sixty-seven-year-old retired engineer, he was full of optimism for other reasons. He pins high hopes on the new transformations that have occurred in the school system.
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He supports the government’s decision to phase out private schools in favor of state-run institutions, in a move marketed as an attempt to standardize the quality of education. Despite protests from some parents and teachers, Ould Rais believes that “everyone will reap the benefits” of this new system.
Ould Rais, who heads the school’s parents’ association, told Al Jazeera that he remembers a time when there were only public schools; Those schools enabled him to become a civil engineer who worked in various parts of West Africa. He believes that with the emergence of private schools, poor families suffered greatly.
“This decision will bring back a generation similar to the first generation, where people were united and lived in complete harmony,” he added, as the students gathered around him, caressing his white “dara” (the traditional Mauritanian dress for men).
Mauritania is often ranked educationally backward due to poor investment in infrastructure and teacher qualifications. The shift towards public schools represents the core of the current administration’s attempts at educational reform, seeking quick results.
But the reality is that many children, especially in low-income rural areas, are not in school in a country that has historically prioritized forbidden education (traditional religious education in Mauritania). According to UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization), at least 30% of school-age children are not enrolled in education at all.
As for those who join school, many of them remain on the brink of illiteracy. The United Nations Education Agency indicated that about 95% of Mauritanian children cannot read or understand simple texts that their peers in other countries do not find difficult to comprehend at the age of ten.
Today, the authorities are racing against time to renew the sector by 2030, seeking to unify the system and make education available to all. According to the World Bank, 58% of the population suffers from extreme poverty that prevents them from accessing education or quality health care. However, critics warn that rushing to impose these policies will backfire.
According to the World Bank, 58% of the population suffers from extreme poverty that prevents them from accessing education or quality health care.
A blow to private schools
When the proposed education reforms were passed in 2022, they were welcomed by most of the country’s 4.5 million people. This policy laid the foundations for free basic education for all children, after it was limited to the primary stage. The new procedures include the preparatory stage as well.
Education has become compulsory, with all children required to enroll in primary school at the age of six. Some children were also given the opportunity to learn three local languages in addition to Arabic, which are: “Pulari”, “Soninka”, and “Wolof”, which are the languages of the Negro components of Mauritania (African-Mauritanians), who have long complained of marginalization.
Mauritania had long focused on a public school system, but authorities opened the door to private education in 1981 when government-funded institutions were unable to meet students’ needs.
However, private school owners, teachers and parents are concerned; They fear that canceling their schools will lead to job losses, lower quality education, and increased pressure on state resources. “The changes are very rapid and sudden,” Mayeh Ould Abdel-Wadoud, a teacher at a private school on the outskirts of Nouakchott, told Al Jazeera.
By law, his school must stop receiving new students after 2027. The government has not yet announced detailed plans regarding the fate of the teachers who will lose their jobs. Abdul Wadud, who also heads a national teachers’ union, adds: “We will face limited income and high prices.”
Indeed, some of the primary classes in his school were closed as part of the plan, causing the school to incur a monthly loss estimated at two million ouguiya (about 5 thousand dollars), noting that this scenario is being repeated throughout the country.
Abdel-Wadud warned that many private schools will be forced to close within a few years.
Only private secondary schools are excluded from this policy, where students complete the last three years of secondary education.
Mauritania has long focused on a public school system, but authorities opened the door to private education in 1981 when government-funded institutions were unable to meet students’ needs. As private schools multiplied, the authorities found it difficult to control their legalization.
Although private schools are credited with increasing enrollment rates, critics believe that their curricula are not in line with state trends. It often gives priority to the French system.
Furthermore, they argue that the quality of teaching is generally low, and that some teachers work in private and government schools simultaneously, which distracts them and reduces the quality of what they provide to children in both sectors.
For their part, government officials believe that the poorest groups are excluded from private education. While some schools – such as Abdel Wadud School – target low-income people and charge about $100 per child per semester, other schools cost $1,000 or more.
Abdel-Wadud believes that other alternatives could have been explored, noting that private school owners proposed a “quota system” that allows children from poor backgrounds to study for free, but they did not receive any response.
A legacy burdened by division
Mohamed Salek Ould Taleb, coordinator of public schools at the Ministry of National Education, defended the government’s vision, assuring Al Jazeera that the reforms aim to confront systemic inequality. He said: “Everyone will wear the same uniform and sit at the same table, from the south to the north, and education will be the same for all.”
Mauritania is located at the meeting point of the Arab world and sub-Saharan Africa, and has historically witnessed ethnic disparities. The Arab-Berber component (the Bidhan) enjoyed political and economic dominance at the expense of the “Haratin” (former slaves of Negro origins who Arabized language and culture), and other Negro components.
Children of the most marginalized groups attend free public schools
Slavery was abolished in 1981, and a law was issued criminalizing it in 2007. African-Mauritanians, who represent about 30% of the population and do not speak Arabic, complain of discrimination against their languages and colors.
Geographic divisions intersect with social rifts; The majority of Mauritanian Africans come from the poor south, which suffers from climate crises and drought, while the Arabic-speaking groups are concentrated in the coastal areas rich in fishing, or the north, rich in iron and gold.
Children from the most marginalized groups attend free public schools, so Ould Taleb believes that the government wants to “create an equal environment for everyone.”
He downplayed concerns about job losses, considering that the number of those affected was not large compared to the extent of the success expected in the future. He added: “Private school teachers will have the opportunity to apply in public schools, because we expect a large influx of children.”
However, the most pressing challenge, in his view, is ensuring that sufficient numbers of children in rural areas enroll in education; Mauritania is a vast and sprawling country, with very small population centers, which makes it difficult for rural residents to reach the nearest government school.
But Abdul Wadud, a private school teacher, believes that the issue has been “politicized,” considering that talk about the legacy of division is exaggerated, and that different ethnic groups have coexisted peacefully for decades.
He adds: “It seems as if the state is asking for something that already exists; it is asking students to study in one school, while they are already studying together in private education with their different backgrounds, languages, and social classes.”
Returning to the public school west of Nouakchott, Ould Rais finally spotted his son, Elie Sheikh, in the middle of the dismissal crowd.
Ould Rais said in a voice full of certainty: “We suffer from problems of discrimination, racism and all that, but with the new law… unity will be achieved.”
(Note: Elie Sheikh Muhammad Fadel contributed to the preparation of this report.)
