The decline in student achievement, school dropouts, and the unhealthy use of social media by young people have prompted the Citizen Contribution Movement (M2C) to mobilize to promote excellence in schools. For their first act, the movement's young people chose the Kandialang neighborhood to recognize the best students of the past school year, as the school year begins.

 

Eighty elementary, middle, and high school students from the neighborhood were recognized, including 60 girls. "This shows that leadership is changing. Girls are taking back power," according to M2C President Rodolph Kanfoudy.

 

Through this initiative, his movement is contributing to the promotion of education and excellence in Casamance, where Baccalaureate results are plummeting. "For us, education is the linchpin of a nation's development. We have noted the difficulties our children face at school. We have also diagnosed the problems linked to social networks and imported communication from abroad, which undermines our values and morals. Kandialang is a starting point. The goal is to repeat this initiative throughout Ziguinchor," said Rodolph Kanfoudy.

He adds: "We don't want to create competition on TikTok. We want to create competition in schools. We're not against social media, but today, challenging children at school has more impact than challenging them on TikTok."

The M2C president hopes that this initiative to reward the best students by providing school supplies and other materials to help them prepare for the new year will encourage parents to focus on school and encourage children to stay in school and perform well.