At the end of his 12 years at the head of the country, it was time to take stock on Sunday for the Head of State on the occasion of the New Year celebration. In his address to the Nation, Macky Sall largely reviewed progress in the areas of health, education, and also on his social program.

For his last message to the Nation, Macky Sall took stock of his 12 years in the fields of health, education, and on a social level. Speaking about health, the Head of State highlighted the infrastructure and progress noted in this area. He declares: “Emerging Senegal is our hospitals in Touba, Kaffrine, Sédhiou, Kédougou, Agnam, and the ongoing projects in Ourossogui, Saint-Louis, Tivaouane and Dakar, notably the Poly-clinic of the Main hospital and the new Dantec hospital.” Mr. Sall also highlighted in his assessment « the remarkable performances of our medical profession, which carried out, for the first time this year, a separation of Siamese babies, kidney transplants and endovascular treatment. »

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In his speech, the President of the Republic, who will complete his last term on April 2, also welcomed his work on the social level. “I have put in place instruments of territorial equity and social inclusion such as the Emergency Community Development Program, the Program for the Modernization of Border Axes and Territories, the Program for the Modernization of Cities, the Xeyu ndaw ñi Program, the Delegation for rapid entrepreneurship of women and young people, the 3Fpt, the Community Agricultural Domains, the Universal Health Coverage and the Family Security Grants whose allocation increased from 25,000 to 35,000 CFA francs.” Regarding the Xeyu Ndaw ñi program, Macky Sall announced its renewal for three years, “covering 82,000 youth jobs for an amount of 450 billion CFA francs”. He took the liberty to emphasize: “Thanks to all these instruments active across the national territory, we have improved the living environment of our cities, built and rehabilitated places of worship, created jobs and other income-generating activities”. Continuing his remarks, Mr. Sall said: “We have financed thousands of young people and women project leaders, including 250,000 recipients of Der/Fj loans. And we have enabled millions of beneficiaries to access basic social services, including health coverage, the rate of which increased from 20% in 2013 to 53.2% in 2023. Beyond these advances, Macky Sall indicates that “the State continues to support households and workers”. As proof, he cites the general increase in salaries in the civil service, the efforts made to raise the prices of basic necessities, transport, water and energy « the subsidy of which, alone, ‘raises this year to more than 600 billion CFA francs’.

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The question of education, training and higher education was also present in the speech of the Head of State. According to Macky Sall, our country’s top budget item, education and training « remains a high priority for public policies. » Looking back on the achievements, he lists: “From primary to secondary, we have considerably expanded the school map, recruited 40,000 teachers and raised salaries to an unprecedented level.” Mr. Sall also wanted to clarify that it is not only the French school which has benefited from funding. He underlines that “the State continues its support for the educational community of daaras whose centuries-old contribution to the spiritual formation of our People is inestimable”.

Convinced that we must improve “the performance of our education system and adapt it to the realities of our time”, the President of the Republic believes that “we must train more human resources in sciences, techniques and learning of professions”. This is the meaning, according to him, “of the creation of high schools of excellence, preparatory classes for preparatory schools, higher institutes of vocational education and technical and vocational training centers. And it is also one of the vocations of 3Fpt.” According to Mr. Sall, the 3Fpt has “financed, between 2016 and 2023, the training of 400,000 young people and women in various sectors: construction trades, electromechanics, transport, fiber optics and agri-food, among others « .

Regarding the higher education sector, Macky Sall declared that efforts were constant under his leadership. “From independence to 2012, that is to say 52 years, our country had two universities: Cheikh Anta Diop and Gaston Berger, and three regional university centers (Cur) in Bambey, Thiès and Ziguinchor,” he recalled.

For over a decade, he pointed out: “We have established the Curs as universities housed in their own premises, and built three new universities: Amadou Makhtar Mbow, El Hadj Ibrahima Niasse du Sine-Saloum, the Digital University Sheikh Hamidou Kane; not to mention the Franco-Senegalese Campus.”

Welcoming this progress, Mr. Sall informed that “the construction of the Souleymane Niang university of Matam and Eastern Senegal begins in January”.

In his outline, the Head of State notes that many investments have been made for “educational equipment, the recruitment of teachers, the upgrading of salaries and other benefits for staff, all categories combined, and the construction of student accommodation and catering infrastructure. And each year, he adds, “the State grants more than 82 billion CFA francs in scholarships and aid to students.” Alluding to the disruptions often noted in schools and universities, the Head of State believes that “for all these efforts, among many others for the benefit of our education system, our children deserve more stable school and university years. And should be more studious. And to launch this appeal: “Their future and that of the Nation are at stake. We will build this future with all our youth, by offering them more training opportunities adapted to the job market, and more job opportunities and other income-generating activities. This is one of our challenges of the present and the next decade.”

By Dieynaba KANE / dkane@lequotidien.sn

  • Translation by Ndey T. SOSSEH