Mbacké: 2,019 exam candidates without civil status documents

Some 2,019 candidates for the Certificate of End of Elementary Studies (CFEE) and the Brevet of End of Middle Studies (BFEM) in the Mbacké department will take their exams this year without having civil status documents. The announcement was made by the Inspector of Education and Training (IEF) of Mbacké, Abdoulaye Oumar Kane, this Wednesday, during the preparatory meeting for the exams chaired by the prefect Khadim Hann.

According to the administrative authority, this situation remains worrying despite the efforts made to facilitate obtaining administrative documents. The prefect notably mentioned the negligence of certain parents who do not declare their children at birth. To remedy this problem, a commission for the reconstruction of civil status documents was set up in the commune of Mbacké and mobile hearings are regularly organized in collaboration with the district court.

The meeting also highlighted the gap between the number of girls and boys applying for the CFEE. Of the 10,418 registered, 7,045 are girls. According to the prefect, this difference is explained in particular by a higher school dropout rate among boys and by the orientation of some of them towards Koranic schools, due to the religious context of the department marked by the presence of Touba.

The authorities, however, welcomed the progress in girls’ schooling while calling for both sexes to be kept in the education system. The CFEE exams will be held on June 17 and 18, while those of the BFEM will begin on July 14.