After Senegal's independence, education reform became a key factor in the country's development. Four presidents, Sangor, Diouf, Wade, and Sall, all attach great importance to education and promote reforms.

1、 Initial stage (1960-1980): Gradual, integrative, elitist

At the end of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century, France promoted French education in Senegal, and French became the common language of the elite class. After Senegal gained independence in 1960, the government continued to use French as the dominant language of instruction, continuing the French education system. The first president Sangor believed that localizing the language of instruction needed a gradual process, while the opposition believed that it was not conducive to national independence. Sangor's educational reform philosophy is a combination of "rooting in the local culture" and "opening up to the outside world", emphasizing the integration of local and foreign cultures. The educational content integrates local and Western cultures, with French as the main language of education and gradually increasing the use of local languages. The educational goal is to strengthen students' local identity and enhance their ability to adapt to social life and globalization. Between 1960 and 1980, education was mainly limited to the elite class, with urban children's enrollment rate slightly exceeding 50% and rural areas only about 12%. The main reasons include the country's recent independence, weak teaching staff, insufficient finances, shortage of educational resources, and the influence of Western elite education concepts.

2、 Development stage (1981-2000): universalization, equality, and balance

In the 1980s, Senegalese leader Abdou Diouf promoted education reform, emphasizing that education is a fundamental human right, and participated in UNESCO's Education for All program, aimed at achieving universal primary education and reducing illiteracy. The plan includes goals such as improving early childhood education, providing free primary education, eliminating gender disparities, and increasing adult literacy rates. The Senegalese government has passed the National Education Law, proposing educational requirements for cultivating effective working students, promoting mainstream values, and cultivating social activity participants, and has identified expanding primary education opportunities, improving education quality, and enhancing management capabilities as priority areas. Diouf is promoting the universalization of education and improving its accessibility and quality, but faces challenges such as insufficient funding and unequal distribution of resources. The distribution of educational resources between urban and rural areas is unbalanced, and rural parents have limited support for educational reform. The effectiveness of the reform is constrained by economic development, lack of funding, and traditional concepts.

3、 Improvement Stage (2001-2012): Rule of Law, Coordination, Localization

In the early 21st century, Senegal implemented the "Ten Year Plan for Education and Training" led by President Abdoulaye Wade, aimed at achieving the goals of the "Declaration on Education for All". This plan was formulated in 1996, integrating the content of the national education movement and establishing the goals of education reform from 2000 to 2010, including increasing educational opportunities, adjusting the relationship between politics and education, and re planning resource allocation. The Wade government has clarified the position of education in the national strategy through laws. The 2001 Constitution stipulates that all children have equal rights to education, and the 2004 decree promises that by 2025, all children aged 7 to 16 will receive compulsory education. Education reform emphasizes the decentralization of power and the improvement of education quality, including supervision, collaboration, teacher exchange, and funding investment. The government promotes decentralization of power, respects the needs of children, improves school management, establishes educational institutions at different levels, and local governments have the right to formulate education policies. Education regulatory agencies should strengthen management and training, and establish a supervision mechanism. The Wade government attaches great importance to local languages and culture, increases the proportion of local languages in the curriculum, enhances people's cultural identity, and improves the independence of education reform.

4、 Enhancement stage (2013 present): comprehensiveness, systematicity, and internationalization

After becoming the President of Senegal in 2012, the government evaluated the "Ten Year Plan for Education and Training" and found that resource scarcity and gender inequality were the main problems. Shortage of resources includes insufficient teaching materials, aging facilities, outdated supporting facilities, and dilapidated infrastructure, as well as a shortage of teachers. Gender inequality is mainly reflected in girls' education, with higher dropout and repeat rates than boys, due to various factors including family, school, and society. To address these issues, the government launched the "Quality, Equity, and Transparency Education and Training Improvement Program" (PAQUET) in 2013, aimed at improving education quality, expanding education coverage, and enhancing educational equity. This plan has received support from UNESCO, with the goal of significantly improving the education coverage and level by 2030, and reforming the education evaluation model. The government has taken multiple measures, such as increasing internship opportunities, expanding international exchanges, updating curriculum, creating employment opportunities, etc., to provide more high-quality learning and development opportunities. Education reform also includes improving the curriculum from preschool education to vocational education, changing the uneven distribution of resources and gender inequality, improving the effectiveness of school education, enhancing educational inclusiveness, and cultivating talents. The government has also expanded cooperation with the private sector, adjusted vocational training programs to meet economic development needs, and helped students adapt to the labor market. The reform has achieved significant results, with an increase in education popularization and completion rates, and an improvement in gender ratio. Senegal has formed a diversified and multi-level education system, with diversified public and private educational institutions, expanded secondary schools, established university centers and higher education networks, steadily advancing vocational training, a complete degree system, and smooth communication and cooperation among educational institutions. Senegal has also strengthened its educational cooperation with the international community, such as cooperation with UNICEF, UNESCO, and the World Bank, as well as cooperation with vocational training centers in Japan and India. The government promotes information-based teaching methods to improve the quality of education and align with the global education system. The education reform embodies the characteristics of comprehensiveness, systematicity, and internationalization, and improves the policies since the Senghor period. In the future, it is necessary to continue to tap domestic resources and strengthen international cooperation, and build a long-term mechanism for education development.

conclusion

The education reform in Senegal after 80 years of independence has gone through four stages, each with distinct characteristics. During the Senghor period, the French education system was maintained, emphasizing world values; During the Diouf period, compulsory education was popularized and the education popularization rate was increased; During the Wade era, local languages were supported, but were constrained by the economy; During the Saler era, we deepened education popularization, improved educational stages, and expanded international cooperation. The reform of education policies is showing a trend of increasing localization, expanding audience, improving education quality, and enhancing international cooperation. However, the development of education still faces challenges such as insufficient funding, lack of teaching staff, and outdated facilities, which require joint efforts from multiple parties.