Educational Choices in Senegal
A Case Study among Fulbe in a Tijani Sufi Village
Keywords:
Daara, Senegal, shaykh, Sufi-village, education, francophone school, Franco-Arabic, “Education-for-All”Abstract
The case study is rooted in an old interest in the Qur’anic education. It examines the values attached to education in a village where a state school challenges the established educational culture of the Sufi shaykh and of the parents. West African Senegal has a history of educational conflicts, partly as a result of being a mosaic of ethnic groups, Christian and Muslim religions and cultures, French colonization and Western cultural input. Relating all this to the narratives, information and observations presented to the author in the village, the article looks into the position of the classical Islamic Education in the village and reflects on the position of Islamic education in Senegalese educational politics.
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