Published On 4 Oct 2026
Students, teachers, and volunteers from a working‑class Dakar neighbourhood teamed up to scrub down the run‑down Medina Gounass Elementary School before the new academic year, underscoring broader worries about public education and sanitation in the Senegalese capital.
On Saturday, pupils, environmental‑group members, and local residents swept classrooms, cleared drains, and gathered heaps of plastic and household trash from the school in Medina Gounass, a densely populated suburb of Dakar.
The effort coincides with the start of the 2026‑27 school year, which begins Monday for staff and Tuesday for students.
Scene footage captures young students swinging brooms and shovels while older volunteers work beside them.
Medina Gounass, similar to many peripheral districts of Dakar, suffers from poor waste disposal, clogged drainage, and crowded classrooms—issues that often intensify during the rainy season.
Organizers say the clean‑up serves two purposes: preparing the school for reopening and fostering awareness among students and residents about environmental stewardship and collective responsibility for public spaces.