Panel Organiser: Céline Badiane-Labrune

The administrative redrawing of territories by colonial power as well as the pyramidal structure of the school system led to a new relationship between the populations and the territory. From his village in the bush to the federal capital, from elementary school to the école normale, the pupil initiated new social and political networks. During his training, the pupil would rediscover the local territory (the “petite patrie” celebrated by the school system), the teacher would teach local tales and legends, local folklore, histories of the village or district. This trend emerged in the thirties through the “ruralisation” of school and would continue after independence, fostered by African states notably backed by UNESCO.

Presentations could focus on associations of alumni, the formation of an “AOFian” identity in federal schools, the weight of the different scales of territory in the school programs (especially in history and geography), from the local to the national level. One might think of a presentation on the role of school in the emergence of a national consciousness at the time of independence.