Today we celebrate World Teachers Day. Teachers play a pivotal role in the lives of children around the world. See this story of a teacher in Mali who brought back several child labourers to his school.

Aboubakar Sadiki Keita is a teacher in Zambougou. He was trained by WNCB partner SNEC. “Before this project, when a student dropped out of school, there was no follow-up. But this is very different now.”

In December 2021, Karim, 13 years old, dropped out of school. His father was poor, he wanted Karim to go to Bougouni to work. “In Bougouni I was pushing a cart belonging to my older brother to transport good such as bags water, etc. I was careful with the cars. It’s hard work, it’s tiring to push the cart. The dust raised by the motorcycles bothered me a lot. I did this work for half a day, the rest of the time I did domestic work. I worked 7 days a week,” Karim tells.

Aboubakar Sadiki Keita shares how he convinced Karim’s father to let the boy return to school. “I know his father well. When I saw that Karim was not coming to school, I went to his father’s house to ask where he was. The father was convinced to bring him back to school. I had to go back three times, including once with my director, to make him change his mind. His idea was that he needed Karim for the income. After my third visit, I was able to convince the father about the value of education. He went to look for Karim in Bougouni and took him back to go to school.”

Karim is happy now. “I was happy to come back to school, here I like all subjects. I am in 6th grade. Later I would like to be a minister.”

The story shows how teachers play an important role in the change of mindset among parents. To have these social dialogues within the communities, including the authorities, is a crucial element in our area-based approach towards the elimination of child labour.