- École normale supérieure William Ponty
École William Ponty was a government teachers' college in what is now
Senegal . The school is now inKolda ,Senegal , where it is currently known as École de formation d’instituteurs William Ponty. [ [http://efikolda.ifrance.com/presentation.htm Presentation de l'EFI William Ponty] ] It is associated with the French university IUFM atLivry-Gargan . [ [http://efikolda.ifrance.com/iufm.htm Les formateurs de l'IUFM de Livry-Gargan] ]Notable alumni
Many of the school's graduates would one day lead the struggle for independence from France, including
Félix Houphouët-Boigny andBernard Binlin Dadié ofCôte d'Ivoire ,Modibo Keïta ofMali ,Hamani Diori andBoubou Hama ofNiger ,Hubert Maga of Benin (Dahomey),Mamadou Dia ofSenegal andMaurice Yaméogo andDaniel Ouezzin Coulibaly of Burkina Faso (Upper Volta).Abou Abel Thiam, [http://www.jeuneafrique.com/jeune_afrique/article_jeune_afrique.asp?art_cle=LIN07093retouytnopm0 '"Retour à William-Ponty"] in "Jeune Afrique", 7 Sept. 2003] André Davesne, author of children's books like "Mamadou et Bineta apprennent à lire et à écrire", and André Demaison are Ponty graduates, as are Justin Auriol and Marcel Séguier, authors of books to teach mathematics to elementary and middle school students. Other students included internationally known juristsKéba Mbaye andOusmane Goundiam andGuinea n politicianDiallo Telli , who was a founder of theOrganisation of African Unity .History
Begun by Governor General of the French colonial government at
Saint-Louis, Senegal on24 November 1903 , the school was moved to the Island of Gorée in 1913. In 1915 it was named in honour of the recently deceasedWilliam Merlaud-Ponty , Governor General ofFrench West Africa .From 1913 to 1938 the school occupied a building on Gorée originally built before 1800 for the pirate
slave trade rs Jean andPierre Lafitte . After 1938 the school occupied a former military garrison in Sébikotane, about 40 kilometres fromDakar , and a village called Sébi-Ponty sprang up to house the school's indigenous African personnel. In 1965 the school moved toThiès , 70 kilometres east of Dakar, and a portion of the Sebikotane building was turned into a prison. During the government of Senegalese Prime MinisterLéopold Senghor , repairs to the building at Sébikotane were neglected, and its occupation bysquatter s was tolerated. In 1984 the school moved toKolda .The school has a two-year common core curriculum followed by students intending to become teachers or administrative clerks. Those who intend to study
medicine , pharmacy ormidwifery study a further year of introductory science at William Ponty School before transferring to the National School of Medicine and Pharmacy.Notes
Bibliography
*Peggy Roark Sabatier, "Educating a colonial elite: the William Ponty school and its graduates", University of Chicago, 1977 (thesis)
*fr R. Dumargue, "L'enseignement du français à l'école William-Ponty (AOF)" in "L'Information d'Outre-Mer", No. 1, Jan.-Feb. 1939, pp. 27-32
*fr Christophe Batsch, "Un rouage du colonialisme: L’École normale d’instituteurs William Ponty", Paris, Université de Paris VII, 1973, 97 p. (master's thesis)
*fr Yamar Sarr Fall, "L’École Normale William Ponty de 1912 à 1948", Université de Dakar, 1986, 115 p. (master's thesis)
*Denise Savineau, [http://www.hull.ac.uk/savineau/ Reports No. 1-18] to the Governor General ofFrench West Africa , 1937 (French with English translation and annotations byClaire Griffiths of theUniversity of Hull )External links
* [http://video.aol.com/video-detail/interieur-ecole-seby-ponty-senegal/146080134 Video from the school at Seby Ponty, 2006]
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