To try out the application for yourself, click on the button or go to fr.petitpouss.fr, then scroll down and make an anonymous connection to use the programme.

PetitPouss

Second Wave Education Foundation has developed PetitPouss: a digital educational package for primary school children in French-speaking Africa. With PetitPouss children can improve their level of knowledge, teachers can optimise the quality of their lessons, and parents can better monitor the progress of their children. The name of the application is phonetic for ‘a little push’ in French.

The program takes the students to a higher level in a playful way. By making PetitPouss accessible to as many children, teachers and parents in Francophone Africa as possible, students will perform better and primary school children will be more likely to continue their education. In this way we contribute to solving one of the major issues on the African continent: educational disadvantage.

The digital divide between the Netherlands and large parts of sub-Saharan Africa is unimaginably large. With the introduction of PetitPouss, we are taking steps to bridge that gap as much as possible. In collaboration with good local and international partners, we look for (and create) opportunities for digital education in areas where a laptop or tablet are rare, where the internet is poor, unreliable or sometimes absent, and where teachers have not previously worked with digital education.

Second Wave Education Foundation was established to promote and improve education and increase educational opportunities for children in French-speaking African countries. The foundation develops and provides educational applications, teaching resources and other necessary materials to individuals (parents, teachers, children) and educational institutions that enable children to improve their educational performance in order to prolong and optimise their school career.

Second Wave Education Foundation focuses on a few million children in Francophone Africa who are now deprived of education. Because of the pandemic, but for other reasons as well, including poverty, long distance to schools, insecurity and lack of hygiene in schools (which directly affects girls). With PetitPouss, these kids can have quality education through online learning.

Our efforts are aimed particularly – but not exclusively – at children in primary education and especially – but not exclusively – for children with learning difficulties and those with limited or insufficient financial resources, starting with French-speaking African countries. In addition to children of regular public and private schools, we focus on the disabled and the deaf and hard of hearing.

The Foundation was established in Haarlem in January 2020. Since June 2018, the founders have been working on shaping the plans, sharpening the objective, building a network and finding cooperation partners.

The board consists of Florrie de Pater (board member), Jaap Stam (secretary), Rolf Martens (treasurer) and Baud Schoenmaeckers (chairman and executive board member). The board works without remuneration. For executive activities in countries in Africa, travel and accommodation expenses are reimbursed and allowances are made for local employees.

Hasan Giire is the director and has been working in Togo since August 2020. In Togo, our team consists of Christine Akakpo, Sabine Adaïsso and Kokou Galley. The Niger, our office is called Fondation PetitPouss Niger. It is staffed by Mounkaila Mossi, Bassirah Chaibou and Idamane Halla Mohamed.