Background: As part of the Education and Social Justice Project, undergraduate student Sabrina Khan interviewed Sister Odette Tine, the principal at Mother Jean Louis Dièng School (L'école Mère Jean Louis Dièng), a primary school located in Dakar, Senegal. In this interview, conducted in July 2015, Tine discusses her experience as a member of the Piarist Sisters and her experiences as principal and the interreligious dynamics of her school.
What are your daily responsibilities as principal?
I am responsible for the three sectors of our school: the preschool, the elementary school, and the middle school. I am responsible for the financial management and personnel of the whole system.
How old is the school?
The school dates back to 1952. More sections were added in 1987.
How many students are in this school? How many teachers?
There are 2,019 students and 60 teachers.
What is the greatest challenge facing your school?
The greatest challenge, in my opinion, is the engagement of parents. Parents do not have time for their kids. Efforts have been made, but many difficulties remain. The school-family relationship must improve. If parents are engaged with the school, the students see their parents with their teachers, and the students work more tranquilly, with more motivation and confidence. The teacher-parent relationship gives the student confidence.
According to your experience and observation, can you describe the interreligious environment at your school?
We don’t have many problems because parents know to respect our Catholic identity. We don’t impose prayers on non-Christian students, and we live in a very relaxed manner. I don’t think we have any interreligious difficulties because of our ways of living together. The Muslim students are at ease during morning prayers, because it’s not done in an ostentatious way.
What is the role of education in interreligious dialogue and understanding?
I think that interreligious dialogue lives in our schools. We enroll students because they are students who need to learn—religion comes after. We do not create disparities among students. For us, a student is a student. They are instructed and informed. That is the Senegalese profile: we take whom we can and do what we can. In terms of interreligious dialogue in schools, we can’t complain because everyone gets along well. Parents work together for the good of the school. The interreligious dialogue materializes in our schools, and teachers pay close attention to each student.
In your opinion, what does it mean to be Catholic?
I call myself Catholic because I was baptized and I have confirmed this choice. As a Catholic, I cannot act outside of the charity that Christ claimed. That does not mean responding to each and every need, but it does mean paying attention to the individual who is in front of you. That is charity—doing what must be done for the individual. I try to help the student who is in front of me because quite simply, s/he is a creation of God. In our school, I think it is the Christian presence which prompts that.
I am responsible for the three sectors of our school: the preschool, the elementary school, and the middle school. I am responsible for the financial management and personnel of the whole system.
How old is the school?
The school dates back to 1952. More sections were added in 1987.
How many students are in this school? How many teachers?
There are 2,019 students and 60 teachers.
What is the greatest challenge facing your school?
The greatest challenge, in my opinion, is the engagement of parents. Parents do not have time for their kids. Efforts have been made, but many difficulties remain. The school-family relationship must improve. If parents are engaged with the school, the students see their parents with their teachers, and the students work more tranquilly, with more motivation and confidence. The teacher-parent relationship gives the student confidence.
According to your experience and observation, can you describe the interreligious environment at your school?
We don’t have many problems because parents know to respect our Catholic identity. We don’t impose prayers on non-Christian students, and we live in a very relaxed manner. I don’t think we have any interreligious difficulties because of our ways of living together. The Muslim students are at ease during morning prayers, because it’s not done in an ostentatious way.
What is the role of education in interreligious dialogue and understanding?
I think that interreligious dialogue lives in our schools. We enroll students because they are students who need to learn—religion comes after. We do not create disparities among students. For us, a student is a student. They are instructed and informed. That is the Senegalese profile: we take whom we can and do what we can. In terms of interreligious dialogue in schools, we can’t complain because everyone gets along well. Parents work together for the good of the school. The interreligious dialogue materializes in our schools, and teachers pay close attention to each student.
In your opinion, what does it mean to be Catholic?
I call myself Catholic because I was baptized and I have confirmed this choice. As a Catholic, I cannot act outside of the charity that Christ claimed. That does not mean responding to each and every need, but it does mean paying attention to the individual who is in front of you. That is charity—doing what must be done for the individual. I try to help the student who is in front of me because quite simply, s/he is a creation of God. In our school, I think it is the Christian presence which prompts that.
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