Nouakchott, Mauritania – Moulay Ould Rais waited to pick up his son and daughter from a government-owned school in Nouakchott’s Sahraoui neighbourhood.

As the closing bell rang at the Abdellahi Ould Nouegued Basic School, streams of pre-teen children rushed out into the hallways with their bulky schoolbags and lunch boxes.

Recommended Stories

list of 4 items list 1 of 4 ‘Endless grief’: Turkiye mourns victims of second school shooting in a week

list 2 of 4 ‘Take up space’: Young models on mission to showcase South Sudanese talent

list 3 of 4 Turkiye MPs pass bill to restrict social media use for children under 15

list 4 of 4 Ireland to demand Israel pay for settler demolition of Palestinian school

end of list

It was a Friday, so there was joy in the air as the weekend neared.

Retired engineer Rais, 67, was feeling optimistic for other reasons – he had hope in new changes to the school system.

He backs the government’s decision to phase out private schools in favour of state-run institutions,…