"What a feeling of relief and pride we feel today with this new school generously donated by ICI and its partners! Our children will no longer have to sit on the floor to copy their lessons. That is now a distant memory.The children in the village are all happy to go to school," exclaimed Tahé Gouapodé Edouard, chief of the village of Baoubly.
Like him, Kouassi N'Da, chief of the village of N'Grakon in the East of Côte d’Ivoire, and his entire community welcomed the news of the handover of the keys to their new school with open arms, their faces beaming with joy and their words simple but meaningful. "Thank you to all our benefactors for this priceless gift. Words cannot express our gratitude! From a former military camp whose dormitories were converted into makeshift classrooms, today we have a brand-new school that looks like a college. What joy! "
We are in Baoubly, a village located 8 kilometres from Duékoué, to celebrate the new school that has been operational since the start of the academic year, with an official ceremony inviting students, teachers, parents, chiefs, and administrative and political authorities.
Before the new school was built, just over 600 pupils shared a single primary school with six classrooms. Due to the lack of space, children had to attend in shifts, which naturally had an impact on academic results.
ICI, in partnership with The Hershey Company and the National Committee for the Monitoring of Actions to Combat Trafficking, Exploitation and Child Labour (CNS), chaired by Côte d’Ivoire First Lady Dominique Ouattara, began an education infrastructure project in April 2023. Hershey funds the project, with ICI and CNS contributing valuable technical expertise and oversight. Since then, and thanks to the partnership, more than 17 communities have benefited from new schools, including Baoubly and N'Grakon.
This year, with the new school, some parents in Baoubly are already praising their children's academic performance. ‘With this new school, my daughter has been admitted to the entrance exam for Year 6. I am really happy!’ said Mrs Bloaé N'Dri Amandine.
Overall, school results and those of the major exams have improved significantly, according to Gnou Narcisse Armand, chairman of the school management committee (COGES). For example, EPP Baoubly 2 recorded a 79% pass rate in the entrance exam for Year 6 in 2025, compared to less than 30% in previous years.
‘The handover of the keys to these schools is only the visible part of what we do,’ said Lath Mel Alain Didier, Country Director of ICI. "Dear children, here is your school, your new school. I encourage you to love school. I remain convinced that on my next visit here, I will have good news about your academic results," he added.
Éric Gnamien, representative of The Hershey Company, the project's financial partner, expressed his joy and satisfaction with the quality of the infrastructure. ‘The quality and solidity of the infrastructure are important to us.. Dear parents, we are counting on you to continue to enrol your children in school and ensure they attend regularly.’
Like the entire community, which is jubilant about the new education infrastructure, the direct beneficiaries are also not hiding their enthusiasm. This is a new beginning for them. "Today, I love my new school. I understand the lessons better.During double shifts at the old school, I didn't understand anything.Lessons were incomplete, and the blackboards and desks were in poor condition. But in the new school, we have two blackboards per class, we sit two to a desk, and we come to school in the morning and in the afternoon," said Gnaoulou Joel, a 12-year-old pupil in Year 6 at Baoubly 2 Public Primary School.
Malika Diomandé, also in Year 6, is delighted, like many of her classmates, to now have drinking water at school and proper toilets because, she says, ‘we used to have to cross the road to get water and, worse still, go to the bushes to relieve ourselves.’
In N'Grakon, the community is also proud to receive the school and associated educational facilities. As in Baoubly, EPP N'Grakon 1 comprises two buildings with six classrooms, a headmaster's office, a school canteen, three toilet blocks and a solar-powered drinking water borehole.
The pupils are among the happiest. They now have a larger playground because in the old school, "the playground was so small that many of us ended up at the local market during break time. Some didn't come back to class,” Angaman Etibo Yvan and Kouadio Bla, pupils in Year 6 at EPP N'Grakon 1 told us.
Kadey Mireille is a shopkeeper and parent of a pupil. Like many parents, she sees the school canteen as a real blessing. ‘Our children can eat there and rest before going back to class, which is excellent. It means we can get on with our work in the fields while our children are at school,’ she said.
According to N'Guetta N'Guessan Koffi N'Zian, director of EPP N'Grakon 1, the primary school is so large and well constructed it looks more like a secondary school, and is generating a lot of enthusiasm within the community. Several parents have promised to enrol their children for the next school year. ‘Parents now understand that children belong in school, not in the fields,’ he concluded.
