Songon, 12 July 2023 (AIP)- The Adiopodoumé primary school, rehabilitated by the Presidential Department of the Canton of Basel-Stadt in Switzerland, was inaugurated on Tuesday 11 July 2023.

The work on this primary school involved the construction of four classrooms, an administrative office, a school canteen, a sanitary block with 10 cubicles and equipment including desks and teaching materials, at a cost of 100 million CFA francs.

"This primary school is the first joint project between Basel-Stadt and Yopougon, with a view to improving the working conditions of teachers and the learning environment for children", said the President of the Canton of Basel-Stadt, Beat Jans, stressing that a good basic education is essential to improving the living conditions of individuals, communities and society.

Mr Beat called on the school's residents to concentrate on their studies in order to succeed and provide for themselves later on.

The mayor of the commune of Yopougon, Gilbert Kafana Koné, expressed his gratitude to the donor for his contribution to the construction of this building.

He stressed that the umbilical cord linking Switzerland to his municipality had its origins in the creation of the Centre Suisse de Recherches Scientifiques (CSRS) located here in Yopougon, in the Adiopodoumé district, where the new school is located, the fruit of this fraternity between Yopougon and Basel-City.

The commune of Yopougon and the Presidential Department of the Canton of Basel-Stadt signed a twinning agreement in 2021, covering the period 2021-2024.

(AIP)

tg/sn/fmo