The Concours Général, a national student achievement test administered annually for the past 30 years in Senegalese national territory, functions as a nationwide “General Contest” for high school students. During their last two years of high school, students between the ages of 17 and 20 prepare for this test to compete in the areas of biology, mathematics, physical chemistry, languages, history, and geography. Each year in May, His Excellence, the President of the Republic of Senegal, presents awards to students who achieved the highest scores on the Concours Général, in turn recognizing the educational establishment the student attends. Lycée Seydina Limamoulaye, a GLOBE High School in Dakar, Senegal, consistently excels in this competition, taking first place in the number of overall students ranked for the past three years.
According to Madame Ngossé Fall Bousso, GLOBE Senegal Country Coordinator, Concours Général “Results are presented again by students on World Environment Day, celebrated on the 5th of June each year in Senegal to stimulate environmental awareness." In 2008, Birane Diouf, now a GLOBE Alumnus still involved with GLOBE activities at Lycée Seydina Limamoulaye, placed second in Concours Général for the Earth and Life Sciences category; Madame Ngossé Fall Bousso notably achieved this same award in 1983. Currently, Birane Diouf is in the second year of his management degree at Université of Gaston Berger in Saint Louis; Saint Louis is a historical city in Senegal that serves as the center of educational excellence. Impressed by Lycée Seydina Limamoulaye’s data contribution, Madame Ngossé Fall Bousso states, “The students have done remarkable work in atmospheric data collection, and have mastered the process of information technology.” GLOBE Students and GLOBE Alumni from Lycée Seydina Limamoulaye currently advance Earth science breakthroughs by contributing essential discoveries about floods, pollution, and pluviometry, a branch of meteorology that deals specifically with precipitation measurement.
Other GLOBE Alumni working closely with Lycée Seydina Limamoulaye include Adjaratou Yacine Daro Dieng, Mbène Fall, Fadaba Faye, Maurice Gomis, Papa Ibrahima Ndiaye, and Fafa Sow. GLOBE Alumna Adjaratou Yacine Daro Dieng received a bachelor’s degree in entomology and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in animal biology. GLOBE Alumnus Maurice Gomis, admitted to the Polytechnic Université Cheikh Anta Diop, and is currently working as a technician in biological analysis at one of the largest hospitals in Senegal, administered by the Senegalese army. During the GLOBE Learning Expedition in South Africa in 2008, Papa Ibrahima Ndiaye authored and presented Africa’s Regional Finalist Speech. In February 2010, Papa Ibrahima Ndiaye, now a GLOBE Alumnus and a student in the Department of Natural Sciences at the Université Cheikh Anta Diop in Senegal, delivered this speech in English, followed by a reading of the speech in French by GLOBE Alumnus Birane Diouf, at GLOBE Africa’s Regional Meeting. The accomplishments of these students reflect the success of GLOBE as they embark upon remarkable careers in various scientific fields.
Congratulations to Lycée Seydina Limamoulaye for top-notch test scores and devoted alumni involvement, and to GLOBE Senegal for their exemplary efforts in sustaining a strong program that contributes to the prosperity of the GLOBE Community.