As far as education and training are concerned, the state has implemented a policy – (PDEF 1998-2008) for an effective achievement of the following strategies:

• battle against illiteracy
• mastering of the flows in secondary and higher education
• restructuration of technical and vocational training
• bridging of the gaps on the educational map
• provision of higher quality teaching and training
• improving the management of the educational sector, with a better assessment of basic needs and specificities
• democratisation of preschool education
• improved access to secondary education
• adaptation of higher education to the market needs
• extended use of the new information and communication technologies

Generally speaking, education includes two notions:

• instruction
• literacy

Formal education

Instruction, which is part and parcel of formal education is a process including various steps, ranging from preschool education to higher education.
As far as higher education is concerned, Senegal has another university in addition to the Dakar Cheikh Anta Diop University; this university, Gaston Berger University, is located in Saint-Louis. There are also other private universities:

• the Dakar Bourguiba University
• The University of Sahel
• Suffolk University

Senegal also has a number of higher education schools and institutions:

• The Ecole supérieure de Commerce de Dakar  (Sup de co) (a Business school)
• Institut Supérieur de management (ISM) (a Business school)
• The Dakar-based Ecole supérieure multinationale de Télécommunication (ESMT) (The Higher Multinational Telecommunications School of Dakar)
• Ecole supérieure Polytechnique (Higher polytechnic school)
• Hautes études Canadiennes et internationales (HECI) (Higher School of Canadian and International Studies)
• Institut Panafricain de Marketing (IPAM) (Pan-African Marketing Institute)
• Centre africain d’études supérieures en Gestion (CESAG) (African Centre for Higher Studies in Business Management)
• Ecole internationale des affaires (EIA)…(International Business school)

Non-formal education

Literacy being considered a priority, the Senegalese government has implemented a strategy of basic education for children between 9 and 14 years old and a functional literacy programme for those aged between 15 and 55 years.
This programme is open to various initiatives: NGOs, development institutions and organisations, as well as cultural associations and some ministries.

Basic community schools: These are attended by children aged between 9 and 14 years old, who have not yet been to school or who have dropped out of school at an early stage. They receive basic practical and pre-professional education in national languages and French. The education cycle in those schools is four years.

Third type of schools : These include other non-standard schools, such as street schools, managed by non-formal and non-standardised organisations, which are monitored by the education system.