Mobile school offers hope to nomad children in Chad

FILE PHOTO: Children sit at a makeshift open-air classroom as part of a mobile school program offering a rare chance of education for their nomadic community, at a nomad camp in Toukra, outside N'Djamena, Chad, September 1, 2022. REUTERS/Mahamat Ramadane

TOUKRA, Chad (Reuters) - In a makeshift open-air classroom, dozens of children sat squeezed together on a mat and watched as their teacher chalked simple sums on a blackboard - a rare chance of education for their nomadic community in Chad.

Around 7% of the central African nation's population of about 16 million are nomads, who move hundreds of kilometres from the south with their herds every year when seasonal rains turn the semi-arid central regions green with fresh pasture.