The verdict in three sentences
A private school teacher in Kaolack who pays a cybercafé 250 to 500 FCFA per page to type tests, lesson sheets and report cards often spends over 10,000 FCFA a month, without ever keeping a clean, reusable file. With Word styles, templates and tables, the same sheet is built once, edited in five minutes and reprinted every year. The Kolonell Academy Professional Word course, taught in French, costs 50,000 FCFA (about 76 EUR) for 10 hours, payable with Wave or Orange Money, pays for itself within months and opens a small document-formatting side income.
What the cybercafé really costs a Kaolack teacher
In Kaolack's private primary and secondary schools, from Médina Baye to the Léona neighbourhood, many teachers handwrite their sheets and then pay someone to type them. Page by page it looks small, but it adds up over an eight-month school year, not counting trips back to fix a typo.
| Document (2026 order of magnitude) | Average monthly volume | Cybercafé cost | With Word skills |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tests and exams | 12 pages | 3,000 to 6,000 FCFA | Printing only, template reused |
| Lesson and preparation sheets | 15 pages | 3,750 to 7,500 FCFA | Typed once, reused next year |
| Schemes of work and class logbook | 4 pages | 1,000 to 2,000 FCFA | Table updated in 10 minutes |
| Report cards and transcripts (end of term) | 3 pages on average | 750 to 1,500 FCFA | Template with table and school letterhead |
| Corrections and retyping | 4 pages | 1,000 to 2,000 FCFA | Fixed yourself, no trip |
| Monthly total | 38 pages | 9,500 to 19,000 FCFA | Printing cost only |
For a private school teacher earning 80,000 to 200,000 FCFA a month, these costs represent 5% to 20% of salary. And they leave nothing behind: the file stays on the cybercafé computer.
What the Professional Word course teaches
The programme has five modules, 23 lessons and 54 exercises, with validation quizzes and two projects graded against a rubric. Each module maps directly to classroom work.
| Module | Skill | Use for a teacher |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Solid Word foundations | Paragraphs, indents, tabs, PDF export | Clean test papers, aligned marking schemes, PDFs for parents |
| 2. Professional page layout | Margins, headers, footers, page numbers, section breaks | School letterhead on every test, numbered pages |
| 3. Styles, headings and table of contents | Reusable styles, automatic table of contents | Yearly scheme of work organised by chapter |
| 4. Images, tables and visuals | Inserting and wrapping images, tables | Biology diagrams, maps, mark grids and report cards |
| 5. CVs, letters and reports | Administrative and long documents | End-of-year report, letter to the head, CV |
The letterhead and .dotx letter template from module 2 become your test templates. The style set you build then serves all your sheets. You work on a computer: a family PC, the school's machine or a refurbished laptop is enough.
This is level 2 of 5 in the Office and productivity track. Level 3, Practical Excel, is the next step for calculating class averages and rankings automatically.
A realistic side income in Kaolack
Teachers often top up their salary with home tutoring, billed 15,000 to 40,000 FCFA a month per pupil. Word opens another option that fits the school calendar: formatting documents for others.
| Service (rates seen in Senegal, 2026 order of magnitude) | Usual price | Peak period |
|---|---|---|
| CV formatting | 5,000 to 15,000 FCFA | All year, competitive exams and hiring |
| Thesis or report formatting | 1,000 to 2,500 FCFA per page | May to July, end of university cycles |
| Sheets and tests for colleagues | Package of 5,000 to 10,000 FCFA per batch | Back to school and exam periods |
| Report card templates for a small school | Package based on volume | End of term |
A 60-page bachelor's thesis alone represents 60,000 to 150,000 FCFA of formatting work, depending on complexity and clients. These are market rates, not promises: demand varies and no income is guaranteed.
Mini case study
Learn this skill with Kolonell Academy
Short, practical online courses (taught in French), graded exercises, certificate. Pay with Wave or Orange Money.
Ousmane, 34, French teacher at a private middle school in Kaolack. He spends about 12,000 FCFA a month at the cybercafé on tests and sheets, over an 8-month school year, so 96,000 FCFA a year.
- Course cost: 50,000 FCFA, paid with Orange Money.
- After the course, he only pays for printing at 50 FCFA a page: about 1,900 FCFA a month for 38 pages.
- Monthly saving: 12,000 minus 1,900, roughly 10,100 FCFA.
- Payback from savings alone: 50,000 ÷ 10,100, about 5 months.
In June, he formats two 50-page theses at 1,500 FCFA a page, which is 150,000 FCFA. If that work continues, the course pays back much faster. This is a possible scenario, not a guarantee.
FAQ
Do I need my own computer to take the course?
Yes, Word is practised on a computer. A refurbished laptop often costs 120,000 to 200,000 FCFA in Kaolack or Dakar, but you can also use the school's computer or a family PC for the 10 hours of the course.
I can already type. Is the course still useful?
Typing is not formatting. Styles, section breaks and the automatic table of contents save hours on a long document, and they are what separate a professional document from a typed page.
Can I make my pupils' report cards in Word?
Yes, module 4 shows you how to build a clean table with the school letterhead. To calculate averages and rankings automatically, level 3 of the track, Practical Excel, is the better tool.
How much does the full Office track cost?
The Word level costs 50,000 FCFA. The full 5-level track costs 350,000 FCFA instead of 450,000, payable with Wave or Orange Money.
Do private schools recognise the certificate?
It is a Kolonell certificate verifiable online, not a state diploma. It proves practical skills, which helps when a school management hands report cards or administrative documents to a teacher.
Take the next step. Enroll in Professional Word: CVs, reports and documents that inspire confidence (taught in French): 10 hours, 50,000 FCFA, certificate verifiable online. Pay with Wave or Orange Money. Questions? WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.
Mohamed Bah
Fondateur, Kolonell
Passionate about digital and entrepreneurship in Africa, Mohamed has been helping Sénégalese businesses with their digital transformation since 2020. Founder of Kolonell, he believes every SME deserves a professional and accessible online présence.
