Burkina Faso

School enrollment in Burkina Faso is among the lowest in Africa. In 1992 primary enrollment reached 28 percent; roughly 37 percent of these students were girls. Free primary education is not compulsory. French is the primary language of instruction at all educational levels, and the academic year runs from October to June.

Burkinabe children attend primary school between the ages of 7 and 13. After six years of study, students must pass a final examination to receive a primary school certificate of completion. The student-teacher ratio is 64:1, notably higher than the 40:1 student-teacher ratio average for all of Sub-Saharan Africa.

The Ministry of Basic Education and the Ministry of Secondary and Higher Education oversee all curricula-based decisions regarding scheduling, examinations, grading, and syllabi.

Primary school teachers are usually required to complete lower secondary school, as well as a two-year program at the Ecole Nationale des Enseignants du Primaire, (ENEP) which awards graduates the Certificat de Fin d'Etudes des ENEP. Secondary school teachers are required to attend either a university or a teachertraining institute to earn a teaching license. Higher education teachers must hold doctoral degrees.

Despite improvements in school enrollment, mainly at the higher education level, literacy rates in Burkina Faso remain among the lowest in the world. Only 29.5 percent of males and 9.2 of females were considered literate in 1997. Education officials continue to examine methods of making education more accessible to all residents, particularly those in remote farming communities.