Mali

Preprimary education begins at age three. In 1997, only 2 percent of the children aged three to six were enrolled in preprimary education. Primary or fundamental education lasts nine years and is divided into two cycles. Cycle one lasts six years and consists of grades one through six; the second cycle lasts three years and corresponds to grades seven, eight, and nine. There are difficult exams at the end of the sixth and ninth grades. Students who pass the exams at the end of grade six receive the CFEPCF, the Certificat de Fin d'Etudes du Premier Cycle Fondamental (Certificate of Completion of Cycle One of Fundamental Education). Those who pass the exams at the end of grade nine receive the DEF, the Diplôme des Etudes Fondamentales (The Diploma of Fundamental Studies). The current plan is to restructure fundamental education by doing away with the present two cycles and creating a single bloc lasting eight years.