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Burkina Faso

Programme d’Education Bilingue

Ministère de l’Enseignement de Base et de l’Alphabétisation (MEBA),
Oeuvre Suisse d’Entraide Ouvrière (OSEO) au Burkina Faso

Context

In 1994, the government of Burkina Faso conducted an evaluation of the education system and arrived at the following conclusion: the education system was not attuned to the social and economic realities of the country and was too costly, and thus, inefficient. Such an education system would act as an obstacle to any development efforts. For the last 10 years or so, the government and its partners have been committed to searching for better education schemes. As the government is aware of the importance of national languages for the quality of education, its education policies have incorporated French and national languages as languages of instruction.

Programme

The bilingual education programme started with a successful non-formal adult literacy programme which teaches adults in the national languages and French. The results were so convincing that formal education and education policymakers were persuaded to adopt the bilingual approach. Today, the bilingual education programme links non-formal and formal education and is conceived as an intergenerational educational programme for children aged from 3 up, teenagers and adults.

Non-formal "Educational discovery areas" for children aged 3 to 6 years: "Educational discovery areas" (3 E) is a community-managed structure conceived as a stimulating environment for children aged from 3 to 6 years, in which they receive cognitive, socio-educative and socio-affective training. At the 3 E level, instructors are voluntary parent-teachers trained for this purpose. For the implementation of the 3 E programme, parent-teachers are given modular courses in child psychology, hygiene and nutrition, play activities, stimulating activities, etc. Professionals in infancy care create didactic materials by using cultural platforms, and play-based, motivational and educational activities from various Burkina Faso settings. Activities are carried out with the benefit of and in conjunction with modern knowledge in the field of infant education. Mothers and girls are freed from caring for the smaller children for a period of time in order for them to be able to participate in educational programmes.

Non-formal bilingual primary schools (EPB) for children aged from 7 to 12 years: The innovative aspect of these structures lies primarily in the use of the children’s national language as a medium of teaching in conjunction with French, and the promotion of productive and cultural activities. Schooling lasts for 5 years instead of the usual 6 in normal schools. The principal objectives are to: a) foster the association of the act of learning with the act of producing in order to prepare the children to go on to play a conscious and motivated role in local, regional, and national development; b) reconcile the school with its surroundings by instilling it with positive local cultural values and involving the local community; c) give learners the chance to use and assess their knowledge of a national language and their literacy skills in that language, achieve self-improvement, gain modern skills and learn an international language – in this case the country’s official language, French; and d) contribute towards finding ways and means of establishing links that bridge the gap between formal and non-formal educational systems, while providing the products of both systems with the same “weapons” and opportunities. Teachers in bilingual schools are no different from those working in normal schools, and their trainers are the same; however these teachers receive specific additional training in bilingual education. Didactic materials are developed, published and reproduced locally for all of the eight languages, and are transferable.

Non-formal literacy training for development (AFI-D) for young people aged from 9 to 14 years: AFI-D is a system of intensive literacy training for development that falls within the non-formal sector and which targets children aged from 9 to 14 who are either uneducated or have left the education system. AFI-D was launched in 1994, and is partly characterised by the introduction of national languages as a teaching medium alongside French, and partly by the opportunities it offers to leavers to go on to pursue secondary studies or professional courses leading to qualifications or diplomas in establishments specialising in the region’s socio-economic needs. Training in the AFI-D centres lasts four years. Many AFI-D leavers integrate well into society through self-employment (as farmers, rearers of livestock, carpenters and metalworkers) or jobs in the public sector (teaching and health), or the private sector (electrical engineering, plumbing, etc.).

Secondary schools specialising in multilingual education (CMS) for pupils aged from 12 to 16 years: Special multilingual schools accept pupils aged 12 to 16 years who have successfully completed their EPB courses. CMS pupils extend their knowledge of the national language used alongside French in the school, but must also learn a second national language chosen from the dominant languages in Burkina Faso. The CMS schools are innovative in that – in addition to the standard secondary curriculum – they provide specific courses in national languages, as well as cultural and production-oriented activities. The aims are to: a) teach the full standard secondary school curriculum from Year 6 to Year 3; b) promote functional multilingualism by using French, a second widely-used national language and functional English; c) link the act of educating with the act of producing; and d) promote positive cultural values and citizenship education.

Non-formal literacy education for adults - Both national languages and French are used as the languages of instruction. The bilingual education programme links literacy/training to rural development for the benefit of adults in the areas of intervention. Learners gain skills through literacy and various technical courses linked to agriculture, livestock, market gardening, small loans, health and hygiene, simple book-keeping, and organisation and management of individual or collective socio-economic activities. These skills enable them to improve their living conditions, while bilingualism in national languages and French helps them to monitor their children’s school work more effectively. Indeed, adults who are well educated in the national languages are also offered the option of attending classes in spoken French based on the ALFAA method (teaching French based on functional literacy). The adult ALFAA method enables learners to reach a standard equivalent to the 6th year of standard primary education.

Lessons learned

The main lesson learned is that the use of national languages alongside French makes teaching and learning easier and in fact allows the schooling process to be speeded up whilst still maintaining and even improving its internal and external efficiency. In terms of schools, the pass rate for the Primary School Certificate (CEP) in bilingual schools – where pupils only spend 4 to 5 years – has generally been higher than the national average, despite the fact that the CEP tests are entirely in French and intended for pupils who have spent at least 6 years in school (see the table below).

Year	BILINGUAL SCHOOLS				NATIONAL AVERAGE
	No. of schools	No. of national languages	No. of exam candidates	Pass rate (after 5 yrs in education, adolescents 4 yrs)	6 yrs spent in education (excluding retakes) (%)
1998	2	1	53	52.83 %	48.60 %
2002	4	2	92	85.02 %	62.90 %
2003	3	1	88	68.21 %	70.01 %
2004	10	4	259	94.59 %	73.73 %
2005	21	6	508	91.14 %	69.01 %
2006	40	7	960	77.19%	69.91 %
2007	47	7	1182	73.69%	66.83%
AVERAGE				78.16%	65.69%

Since 1998, the trial has consistently proved its effectiveness and relevance. For this reason, Burkina Faso’s Minister of Basic Education wishes to continue the scheme with funding from the Ten-Year Basic Education Development Plan (PDDEB) budgets.

Thanks to the reinvestment of acquired knowledge and skills, the bilingual education programme has had a strong impact on all types of beneficiaries engaged in a variety of fields. This includes social impact (improvement in hygiene, health and public-spiritedness), economic impact (increase in agricultural productivity, livestock, increase in family incomes and improved living conditions), educational impact (increase in school attendance, higher numbers of girls attending school, reciprocal training between children and parents and a rise in the rates of advancement to higher classes and passes in school exams), and organisational and managerial impact (holding regular meetings, taking minutes, more well-educated people in the executive offices of the partner organisations and more effective management of individual and collective businesses, etc.).

Schools that are in touch with the realities of the environment motivate parents to participate in their children’s education. The bilingual model has also had good results with regard to social cohesion for those who have been excluded from the education system for reasons other than non-attendance, such as the blind, who learn faster and more effectively using national-language or bilingual Braille documents.

Bilingual education lowers the cost of education through its internal efficiency and a significant reduction in the length of time spent at school. Furthermore, bilingual education has been integrated into local society and is in demand by populations and government officials alike. It is a more effective system of education that has a greater impact on the integration of school leavers into the local economy.

Contact details:

Paul Taryam Ilboudou
Oeuvre Suisse d’Entraide Ouvrière (OSEO) Burkina Faso
01 BP 2057 Ouagadougou 01
Burkina Faso
paultaryam@yahoo.fr