Developing public education in the cities

1In Burkina Faso, the increase in the public educational offer – primary and secondary schools – in rural areas has been a priority of the education policies rolled out at the start of the century. The idea was to reduce inequalities between urban and rural areas. The capital, Ouagadougou, where enrolment levels are the highest in the country, has failed to attract political attention. However, this privileged school situation conceals major intra-urban geographical inequalities. A partnership initiated in 2015 helped produce a digital atlas for the educational offer, based on a unique database which cross-references the location of all primary and secondary schools in the capital with the characteristics of each school.

CE1 class (Year 3 equivalent), Burkina Faso.

2This atlas showed a clear deficit in the public educational offer: it only represents 31% of primary schools and 25% of secondary schools. Public schools are concentrated in the central districts of the capital, when school-age populations mainly reside in outer suburbs. The private sector, dominated by secular institutions, is geographically heterogeneous: well-equipped and expensive schools are located in central districts and intended for affluent populations, while under-resourced, less expensive schools are essentially found in peripheral areas inhabited by the poorest populations. While in Burkina Faso education was made compulsory for children aged 6 to 16 by the 2008 Act, in the capital the issue of equality arises due to the shortage and geographical distribution of the public educational offer. Families in peripheral areas who wish to send their children to school have no choice but to go for private schools, which are usually low-quality.

3This digital atlas of the educational offer in Ouagadougou, used to identify the most disadvantaged urban territories and under-resourced schools, is a valuable tool for monitoring, assessing and managing the education system, which should now be made permanent. This tool could also be extended to other cities and capitals.

Private school in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.