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The National Education in Burkina Faso is under the control of the public Administration and the authority of two ministries: the Ministry of basic education and Litteracy on one hand, and the Ministry of secondary and higher education and scientific research on the other hand.

Therefore, the National Education broadly speaking includes three levels of education:

The level of basic education;
The level of secondary education, subdivided into:
- General secondary education and;
- Technical secondary education and finally
The level of higher education and scientific research.

Regardless the level of education concerned, the operators are either public (State other state sub entities) or private (secular or denominational).

The development perspectives of the educational system on the horizon of 2010 lay on three principles:

extension of the coverage of basic education with the aim of universal education while improving its effective quality and generalization;
development of the educational system, including post primary level, in order to satisfy the demand for skilled workers and so that the product of the educational system meet the needs of the economy and human development, in terms of quality and quantity;
Effective compulsory schooling of the children aged from 7 to 16 years old.

Extend basic education;
Pass on to the young learners the knowledge, skills and values that facilitate the harmonious development individual while preparing them to actively participate in the life and the progress of their society as citizens;
Provide the country with the human resources necessary for its economic, social and cultural development;
Keep on enhancing the national values and assert cultural identity while giving children the opportunity to be open to the outside world and to universal values;
Participate in strengthening the fight against poverty and all forms of inequality, in consolidating democracy and in defending human rights, thanks to the knowledge and values Education carries, thanks to its operational mode and the type of relations maintained/instigated.

The key options common to all the levels of education

The common options hereinafter shall be respected during the design and implementation stages of the actions programs conducted by the various levels of education. The aim is to help meeting the general objectives of the system and to maintain coherence of the various actions undertaken.

The ten-year plan for the development of basic education (PDEB) aims at increasing the access to quality basic education by the majority of the population in schooling age by searching and finding cost-effective and financially sustainable solutions, conducive solutions to the problems which have been slowing down the development of the sector and causing its inequity and inefficiency.

The objective for this level of the educational system and for the next ten years are:

to ensure by the end of 2010 the access to basic education by 70 % of the children in schooling age, by a particular focus on girls whose schooling rate should then reach a minimum of 65 %; at present, this rate is 45 %. In 2005, generally speaking and thanks to directed policies and programs, notable progress was achieved in rural and female schooling leading to a lack of seats in schools due to insufficient material and furniture.
to value practical and manual activities by inserting them closely in the educational contents and practices, from the first years of schooling, and by taking them into account in tests and exams;

Primary education is subdivided into three levels of two years each: Preparatory, elementary and middle. The completion of the total six years is acknowledged by the first diploma known as the certificat d’études primaires (CEP) which is the primary school diploma. The ratio students/teacher in 2005 was 53 students per teacher in the public sector and 47 students per teacher in the private one.

In the specific area of literacy and informal education, the efforts deployed express considerable progress in terms of the numbers of training centers and enrollments.

The number of primary schools has therefore gone from 2,587 in 1992 to 6,917 in 2005 and the number of teachers from 19,007 in 2001 to 27,000 in 2005. According to recent statistics, the national schooling rate is 67 %.

The Primary school diploma is absolutely necessary to access middle school which is lower level of the secondary education.

Just like the primary education, the secondary education shall constitute an autonomous and self-sufficient level of education, while preparing the willing and capable students to carry on their studies in the higher education or to start a specialized professional training:

strengthen and complete the achievements of basic education;
Provide the children with a sufficient general knowledge and develop at home the tools of thinking and their interest for continuous learning after schooling, regardless of their future orientation.

The lower cycle or middle school which takes four years and ends up with the Brevet d'études du premier cycle ((BEPC) equivalent more or less to middle school graduation;

The objectives of technical and vocational secondary education

Abilities the holders of the CEP or BEPC for the crafts and jobs thanks to a qualifying and self-employment oriented training.

2) The structures of technical and vocational secondary education
Description

Technical and vocational secondary education consists of three cycles: the short medium cycle and long cycle. The short cycle ends with the craft certificate (CAP – Certificat d’aptitude professionnelle), the medium cycle ends with the diploma of vocational proficiency (BEP – Brevet d’étude professionnelle), the long cycle leads to the technical and vocational high school diploma (Baccalauréat de l’enseignement secondaire technique).

The short cycle of the technical education takes four years after the CEP, the medium cycle two years after BEPC or CAP, and the long cycle requires three years of study after the BEPC.

In the technical education and the vocational of Burkina Faso, the concept of “technic” includes industrial, commercial, administrative and computer science techniques.

The technical and vocational education, which remains immature, holds a share of 7.57 % of the total enrollments in the secondary education.

A strong concentration of schools in the two (2) main cities of the country: Ouagadougou and Bobo-Dioulasso. So over fifty one (51) schools, twenty four (24) are located in Ouagadougou, whereof six (6) are public operated and nine (9) in Bobo-Dioulasso, whereof (1) is public operated;
A predominance of private operated schools. Forty two (42) private schools to nine (9) public ones;
A very unbalanced distribution by branch/by major out of the 51 schools of the country, 17 provide an industrial training and 34 a commercial and business computing training. Out of 13,109 students, 40 % of the trained persons come from the industrial branch and 60 % from the commercial branch;
A very thin share of the vocational training at the intermediate level of medium and high technical and vocational.

The general or technical education high school diploma granted over completion of secondary education is considered to be the first university diploma.

Higher education (general, technical and vocational all together) shall allow the willing and capable students holding a “baccalauréat”, high school diploma, to carry on higher studies connected to the needs and opportunities of the nation.

Provide the country with executive and senior technicians having a high level of expertise in their respective scientific and technical areas, with the capacity of having a global and prospective vision of the national economy, possessing a higher sense of the common good and of the interest of the nation;
Permanently quest a match between training and employment regardless of the specific area and intensify in this perspective the relationships between schools and institutes of higher education, research institutes and the world of work;
Contribute to the creation and maintenance of a psychological and social climate conducive to the development of science, technology and culture in the country.

The first cycle consisting of the first and second years of university studies leads to the certificate of general university studies or DEUG, which is the equivalent of PCEM in medical studies or the DUT for the vocational branches;
The second cycle which takes two years and prepares the students for bachelor or master degree.
The third cycle which consists of two levels:
The DEA or certificate of advanced studies, which takes one year and
The unique Doctorate, which takes 3 years. A university, technical and vocational training is provided in the most various areas and branches of knowledge and activity.

Currently, there are three public universities and institutes higher education and some private in the Burkina Faso:

University of Ouagadougou
Polytechnical university of Bobo-Dioulasso;
Higher normal school of Koudougou;
A dozen private higher technical and vocational schools and institutes.

Higher education and scientific research expansion endeavors have increased the enrollment thanks to more infrastructures, capacity improvement and the increase in numbers of teaching staff at the universities: (Ouagadougou, Bobo-Dioulasso and Koudougou).

Further decentralization and development of higher education will be reinforced by the government with the opening of new universities inFada N' Gourma, Ouahigouya, Ziniaré and Ouaga II between 2007 and 2009.

Being an essential factor of development and fight against poverty, the training-based employment remains the government's constant concern/focus.

As for any case, the length and the rhythm of the academic yearcalendar is specified by a joint order of the appropriate ministers for both levels of education, by September.

Legal holidays shall be respected in all education institutions, every one of which is entitled to have one day per year to celebrate its anniversary or hold its cultural day.

Condition of higher education: number of establishments, subjects and teachers

The results obtained in formal or informal education system over the last five years, reflect a significant improvement of the opportunities to access to the school.

Female schooling has grown up significantly.
In spite of difficulties met in the equipment and infrastructures, the number of classrooms has increased. Simultaneously, 1.610 teachers' accommodations, 1,185 latrines and 752 drilling for water supply were made available. These investments allowed a remarkable increase in the students' enrollment boosting the raw rate of schooling to 67 % from 45 % in 2001-2002.