The SDC's partners in Burkina Faso
A) Government institutions:
Ministère de l’Enseignement de Base et de l’Alphabétisation – DGAENF
Ministère de l’Enseignement de Base et de l’Alphabétisation – DG-CRIEF
University of Ouagadougou
B) Fund for literacy and non-formal education, and various civil society organisations:
Fonds pour l’alphabétisation et l’éducation non-formelle (FONAENF)
C) Civil society organisations:
L’Association pour la Promotion de l’Education Non Formelle (APENF)
Tin Tua Association
Œuvre suisse d’entraide ouvrière Burkina Faso (OSEO/BF)
Enfants du Monde (EdM)
traDE – Programme Education et Formation pour un Développement Endogène (EFORD)
Fondation pour le Développement Communautaire (FDC/BF)
This government develops sector policies and plans. It is responsible for preparing and implementing the Ten-Year Plan for the Development of Basic Education (2001-2010). It is also responsible for ensuring the quality of education, defining standards, training trainers, and producing and distributing teaching material. It organises annual programmes and assessments. The SDC aims to strengthen the work of the MEBA, which plays a key role in the establishment and operation of literacy and basic education centres.
The DG-CRIEF is responsible for promoting and developing education research and the continuing training of those involved in basic education. It aims to: i) develop basic and applied research in education; ii) undertake studies on programmes, methods and tools for teaching, adult learning, basic education and literacy; iii) design and produce resources for teaching and adult learning; iv) monitor and supervise activities relating to the production and acquisition of resources for teaching and adult learning; v) research and implement teaching innovations and alternative methods that aim to improve the quality and relevance of formal and non-formal basic education; and vi) create links between formal and non-formal education in order to increase the relevance of education, and further develop education initiatives and innovations. SDC support has enabled the DG-CRIEF to finalise the new literacy curricula.
For ten years, the SDC has promoted and supported initiatives aiming to encourage exchanges on educational innovation between its various partners, not just in Burkina Faso, but also in the five priority countries of West Africa (i.e. Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger and Chad). The Institute for the Development and Education of Adults (IDEA), which has now been integrated into Enfants du Monde (EdM), developed a methodological and conceptual approach known as the Pedagogy of Text (PoT), which has created significant interest. With the aim of providing more specific support for training trainers at the regional level, the SDC, together with EdM/IDEA, has set up a PoT master’s programme, in partnership with the University of Ouagadougou. Since 2001, the SDC has also provided financial support for the University of Ouagadougou’s Adult Education and Development Project, a degree programme initiated by the Belgian Development Cooperation Agency. In the medium term, the goal is for the University of Ouagadougou to take over these types of training programme and integrate them into its curriculum.
University of Ouagadougou website
The FONAENF is one of the SDC’s key support programmes in the area of basic education in Burkina Faso. The other one is its support for strengthening those organisations involved in non-formal education, including certain FONAENF partners. The objectives of these programmes are very much in line with Burkina Faso’s Strategic Framework for Eradicating Poverty. They also contribute to improving access to education in Burkina Faso. The fund is a pioneering financing structure due to its structure (public and community financial partners), management mechanisms, rapid development, scale and achievements. Burkina Faso is an inspiration for other countries in the sub-region and is attracting more and more financial support.
Burkina Faso COOF/FONAENF website
The APENF aims to promote Education for All through non-formal education. It is made up of entities in charge of both private and public structures that are part of NFE. It works to bring together skills in order to give a new impetus to basic education. To do this, the association carries out activities in three main areas: i) research; ii) testing (mainly with the REFLECT approach and Pedagogy of Text; APENF members are present wherever educational activities are being undertaken); and iii) advocacy.
Contact person: Anatole Nyaméogo, Chairman of the Board of Directors, and Germaine Ouedraogo
Tin Tua is a local NGO that has worked towards eradicating illiteracy in Burkina Faso for almost 20 years. It promotes and organises groups of new literates and helps them to become independent by providing technical training (agricultural and other) and by encouraging the development of economic, social and cultural activities. One of Tin Tua’s major achievements has been to develop an approach for changing from teaching in the local language (normally Gourmanché) to teaching in French. The SDC has worked with this partner for more than 10 years. Since the FONAENF was created, the SDC only provides support for developing educational innovations. Thanks to its method and professional approach, the association now trains trainers in Benin as well.
Burkina Faso COOF/Tin Tua website
Contact person: Anselme Yaro, programme coordinator
Œuvre suisse d’entraide ouvrière Burkina Faso (OSEO/BF)
The OSEO is a political association for workers, founded in 1936 by the Swiss Socialist party and Federation of Trade Unions. It is active both in Switzerland and at an international level, and is committed to building a more socially, economically and politically just society. In Burkina Faso, the OSEO has worked since 1994 to develop an innovative bilingual education model that combines French (the official language) and the national languages. The government now uses this model throughout the country. The OSEO has contributed in this way to education reform in Burkina Faso. Bilingual schools have been widely developed and are now an option for communities.
Contact person: Paul Taryam Ilboudo
EdM is a Swiss non-profit NGO that was founded in 1968 and has its headquarters in Geneva. Its mission is to help and protect children from underprivileged countries through development projects in education and health. In collaboration with local partner organisations, EdM manages projects in seven of the world’s poorest countries, including Burkina Faso, where it supports: i) shepherds schools, in partnership with Anndal & Pinal, an association of farmers that has opened schools for Peuhl children; ii) improving the quality of education in community schools, in partnership with the Foundation for Community Development (FDC) in Burkina Faso, which has been implementing its community school project for several years; and iii) education centres and teaching innovation for adolescents, in partnership with ASIBA. EdM/IDEA is also one of the SDC’s major partners in the programme for training trainers in the Pedagogy of Text (see the University of Ouagadougou’s Adult Development and Education Project). The organisation works with four partners in Burkina Faso: ASIBA, ASUDEC, Anndal & Pinal and FDC.
Contact person: Sankara Tougma Téné
traDE – Training for Development works to strengthen the capacities of individuals and organisations. To combat the lack of professionalism in non-formal education (NFE), TraDE has put in place EFORD, an education and training programme that aims to improve the quality of basic education in Burkina Faso, with a view to ensuring economic, social, cultural and environmental development based on the potential of five regions. With its headquarters in Bobo Dioulasso, the organisation provides training in local languages in its 16 non-formal basic education centres. It also has several non-formal vocational training centres for young people between the ages of 13 and 19 from the basic education centres.
Contact person: Aliou Boly
Foundation for Community Development (Fondation pour le Développement Communautaire – FCD/BF)
The FDC/BF aims to increase the number of children, young people and adults that can read, write, do calculations and manage individual and community development projects. In 1994, the foundation began an innovative initiative to develop community schools in two provinces. These schools are now a national point of reference for dealing with children who do not attend school or who have dropped out of school. The FDC now works with community school leavers, offering them the possibility of doing a formal or informal apprenticeship. It has also started experimenting with a “fast-track centre”.
Contact person: Maria Kéré, Executive Director, and Gaston Sobgo
