Burkina Faso 

awakening of children in Burkina Faso

Early Childhood Development 

Since 2011 - Current phase: 2024-2026

To improve the development of children from 3 to 6 years old

Only 7% of children are enrolled in pre-school in Burkina Faso. Yet we know that pre-school education facilitates future learning, especially for the most disadvantaged, who often lack care and stimulation.

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The context

The Burkinabe government, which wishes to invest in early childhood development, is working on a 2021-2025 strategy.

But to date, the challenges remain significant: 

  • Public schools are lacking and private schools are poorly controlled, some classes are overcrowded, teachers change frequently, teaching practices vary among educators, ...
  • Few municipalities take full responsibility for developing pre-school education. 
  • School fees are high for the poorest families and many parents do not really understand the importance of early childhood development and education.

In addition, the increase in armed attacks on villages has led to more than 2 million people fleeing inside the country since 2015.

Children suffer heavy consequences on their health (trauma, violence, malnutrition, ...) but also on their education. 

How is your donation used?

For every €100 raised by Planète Enfants & Développement, €84.4 goes to our social mission.

Our projects are evaluated by independent firms. And our accounts are audited and certified each year by KPMG.

is the number of public preschools (CEEP)

of children go to kindergarten

schools closed in december 2023

The project

 Since 2011, Planète Enfants & Développement has been helping to raise the awareness of children aged 3 to 6 and to develop education in the poor suburbs of Ouagadougou (known as "quartiers non lotis"). In particular, we have set up 13 nursery schools under the supervision of town councils (known as Centres d'Eveil et d'Education Préscolaire - CEEP), and trained the management committees of these schools,  trained educators and launched an application school in Goua that allows state-trained teacher-students to put theory into practice.

Between 2021 and 2024, we have continued this support in 24 nursery schools in Ouagadougou and in 4 schools in the Eastern region, in Fada N'Gourma, where the enrolment rate has fallen to 1.4% of children.

Strengthening nursery schools (CEEP) with :

  • Construction of classrooms and perimeter walls to secure school grounds
  • Games and toys
  • Training for members of School Management Committees (COGES)
  • Support for the organization of visits by education inspectors to enrich in-service training for teaching teams
  • Support for the creation and upkeep of school gardens
  • Training canteen workers in good hygiene, nutrition and storage practices
  • Hand-washing basin delivery
  • Drilling boreholes to supply drinking water
  • Joint development with the Ministry of National Education (MENA/PLN) of a tool to monitor the schooling of children aged 3 to 6.

School bursaries for vulnerable children and fabric for school uniforms

To encourage the attendance of underprivileged children at the preschool, we distribute grants to parents to pay the registration fees, the purchase of school materials (including uniforms), but also the canteen. 

Development of a public playground

To complete the range of activities available to children outside school, we have developed an outdoor play area in Ouagadougou. 

Influence on public policy

We work closely with city councils and local authorities to develop their early childhood development plans and to strengthen the legal framework.

Between 2024 and 2026, we are continuing our activities to involve and strengthen the skills of all those who contribute to the development of nursery schools, to improve childcare conditions and to raise parents' awareness, in the 12 schools in Ouagadougou, the 4 schools in Fada N'Gourma and in 12 new schools in the province of Kadiogo (undeveloped districts and rural communes). We work with 2 local partners: APAC and Terres en mêlées.

Together with the education inspectors, we organize monitoring and coaching visits for the teaching teams, contributing to their ongoing training. We also train them in the use of the tool for monitoring children's schooling (developed in phase 1), continue to run the digital educational platform bop.bf digital educational platform, continue to support the creation of school gardens, train school canteens and principals to improve children's diet, experiment with an education-through-sports approach in 2 nursery schools, produce and customize hand-washing facilities already in place in 12 nursery schools in Kadiogo, raise awareness among educators of the Nudge approach to hygiene promotion in schools, mobilize and train school management committees, and strengthen our monitoring and evaluation system. We are also supporting the creation of a playground in Fada N'Gourma.

We are also working on :

  • raising awareness of young children's high exposure to screens, by organizing film debates with parents.
  • a study of the tools and teaching aids used in kindergarten to encourage the Ministry of Education to question the benefits of an education free of gender stereotypes.

Other projects :

Little girl with a BiiBop doll in Burkina FasoBurkina Faso: BiiBop, a social enterprise for games and toys
Early Childhood Educator in the classroom in Burkina FasoBurkina Faso: Educators trained for quality education
Mom in Burkina FasoBurkina-Faso: Support for parenthood
Maternal assistant Burkina FasoBurkina-Faso: the job of childminder for the awakening of children

"Half of the parents interviewed said that their children's awareness was the main motivation for enrolling them in school. This shows that parental awareness has had a positive effect on enrollment in these CEEPs. The safety of the children is also very important to them. The fences around the school and the supervision of the children by the teachers reassure them".

Moustapha Zabre, consultant who conducted a study in 10 preschools supported by PE&D

Our partners in the field

Ministry of National Education, of Literacy and Promotion of National Languages (MENA/PLN)

Ministry of Women's Affairsof National Solidarity, Family and Humanitarian Action

National Institute of Social Work Education (INFTS)

APAC-Fandima Association for Artistic and Cultural Promotion-Fandima which contributes to community development through culture in the Eastern region.

Terres en Mêlées Association for education in global citizenship and sustainable development through rugby.

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