 Early childhood development | Education, training

 2024–2028

The context

Preschool enrollment rates remain very low in Burkina Faso, as they are expected to barely reach 7% by 2025.

At a time when the State has launched a 5-year program to promote education, with an ambitious plan to create new public pre-schools, the latter are still largely inadequate. Private schools, which account for 61% of pre-school educational provision, are poorly supervised and too expensive for many families.

In addition, the training and supervision of those involved in the pre-school education chain needs to be strengthened.

Approaches also need to be harmonized with the new state reforms.

The project

The EQUIPE program (Quality, Inclusive, Protective, and Equitable Education), coordinated Developed by the NGO Enfants du Monde and implemented by Planète Enfants & Développement for the preschool component, the project aims to address the following three areas in support of the government and decentralized services between 2024 and 2028.

Enhancing the quality of education

In order to break down barriers and harmonize initial and continuing education for preschool and elementary school teachers, the program has established an inter-institutional team. The team comprises 48 experts from all key departments of the Ministry of Education (MEBAPLN), the École Normale Supérieure (ENS), and the Institute of Teacher Education (INFPE). Within this team, a core group of 16 subject matter experts has been mobilized to conduct an assessment of curriculum alignment, develop a training plan for stakeholders across the education system, and build the capacity of the other members of the group. 

Improving access to preschool (ages 3-6)

Our initiative will focus on a socioeconomic and financial study that will contribute to the discussion on models for childcare facilities in order to expand the available options: both the Early Learning and Preschool Education Centers (CEEP) and the Bissongo, community schools that serve children ages 3 to 6. This program will facilitate pilot projects and regular monitoring of stakeholders to measure the impact of initiatives in teacher-training colleges and preschools. In 2025, the program team drafted the terms of reference for the study and then submitted the request for authorization to the Secretary General of MEBAPLN.

Supporting governance bodies

One of the program’s objectives is to strengthen the leadership of national stakeholders. Particular attention must be paid to gender equality and the changing dynamics of the conflict in the country to ensure the sustainability of these efforts.

In 2025, a workshop to develop the program’s monitoring and evaluation system brought together members of the operational team, focal points, and statistics officers from the decentralized services. To inform strategies and action plans for expanding educational opportunities in Burkina Faso, the program team also conducted a literature review on early childhood education in various parts of the world, particularly in West Africa. Finally, we also compiled a directory of stakeholders involved in early childhood education to support the establishment of a network.