Empowering a Brighter Future: Why Quality Education Must Top Burundi’s Agenda
For a country to develop, the education sector must be placed at the heart of leaders’ concerns. No country can boast of being developed without a quality education system. It is therefore essential that all stakeholders involved in education redouble their efforts to ensure high level training.
It is important to keep a constant watch on the education system in order to develop a solid and sustainable human capital
Those involved in education, including those at the top of the education system, graduates, parents and teachers must redouble their efforts to ensure quality education. Without quality education, the development of a country is impossible. Today’s winners are the nation’s future leaders; therefore the importance of constant surveillance on the education system in order to develop a solid and sustainable human capital.
During the celebration of the World Teachers’ Day, October 25, 2024 in Ngozi state, François Havyarimana, the Minister of National Education and Scientific Research noted that poor quality teaching could lead to the training of winners destined to destroy the country. He emphasized the need to focus on education not only in terms of knowledge, but also in terms of discipline, as Rabelais meant: “Science without conscience is only the ruin of the soul. »
To harm a nation, organizing a war is not enough. A Chinese sage once told his emperor: “If you want to destroy the enemy’s country, there is no point in a bloody war that could last decades and cost dearly in human losses. It is enough to destroy its education system and spread corruption there. Then you have to wait twenty years and you will have a country made up of ignoramuses and ruled by thieves. Then it will be very easy for you to defeat them. »
Where should efforts to improve the education system be focused?
According to Havyarimana, three essential factors are crucial for the success of an education system: highly qualified teachers, appropriate teaching materials and a teaching program adapted to the graduates. He emphasized that if these three elements are not in good condition, no effective teaching can be implemented. Indeed, a teacher who lacks knowledge will not be able to produce sufficient output, even if the teaching materials and programs are of quality.
Furthermore, a teacher who has the necessary knowledge but does not have adequate teaching materials will not be able to produce convincing results. Likewise, if the teacher has good knowledge and teaching materials but the curriculum is not suitable, the quality of the education will not be good.
Educational reforms without concrete results
The reforms to the basic, post-basic and university cycles introduced in Burundi in 2012 have changed Burundi’s education system. The introduction of the Baccalaureate, Masters and Doctorate (BMD) levels has also modified this system. During the celebration of the day dedicated to teachers, Victor Ndabaniwe, the chairman of the Board of Directors of COSESONA, highlighted that these reforms have created several challenges that affect the quality of education.
Among the examples cited are technical courses such as the humanities, science and technology, as well as learning French which he described as “vulgar” today. Furthermore, he noted that the measure to reduce the repetition rate in primary and post-primary schools had also devalued education. The development of university students with course attachments also contributes to this decline in the quality of education.
The Burundian education system faces many challenges, including the lack of adequacy between training and employment, lack of motivation of teaching staff, over-numbering of students in the same class, inadequacy of teaching materials and scientific laboratories, poorly stocked libraries, frequent revision teaching programs, etc.
For Ndabaniwe, if Burundi’s education system does not undergo significant changes, today’s youth will have no future to contribute to the country’s development. Furthermore, in order to fully realize the potential for educational development, pay policy must also meet civil servant teaching expectations.
Anticipated solutions to promote education
In order to meet the current challenges of the education system, Havyarimana announced the establishment of a commission of experts responsible for identifying the shortcomings in the education system, since May 2024. The mission of this commission is to critically analyze the teaching standards programs that are in force as well as those previous years at regional and international level. He said that the results of this commission could lead to measures aimed at guaranteeing quality education, thereby contributing to the development of the country.
In addition, Minister Havyarimana noted that new projects will strengthen the ministry’s efforts to improve the quality of education. Among them is the human capital development project, supported by the World Bank which allocated 130 million USD as well as a project supported by the Global Partnership for Education with more than 68 million USD in contribution. This funding will be used for educational initiatives such as capacity building for teachers, school canteens, pre-school education, procurement of teaching materials and construction of classrooms.
Although improvement in the quality of education is progressing slowly, the budget allocated to the Ministry of National Education and Scientific Research continues to increase. For the 2024-2025 budget year, this equates to 731,108,821,266 FBu compared to 499,135,287,181 FBu for the 2023-2024 financial year.