Burkina Faso’s Educational Social movements: A Historical Review

• In Event: The Intersection of Social Movements and Education Beyond Borders: A Comparative International Education Perspective

Proposal

Burkina Faso is a Sahelian country, located in the heart of West Africa with an estimated population of 21 million inhabitants. Its population is predominantly young (under 15s account for 45.3%), female (51.7%) and rural (73.7% of the population) and is characterized by its ethnic diversity (over 60 ethnic groups).
The country's history is marked by its independence from French colonial rule in 1960. This was followed by a series of socio-political upheavals. Between 1960 and 2022, the country experienced seven military coups d'état, interspersed with periods of democracy. Of the 11 presidents who have reigned for varying lengths of time, only three have been civilians.
While the military has played a key role in the country's political evolution, social actors have not remained on the side-lines. Social actors in particular workers, students and teachers’ unions played a significant role in the various socio-political turning points.
For example, it was following a mobilization of some 50,000 demonstrators made up of students, workers' unions and underground political parties denouncing poor economic and social governance and the suppression of unions rights and freedoms that its first president, Maurice Yameogo, was forced to resign by a group of military officers who took power in 1966.
His successor, Sangoulé Lamizana, was also toppled from power following a long teachers' strike that lasted 55 days and mobilized other unions in addition to the teachers' union.
Should education or the school simply be seen as the standard-bearer for the awakening of the masses, or as a school instrumentalized in the service of political actors?
Through this discussion, we put into perspective social demands and the extent to which they can bring about social change in general, and the education sector in particular. Through a historical review of the evolution of educational social movements in Burkina Faso, we examine the extent to which they have or have not contributed to the emergence of a new educational order.

Author

• Edoxi KINDANE, Center for Economic and Social Policies Analysis