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Session Submission Summary

L'état des lieux de la privatisation et de la marchandisation de l'éducation dans les pays francophones d'Afrique : cas de la Côte d'Ivoire, du Mali et du Sénégal

Wed, February 15, 7:45 to 9:15am EST (7:45 to 9:15am EST), On-Line Component, Zoom Room 101

Group Submission Type: Formal Panel Session

Proposal

The state of privatisation and commercialisation of education in francophone African countries: the cases of Côte d’Ivoire, Mali and Senegal

Organiser and Chair: Aya Douabou, GI-ESCR


Discussants:

Amadou Dahou, Secretary-General of Mouvement Ivoirien des Droits Humains, Côte d’Ivoire

Assim Konate, Administrative project assistant, Tribune Jeunes pour le Droit au Mali (TriJEUD), Mali

Cheikh Tidiane Aw, Programme Officer, Coalition des Organisations en Synergie pour la Défense de l’Education Publique (COSYDEP), Senegal


Panel abstract

From the 1980s, sub-Saharan Africa including French-speaking countries were made to implement structural adjustment programmes steered by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank to address the debt crisis. The main drawback of these policies was the drastic reduction of public financing allocated towards essential public services such as education and health. To sustain the delivery of such services, critical to people’s welfare, as well as to fill in the public provision gap due to States’ underfunding, privatisation was presented as the solution. For instance, evidence shows that education has been progressively handed over to private actors, and this has led to the exclusion of the less privileged from the educational system, particularly from private schools. Overall, the quality of public education has also been impacted.

Although the above-mentioned points are generally admitted, the impact of privatisation of education in the francophone African space is not sufficiently documented. Yet, over the years, private involvement in education has adapted to the various changes and challenges experienced by the world in general and by francophone African countries in particular, to sustain or increase profit-making and worsen socio-economic stratification.

Against this background, civil society organisations from Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire and Mali conducted research including field data collection between 2020 and 2022 to document the impact of the privatisation of education on the right to education. The aim of this panel is to present the key findings and recommendations of the mentioned research reports.



The impact of privatisation and commercialisation of education on the right to education in Côte d’Ivoire in light of the Abidjan Principles, Amadou Dahou, Secretary General, MIDH (adahou225@gmail.com)

Duration: 15 minutes

With the support of the Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (GI-ESCR) and the contribution of the Réseau de Recherche Francophone sur la Privatisation de l’Education (ReFPE), MIDH conducted a research project on the above-mentioned topic with a sample size of 194 individuals and organisations from September 2020 to April 2021 in five Ivorian constituencies. The executive summary of the report was published on September 7, 2021, and the long report in June 2022.

The objective of the research was to assess the impact of the privatisation and commercialisation of education on the right to education in relation to the standards of the right to education summarised in the Abidjan Principles.

From the analysis of the data gathered, seven findings were made:

A strong privatisation of education since 1992 which results from a political choice;

An insufficient and declining normative framework;

The privatisation of education as a rooting factor of discrimination on grounds related to social inequalities, disability and the allocation of students by the State in private and public schools;

The failure of the State to provide and finance public, free and quality schools for all;

The transformation of education into a commodity;

The non-compliance with regulatory standards by private actors; and

Less participatory and democratic private schools.



Q&A session: 15 minutes

The working conditions of primary school teachers in private schools in Mali: The case of Commune III of the district of Bamako, from 2016 to 2021.

Duration: 15 minutes

With the support of GI-ESCR and ReFPE, Tribune Jeunes pour le Droit au Mali undertook a research project on the subject as part of a course organised by the University of Geneva from October 21, 2021 to June 30, 2022. The research project included field data collection with a sample size of 150 individuals within Commune III, a constituency of Bamako, the capital city of Mali.

The objective of the research was to measure private school teachers’ working conditions against the relevant laws and formulate recommendations.

The key findings highlighted by the research report include precarious working conditions due to private schools’ owners’ non-compliance with laws and regulations, insufficient protection from a labour law point of view and low salaries.

Q&A Session: 15 minutes

The privatisation and commercialisation of education in Senegal, Cheikh Tidiane Aw, COSYDEP (tidiouaw@gmail.com)

Duration: 15 minutes

With GI-ESCR’s support, COSYDEP carried out a research project on the topic including field data collection with a sample size of 340 individuals and organisations in five Senegalese regions in 2020.

The research report was launched on October 5, 2021. It examines the state of privatisation and commercialisation of education in Senegal, and assesses its impact on the right to education.

The research report draws on several types of data: academic publications, legal instruments, policy and strategy documents, interviews, and statistics from questionnaires administered to families and the education community, including policy makers.

The main findings of the research highlighted in the report are:

Parents’ choice for private education due to the lack of public schools

Expensive education, source of discrimination

Insufficient regulation of private education

Q&A Session: 15 minutes

Total duration of the panel discussion: 1hour and 30 minutes

Language: French

Interpretation: French to English and English to French interpretation services will be provided by GI-ESCR.

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