Promoting local languages in Burkina Faso’s education system is a key focus of the actions of the NGO Solidar Suisse in Burkina Faso. In order to contribute to the effective inclusion of national languages in Burkina Faso’s educational model, Solidar Suisse in Burkina Faso, in partnership with the Institut des Sciences des Sociétés (INSS) and the Atelier de Recherche sur l’Education au Burkina (AREB), has carried out two studies on the multilingual education continuum in Burkina Faso. The results of these studies, which focused respectively on the normative and legal frameworks of bilingual education in Burkina Faso” and “the role of bilingual education in Burkina Faso “. the case of three bilingual schools located in linguistically diverse areas” were restituted during a workshop on Thursday, May 23, 2019 in Ouagadougou.
For Solidar Suisse, these studies are an advocacy tool to ensure that national languages are truly taken into account in education in Burkina Faso. For Rémy Abou, the Minister’s technical advisor in charge of promoting national languages, these studies will guide the government’s determination to promote national languages, while pursuing the quest for quality education in line with the table of values and a vision of sustainable development. He also salutes Solidar Suisse’s commitment and passion for quality education, which involves the use of national languages and indigenous knowledge.
According to the coordinator of the Atelier de Recherche sur l’Education au Burkina (AREB), the scientific articles resulting from these studies should, to a large extent, serve as a basis for reflection for education partners, enabling them to find objective reasons for supporting bilingual education through a better place for national languages in the education system.
These studies are part of a bilingual program that Solidar Suisse in Burkina has been developing for over two decades with the Ministry of Education, covering ten national languages (Bissa, Bwamu, Fulfuldé, Dagara, Dioula, Gourmantcéma, Kassem, Nuni, Lyélé and Mooré) in more than 200 schools across Burkina Faso, according to Solidar Suisse country representative Dieudonné Zaongo. For him, this program has reached a level where it is necessary to reflect on an effective formula for actors involved in the promotion of national languages. So after several evaluations, it was pertinent to look at the legal and institutional framework of bilingual education, but also to carry out a case study of three bilingual schools in three different linguistic zones. The Solidar Suisse resident representative concludes that these studies will enable them to provide the government with scientific documents to help it take informed action.
Mr. Mamadou Lamine Sanogo, Director of the studies carried out, points out that at the end of the studies, the bilingual education system is encountering difficulties that are not beyond the means of the State. ” We just need to get organized and equip the various departments in the Ministry of Education to effectively manage bilingual education, which remains a promising educational system for a country like Burkina Faso,” he said.
Mamadou Lamine Sanogo calls on the State to become more involved in promoting bilingual education. “ We mustn’t make this education system a second-rate one, but an integral part of the country’s education system, because it’s a system with a promising future ,” concludes Mamadou Lamine Sanogo, Director of Research Studies.
