Privatisation and commercialisation of education in francophone Africa during CIES Conference

The cases of Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal and Mali were analysed.

During the Comparative International Education Society 2023 conference, GI-ESCR chaired and facilitated an online panel session on the state of the privatisation and commercialisation of education in francophone African countries The panel mobilised the research pieces developed by civil society organisations in Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal and Mali with GI-ESCR’s support. 

The Côte d’Ivoire and Senegal studies have a national scope and address the topic more generally whereas the Mali research focuses on the working conditions of private school teachers in a municipality of Bamako. 

The case of Côte d’Ivoire was presented by Mouvement Ivoirien des Droits Humains (MIDH) represented by Amadou Dahou. His presentation highlighted the findings and recommendations of our joint report on the impact of privatisation and commercialisation of education on the right to education in Côte d’Ivoire in light of the Abidjan Principles. 

The case of Senegal was presented by Coalition des Organisations en SYnergie pour l’Education Publique (COSYDEP) represented by Cheikh Tidiane Aw. His presentation underlined the findings and recommendations of the research report on the privatisation and commercialisation of education in Senegal. 

The case of Mali was presented by Tribune Jeunes pour le Droit au Mali (TRIJEUD-Mali) represented by Assim Konaté. His presentation focused on the findings and recommendations of the research on the working conditions of primary school teachers in private schools in Mali: the case of Commune III in the district of Bamako. This research was specifically developed as part of the University of Geneva course for civil society organisations on research capacity towards advocacy for the right to education. 

The aim of this panel session was to further raise awareness on the impact of the privatisation and commercialisation of education in francophone African countries and to shed more light on the work of civil society organisations from the francophone space which often lacks visibility in global spaces due to the language barrier.