Burkina Faso Moves To Decolonise School History And Civic Education

Burkina Faso is revising history, geography and civic education curricula as part of a government effort to “decolonise” school teaching. Authorities want to remove language they consider degrading, change how European expansion is described and give greater attention to African resistance figures and national values.

Burkina Faso is overhauling the way history, geography and civic education are taught in schools as the government seeks to remove what it describes as colonial language and perspectives from the country’s education system.
The changes are being introduced for the new school year and are intended to place greater emphasis on Burkina Faso’s history, African resistance and values.
Higher Education Minister Moumouni Zoungrana said the government wants students to learn from materials that present Africans as active participants in their own history rather than simply as subjects of foreign powers.

GOVERNMENT WANTS TO CHANGE THE WAY AFRICA IS PRESENTED

Zoungrana said the government had decided to review the curricula because some descriptions in existing educational materials portray Africans in ways that the authorities consider degrading or dehumanising.
He said the revised curriculum would remove words that treat Africans “like children or animals” and introduce chapters that promote values considered important to Burkina Faso.
According to the minister, previous textbooks placed too much attention on African defeats and negative characteristics while giving insufficient recognition to African achievements and resistance.
The reform therefore aims to change not only the language used in classrooms but also the historical perspective through which students understand their country and continent.

BURKINA FASO RECONSIDERS THE WORD “EXPLORERS”

One of the changes concerns how Europeans who travelled through and documented African territories are described.
A history and geography teacher in Ouagadougou said teachers had been instructed to stop referring to such figures as “explorers” and instead use the term “invaders”.
The change reflects the government's view that some traditional descriptions can present European expansion as a neutral process of discovery while giving less attention to the political and military consequences for African societies.
The new approach is expected to encourage students to examine the experiences of African communities alongside the accounts of foreign travellers and colonial authorities.

AFRICAN RESISTANCE FIGURES TO RECEIVE GREATER ATTENTION

The revised teaching approach will also seek to rehabilitate African resistance fighters who, according to the teacher, were described in older textbooks as tyrants or barbarians.
Under the new curriculum, greater attention will be given to Africans who resisted foreign occupation and defended their communities.
The government believes this will provide students with a broader understanding of African history and highlight figures whose roles may have been presented negatively in earlier educational materials.
The reform is therefore not simply about changing individual words. It is also about deciding which historical events, personalities and experiences receive greater attention in classrooms.

TEXTBOOKS HAVE NOT YET BEEN FULLY REVISED

Although the government has announced the curriculum changes, the physical school textbooks have not yet been completely rewritten.
A teacher in Ouagadougou said the education ministry had instead distributed a booklet to teachers explaining which expressions should no longer be used and identifying chapters that should be removed, changed or added.
This means teachers are already being given guidance on how to present the subjects while the broader revision of educational materials continues.
The eventual changes to textbooks could determine how the new approach is taught to pupils across the country.

BURKINA FASO’S COLONIAL HISTORY SHAPES THE DEBATE

Burkina Faso was under French colonial rule until it gained independence in 1960.
The colonial period has continued to influence debates about language, culture, education and national identity in the country.
The government's decision to revise school curricula comes as part of a wider effort to place greater emphasis on national identity and African perspectives in public institutions.
For students, changes to history and civic education can have a lasting influence on how they understand their country's past, the struggles that shaped it and its relationship with the wider world.

EDUCATION REFORM COULD CHANGE HOW YOUNG BURKINABÈ VIEW THEIR HISTORY

History lessons do more than describe past events. They also influence how young people understand national identity, leadership, resistance and the relationship between Africa and other parts of the world.
By changing the terminology and historical figures presented in classrooms, Burkina Faso's government is seeking to give students a different framework for understanding the country's past.
The challenge will be ensuring that the revised curriculum provides students with a broad and accurate understanding of history while also reflecting Burkina Faso's own cultural and national perspective.
The changes will become clearer as the revised textbooks and teaching materials are developed and introduced across schools.