Financing for equity in pre-primary education
1. Education resources to subnational governments
2. Education resources to institutions
3. Education resources to students and families
4. Social policies and family support programmes
Introduction
Key financing indicators (UIS Data)
The official entry age to pre-primary education is 3. There are no years of free pre-primary education granted in legal frameworks, and no years of compulsory pre-primary education granted in legal frameworks. The net enrolment rate for pre-primary for both sexes was 4.85% in 2011.
Governance
Pre-school education has historically been co-managed by several ministries. According to the Ministry of Education, INRAP, and UNICEF’s 2022 Curriculum for Pre-Primary Education, kindergartens (jardins d’enfants) were under the responsibility of the Ministry of Social Affairs. This ministry no longer exists, having been replaced by the Ministry of Humanitarian Action and National Reconciliation. As of September 2025,, Kindergartens are now the responsibility of the Ministry of National Primary, Secondary, Technical Education and Literacy. Ecoles maternelles and the community-based provision, Espaces communautaires d’éveil (ECE), continue to be under the responsibility of the MEN.
Tuition-free status
According to the Constitution of 2016, education should be free at public establishments. Public provision of pre-primary education is limited.
1. Education resources to subnational governments
No evidence was found of resources transferred to subnational governments for pre-primary education.
2. Education resources to institutions
According to the 2020-2029 Education Sector Plan, in 2020, six pre-primary schools were operated by the Ministry of Education. No evidence of equity considerations was found in this provision.
3. Education resources to students and families
No programmes from the Ministry of Education to provide support directly to families were found.
4. Social policies and family support programmes
The government social security scheme (Caisse Nationale de Securite Sociale) has a birth allowance of CFA 30,000 and a monthly child support payment of CFA 1,800. This covers formal workers only (informal workers account for 96.7% of employment) and has no education element.
Several schemes to protect vulnerable groups exist that are financed by external partners, such as the Adaptive and Productive Social Safety Nets Project financed by grants from the World Bank and the Humanitarian Cash Operations and Programme Ecosystem from UNICEF, which has an education conditionality component.
