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$Unique_ID{bob00308}
$Pretitle{}
$Title{Cote d'Ivoire
Chapter 7B.   The School System}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{T.D. Roberts, Donald M. Bouton, Irving Kaplan, Barbara Lent, Charles Townsend, Neda A. Walpole}
$Affiliation{HQ, Department of the Army}
$Subject{school
education
secondary
ivory
coast
government
schools
students
french
teachers}
$Date{1973}
$Log{}
Title:       Cote d'Ivoire
Book:        Area Handbook for Ivory Coast
Author:      T.D. Roberts, Donald M. Bouton, Irving Kaplan, Barbara Lent, Charles Townsend, Neda A. Walpole
Affiliation: HQ, Department of the Army
Date:        1973

Chapter 7B.   The School System

     In mid-1962 the school system of the Ivory Coast was an almost exact copy
of the national school system of France with only minor adaptations to African
conditions. It consisted of primary, secondary and vocational schools and one
higher institution (see fig. 9). Responsibility for the administration,
financing and control of the system rested with the Ministry of Education,
which prescribed curricula, textbooks and teaching methods; prepared standard
qualifying examinations; and licensed teachers, administrators and private
educational institutions. Local authorities in the various administrative
subdivisions assisted in the construction and maintenance of schools and in
their administrative control. In keeping with its French model, education was
free, secular and compulsory for children between the ages of 6 and 17 within
the limitations of available facilities. Religious instruction was not allowed
in public schools but was permitted in private institutions. A large number of
scholarships for living expenses and school supplies were awarded by the
government to students in secondary, vocational and higher institutions on the
basis of their performance in entrance examinations, but since 1961 the
government has reserved the right to approve the student's course of study and
thus award scholarships only for those fields of study which it deems
beneficial to national development. Scholarship students are indentured to the
government for 10 years after completion of study.

     Funds for the construction and maintenance of educational facilities came
as of 1962 from the national budget, supplemented by French aid. Much of the
expansion of facilities since around 1950 has been financed by the Investment
Fund for Economic and Social Development of Overseas Territories (FIDES) which
in 1960 was replaced by the Aid and Cooperation Fund (FAC). More recently, the
Common Market's Fund for Overseas Development (FEDOM) allocated $3.7 million
for school construction up to the end of 1960. The French Government continues
to pay the salaries of the many teachers and administrators secunded to the
Ivory Coast school system. The Ivory Coast budget for 1962 provided CFA F4.5
billion ($18 million), 17 percent of the total, for current expenditures in
education, and CFA F80.1 million ($320,000), less than 1 percent of the total,
for capital investment in 1962-63.

     The school year is divided into three terms, starting in September and
separated by short Christmas and Easter holidays and a 2-month summer recess.
The average week consists of approximately 30 hours of classes, Monday through
Saturday, with only a half day of classes on Thursday and Saturday. Order,
discipline and neatness in both personal appearance and school work are
strictly enforced by school authorities and highly valued by students. It is
not unusual for a student to stay home from school because he has no clean
clothes to wear. The school is expected to teach the child good habits as well
as discipline his mind.

     Private schools were allowed to operate provided they followed the
standard government curriculum, used government-prescribed textbooks and
employed licensed teachers. Under these conditions, private schools were
eligible for a government subsidy to meet operating expenses, and their
students were admitted to the standard qualifying examinations leading to
various diplomas and degrees. A Council for Private Education presided over by
the Minister of Education was charged with coordinating public and private
education, establishing standards for private schools, determining the size of
government subsidies to approved schools and establishing qualifications and
control of the teaching personnel of private schools. In 1961, 30 percent of
the school children attended private schools, and 90 percent of those were at
Catholic parochial schools. Because the cost of attending private school is
extremely high, the students are mostly children of Europeans and of the
wealthy African elite.

     Teaching is usually done by rote; memorization and oral recitation in
unison of grammar rules, poetry or mathematical formulas are general practice.
As in France, educators in the Ivory Coast believe that such practices
discipline the student's mind in addition to firmly entrenching the data in
his memory.

Primary Education

     In December 1960 the Ivory Coast had some 1,722 primary schools, with a
total enrollment of 238,772 students. Facilities ranged from primitive
one-room schoolhouses in the bush to modern, well-equipped buildings in the
larger towns. Most facilities, however, were overcrowded, with classes
consisting of 45-50 pupils.

     The primary school course lasts 6 years and is divided into three stages:
preparatory, elementary and intermediate. In the preparatory stage, emphasis
is placed on the teaching of French, which is a new language to the vast
majority of pupils. French is taught through pictures and sounds without
recourse to the child's native language. Reading, writing and arithmetic are
taught from about the middle of the first year on and are gradually
supplemented by history, geography, natural sciences, music, art and physical
education. In rural schools approximately one half day per week is devoted to
working in the school garden, which is intended to familiarize the child with
modern agricultural methods. The teaching of history, geography and natural
sciences has been largely adapted to the African environment, but the lack of
suitable textbooks continues to force teachers to use French books containing
concepts and examples totally unfamiliar or irrelevant to the African child.

     Children enter primary school at the age of 7 or 8. Although
theoretically primary education is compulsory, in practice not even all the
children who wish to attend school can be accommodated by the limited
facilities. Registration is on a first-come-first-served basis. Once a child
is registered he is expected to attend school regularly; excessive absence
will result in expulsion, and the vacated place will be filled immediately by
a child from an ever-present waiting list.

     During the last two years of primary school, students whose performance
is above average may take the uniform entrance examination for one of the
secondary or vocational schools. All students at the end of the primary course
take a standard examination leading to the CEPE, which is required for any
salaried position.

     Difficulties with the French language, with which few children have had
contact before school, causes over 30 percent of them either to drop out
during the first year or to repeat the year. Almost 15 percent drop out or
repeat the second and third years. If the child completes the third year, he
will most probably complete primary school, but many children repeat the last
year before taking the CEPE or secondary school examinations.

Secondary Education

     Secondary education is provided at colleges, lycees, complementary
courses (cours complementaires) and secondary courses. In December 1960 the
public school system included 8 colleges, 19 complementary courses and 1
lycee; an additional 3 colleges, 3 complementary courses and 9 secondary
courses were administered by private organization. The total enrollment was
9,470. Approximately 100 scholarship students were studying at secondary
institutions in France in addition to an unknown number without scholarships.
Starting in 1961, permission to study abroad even at private expense was
granted by the government only if comparable facilities were not available
locally, if the student had completed his military training or received
deferment, and if at least CFA F150,000 ($600) were deposited with the Ivory
Coast embassy in the country of study to cover tuition, living expenses and
the trip home.

     Only about 19 percent of those completing primary school continue to
secondary school, and only one-fourth of these obtain the baccalaureat degree,
which is a prerequisite for higher study.

     The complementary course, the most common kind of secondary education, is
a 4-year extension of the primary course. Designed to provide advanced
education for those who did not do well enough in the secondary school
entrance examination to be admitted to a college or lycee, the curriculum of
complementary courses is similar to that of the modern section of the lower
grades of the college and lycee but places greater emphasis on practical
training. Completion of the course leads to the elementary certificate (brevet
elementaire-BE) or to the certificate of the lower cycle of secondary study
(brevet d'etude du premier cycle-BEPC). Either of these qualifies the holder
to continue his secondary education at a college or lycee, be admitted to a
teacher-training institution or be employed as a junior clerk in government or
commerce.

     The colleges, secondary courses and the lycee, offer the same 7-year
course of study, the difference between them being administrative rather than
academic. The lycee is administered by the central government; the college, by
municipal government with heavy reliance on central government funds; and the
secondary courses, by religious organizations. The course of study is divided
into two cycles-one of 4 years and one of 3 years. At the end of the first
cycle students may take the examination for the BE or the BEPC. Only four of
the colleges, one secondary course and the lycee offer the full course; the
other schools offer the first cycle only. The first 2 years of the course
consist of a general program of French, mathematics, history, geography,
natural sciences, one modern language, physical education, music and art. In
the third year the student selects one of three programs which become
increasingly differentiated and specialized each year: classical, with
emphasis on Latin and Greek; modern, with emphasis on two modern languages;
and technical, with emphasis on one modern language and the physical sciences.
The last year is intended as a general review year where the student examines
the knowledge he has gained to date within the framework of one of five
special categories and receives an introduction to philosophy. The five
categories are  philosophy, experimental sciences, mathematics, mathematics
and technology, and economics and social sciences. In recent years most Ivory
Coast students have chosen the modern section and the experimental science
category in the last year.

     The course leads to the baccalaureat, a university degree comparable to
the bachelor of arts degree, which qualifies the holder for continued study at
a university or employment in the middle ranks of government and industry. The
degree is divided into two parts, for which examinations are held at the end
of the sixth and seventh year of secondary study. A different set of
examinations is given to students in each of the five categories of
specialization in the last year of study; however, French, history and
geography are included in the first part of the examination in all categories.
Examinations for both parts of the degree have a written part, which consists
of an essay on one of several given topics, and an oral part, which consists
of substantive interrogation in various subjects by a jury of experts. The
examinations are extremely difficult, and as in France, fewer than 50 percent
of the students pass. There is, however, no limit on the number of times the
examination can be taken, and most students take them two or three times
before obtaining the degree.

     Most secondary schools are both boarding and day schools. Public schools
charge no tuition, but students must buy their own books and supplies. Many
full and partial scholarships are available to cover these expenses so that
lack of resources is never a deterrent to the attaining of secondary
education. With very few exceptions, one of them being the lycee, secondary
facilities are segregated by sex. Sometimes only classrooms are segregated
within a common building. In 1960-61 only 13 percent of the students in
secondary schools were girls, and at no time has their number reached more
than 20 percent.

Vocational Education

     Despite the apparent emphasis on vocational training in French colonial
policy, this aspect of education has been consistently neglected. Not only has
it been neglected by the school system, which has established few vocational
institutions, but also by the population whose marked preference for an
academic education leading to a white-collar job has provided few students for
these institutions. The 20-odd institutions which existed in 1962 offered a
variety of programs leading to certificates, diplomas and degrees covering a
range of a proficiency from craftsman to engineer. Almost all were located in
the Abidjan-Bingerville area. Admission was by special entrance examinations
and usually required either the CEPE or the baccalaureat, depending on the
level of the institution.

     Distinction was made between agricultural and nonagricultural vocational
training, the former being the responsibility of the Ministry of Agriculture
and Cooperation. In 1962 two schools trained agricultural agents to teach
farmers how to improve their methods and increase production, and one school
each trained forestry agents and agricultural cooperative agents. In the fall
of 1962 the National School of Agriculture was established to train
agricultural engineers at the university level.

     Nonagricultural vocational education was provided at the lowest level by
two apprentice centers, two vocational training centers and two special
centers for the training of girls in domestic science. They offered a short
2-year program leading to the vocational proficiency certificate (certificat
d'aptitude professionelle) in auto mechanics, metal fitting, boilermaking,
electrical fitting, masonry, carpentry, electrical work, secretarial work,
bookkeeping, sewing, cooking and child care; and a longer, 4-year program
leading to the industrial or commercial certificate (brevet industrielle or
brevet commercial-BI or BC).

     The technical lycee in Abidjan offers a 7-year program similar to that of
the regular lycee but with specialization in such courses as general
mechanics, carpentry, commercial subjects, secretarial subjects and surveying.
The course leads to either the technical baccalaureat, the industrial
teacher's diploma, the commercial teacher's diploma or the preliminary
surveyor's diploma. Graduates can either continue their education at one of
the higher technical institutions at home or abroad or find employment as
junior technicians or vocational teachers.

     A number of special schools provided either purely professional or a
mixture of professional and general secondary education. Among them is a
military training school which also provides general education to children of
members of the regular armed forces, a school for social workers, a school of
administration, a school of music, a school of dramatic arts, a school of fine
arts, and a school for public works foremen and technicians. The course of
study varies with the institution and leads to a certificate of proficiency or
a diploma.

     In addition to the National School of Agriculture, higher technical
education is available at the National School of Public Works, which also
trains engineers.

     All of these institutions, however, had little more than 2,000 students
annually. Most of the vocational training is done inservice through special
training programs set up separately or jointly by government departments and
industrial and commercial enterprises (see ch. 20, Labor). In 1961 the
Federation of Mechanical and Processing Industries established the Center for
the Training and Improvement of Supervisory and Managerial Personnel of the
Ivory Coast which offers a 2-year training program in management for employees
of the Ivory Coast Government; the French Government provided the funds for
buildings and equipment. Some 400 students in 1961 studied on scholarship at
technical institutions or vocational training programs in France, Senegal and
Mali.

Higher Education

     In 1959 the government opened the Center for Higher Education in Abidjan
under the sponsorship of the University of Paris. In 1962 the Center had
faculties of law, sciences and letters, which offered courses leading to the
licence (roughly equivalent to the master of arts degree), and was in the
process of establishing courses in history, geography and medicine. The course
structure has been gradually expanded each year, and by 1967 the Center is
expected to become a full university incorporating the already existing
schools of agriculture, public works, administration, and fine arts, the
proposed school of posts and telecommunications and a higher normal school.
The courses and examinations offered in 1962 were recognized as equivalent to
those offered at the universities in France and at the University of Dakar,
and students from the Center went to one of these institutions for higher
degrees. Admission to the Center as to any French university, was open to
holders of the baccalaureat. In 1961 the student body numbered approximately
300, all of them on government scholarships.

     Nearly 1,000 Ivory Coast students were pursuing their studies in 1961 at
universities in France, and some 200 were at the University of Dakar. More
than 50 percent of them were on scholarships from either the French or the
Ivory Coast government. Largely because of their mystical attachment to French
culture, few Ivory Coast students ever attend other universities in the world.
Pursuance of higher education abroad was subject to the same regulations as
secondary education.

     Most Ivory Coast students at secondary and higher institutions both at
home and abroad are members of one or more of the students' organizations. In
1959 the then dominant student organization, Union Generale des Etudiants et
Eleves de la Cote d'Ivoire (UGEECI), was banned by the government for its
leftist leanings, and a new government-sponsored organization, the Union
Nationale des Etudiants et Eleves de la Cote d'Ivoire, was established, with
branches in every postprimary school in the country. The UGEECI, however,
continued to function among Ivory Coast students in France and in Dakar,
despite strong government action against its members, which included the
cancellation of scholarships and passports and a number of arrests. UGEECI
branches in France are affiliated with the Federation des Etudiants de
l'Afrique Noire en France (FEANF), which has been a vocal center for young
African Marxists and a source of opposition to the government of
Houphouet-Boigny (see ch. 13, Political Dynamics).

The Teacher

     Teaching is an honored and remunerative profession in the Ivory Coast.
As a government employee, the teacher in the public school system has the same
salaries and fringe benefits as other civil servants, which are considerably
higher than those of persons with equivalent education in private employment.
However, the shortage of educated and trained personnel of any kind in the
country has steadily drained off the better-qualified and capable teachers
into other kinds of activity. Many of the political leaders such as Philippe
Yace, are former teachers. The educated Ivory Coaster seeks to live in one of
the major urban centers which offer intellectual stimulation and material
comforts and will refuse to become a teacher if it involves living in a rural
environment. Thus the teaching profession has increasingly been attracting
only the less capable, whose opportunities for advancement in industry or
government are limited by competition. In an effort to combat this tendency,
the government has in 1960 instituted a hardship allowance and free housing
for teachers in remote areas.

     Five classes of teachers are distinguished by their educational
background and salary level, although they all perform the same duties in the
classroom: professors, assistant-professors, instituteurs (fully qualified
teachers), instituteurs-adjoint (associate teachers) and monitors. The
professors teach at the secondary or university levels; assistant-professors,
at the secondary level; and the others at the primary level.

     The training and certification of teachers is identical to that in
France. Professors, who must be university graduates, were trained at Dakar
or in France, and in fact the vast majority of professors in the school
systems are Frenchmen secunded from the French Government. A higher normal
school for the training of professors was expected to open in 1962.

     To become a professor, a student may after at least 2 years of university
study take the examination for the licence d'enseignement (teaching license),
which is the minimum qualification for teaching at the secondary level and
qualifies the holder for appointment as assistant-professor. To become a full
professor, the candidate must have obtained a diploma or a certificate of
higher studies in addition to the licence, spent one year at practice-teaching
and passed a competitive qualifying examination, concours d'agregation. Full
professors are qualified to teach both at the secondary and the university
levels.

     Instituteurs are trained at the normal school at Dabou or at normal
schools in France. The training is divided into 3 years of general academic
study including courses in education and 1 year of special pedagogic training
including practice-teaching. Students are admitted from the fourth year of
secondary school after having obtained the BE or the BEPC and in the first 3
years work toward the modern series baccalaureat. Upon completion of normal
school, students take the examination for the Normal School Certificate and
the certificat d'aptitude pedagogique (CAP) which entitle them for appointment
as instituteurs.

     Instituteurs-adjoint are trained at normal courses which admit students
who have passed the secondary school entrance examination and provide a
4-year course leading to the BE and an additional year of practical training.
Upon completion of the course the student is eligible to take the examination
for the certificat elementaire d'aptitude pedagogique (CEAP) which qualifies
him as an instituteur-adjoint. Success in the first examination exempts the
student from the written part of the CEAP examination but not from the
practical part. Normal courses are usually attached to a secondary school
so that students can obtain their general secondary education and practical
training at the same institution.

     To alleviate the teacher shortage, pedagogic institutes have been
established at Abidjan and Bouake, and a third was contemplated for Daloa,
where persons holding the BE or baccalaureat from regular secondary schools
could receive an intensive short course in teaching methods and practice to
qualify them as full or associate teachers.

     Monitors receive no special training as teachers but must have completed
the first cycle of secondary education and passed the examination for the
certificate of proficiency for monitors (certificat d'aptitude aux fonctions
de moniteur-CAM). They need not have obtained the BE or BEPC to qualify for
the CAM. Monitors were introduced into the school system when it was first
founded at the turn of the century when there were few literates qualified to
teach and the demands of the primary school curriculum were not great. After
the French curriculum was adopted by Ivory Coast schools monitors were used
only as emergency teachers and only in the lower grades of primary school. In
1962 their number was small, but their continued use was necessary because of
the great shortage of teachers.

     In 1962 almost all primary school teachers were African, although some
French instituteurs could be found in private and in urban public schools.
Because of the rigorous qualifications required and the complete absence of
local training facilities, almost all of the secondary school teachers were
French. Under an agreement signed with the government of the Ivory Coast in
1961, the Republic of France secunds each year as many teachers from its
school system as are needed by the school system of the Ivory Coast. The
minimum term of secundment is 2 years and the French Government pays the
teachers' salaries. While filling an immediate need, this arrangement has
allowed the Ivory Coast to procrastinate in the training of nationals in
numbers sufficient to meet the future requirements of the school system.

     The Ministry of Education keeps direct supervision over teachers and
their work through periodic inspections. The teacher is expected to adhere
strictly to the prescribed curriculum and teaching methods and to use only
approved books. Promotion is based on tenure, merit or increase in
qualifications.

     Most teachers belong to the teacher's union, which is an active
pressure group in educational matters. It has been particularly vocal in
demanding complete secularization of schools and an end to the granting of
subsidies to parochial schools. In 1958 the union demanded immediate
nationalization of private schools, and the Catholic Church responded by
threatening to close all its schools to demonstrate their importance in the
school system. Pressure from government officials, many of whom were former
teachers, averted a showdown but the issue continues to be an active one.

Adult Education

     In contrast to countries like Ghana and Nigeria, the Ivory Coast has
done little in the field of adult or mass education. The few projects that
have been undertaken, mostly with United Nations assistance, were pilot
projects in isolated areas and affected few people. The teaching of literacy
to adults has been almost completely neglected except in Abidjan where the
Democratic Party of the Ivory Coast (Parti Democratique de la Cote
d'Ivoire-PDCI), through its youth group, has conducted a number of literacy
courses for the growing number of migrants from rural areas. PDCI youth
leaders have also conducted literacy courses in the government's model
villages such as Yamoussoukro, birthplace of Houphouet-Boigny.

     The main efforts at adult education have been aimed at the farmer and
at the housewife and mother and have consisted of basic training in
nutrition, hygiene and improved farm methods. Radio has played a major part
in this effort; programs are beamed in French to village community centers
where a local instructor translates, explains and illustrates them to the
assembled villagers. Instructors are recruited from among the literates in
the area, and their scarcity has been a major hindrance in the program.
Little is known about the effectiveness of these programs, but one of the
major reasons for the government's planned installation of nationwide
television by 1963 was to utilize it as an instrument for rural education
(see ch. 15, Information and Propaganda).

Intellectual Activity

     Educated citizens of the Ivory Coast, particularly those who have
received higher education in France and have assimilated French culture,
are very conscious of their role as an intellectual elite. However, apparently
they have not organized into any cultural societies or forums on a wide scale
but engage in intellectual activity informally in small groups or
individually.

     Two writers, A. A. Dim Delobsom and Amon d'Aby, have achieved
international reputation for their writing on Ivory Coast political and
cultural history. Delobsom was awarded the Grand Prix de l'Afrique Occidentale
Francaise in 1932 for his ethnological study L'Empire du Magho-Naba.

     Considerable applied research was being carried out in 1962 under the
sponsorship of either the Ivory Coast or the French Government. The research
is aimed largely at aiding the development of the country and as such is
concentrated in the fields of agriculture, horticulture and health. A number
of scientific research organizations covering all of French West Africa have
offices in the Ivory Coast. Among them are the Office de la Recherche
Scientifique et Technique Outre-mer (ORSTROM), and the Institut d'Enseignement
et de Recherches Tropicales (IDERT). In 1962 the Ivory Coast Government, with
the help of a Ford Foundation grant, was planning to establish a Pedagogic
Institute at Abidjan to study the educational requirements of the Ivory Coast
and some of its French African neighbors and to develop new textbooks,
curricula and teaching methods specially designed for the African child.

     The historical and cultural heritage of the peoples of the Ivory Coast
and of Black Africa in general has been a point of particular interest in
research. From the time of its establishment in 1944, the Institut Francaise
d'Afrique Noire (IFAN), centered in Dakar but with a branch in Abidjan, has
conducted numerous anthropological and social studies of great value. After
the Ivory Coast achieved self-government in 1958, the local branch of IFAN
was transformed into the Center of Social Sciences (Centre des Sciences
Humaines) under the Ministry of Education. Under the direction of a French
expert on the Ivory Coast, Bohumil Holas, the Center has continued its
research activities and maintains the small but excellent collection of local
art and artifacts in the Museum of the Ivory Coast.

     Although most of the research is sponsored and financed by the
government, the actual work is carried out mostly by Frenchmen. Those Ivory
Coasters who have the education and training to engage in research usually
find more remunerative and advantageous positions in other fields of endeavor.