Interview with Andrè Bampoye, Burundi's director-general for secondary education

In August 2005, Burundi joined other southern and eastern African countries and abolished primary-school fees. Having recently emerged from a 12-year civil war, Burundi already faces numerous challenges, including an external debt of US $1.4 billion. IRIN interviewed Andrè Bampoye, the director of secondary education in Burundi's Ministry of Education, on how the government is dealing with the problems associated with free basic education. The following are excerpts of that interview: QUESTION: The government abolished primary-school fees in August 2005. Has the education situation normalised enough for this initiative to be considered a success? ANSWER: It is not 100 percent. There are a lot of challenges still to be addressed, but a lot is being done in terms of making sure that the children go to school. Q: Following the general elections in 2005, did the new government make education a priority, given that 58 percent of Burundians live below the poverty line? A: The best showcase of return to normality is education. If development partners see that the children are going to school then confidence in Burundi will increase. Through education we also teach children about conflict prevention and resolution. It is an indicator that things are going back to normal. Something is working if education is working. Q: Poverty adversely affects access to schooling even under the free education system. How are you dealing with this? A: There is a poverty-reduction-strategy paper being financed by the World Bank and IMF [International Monetary Fund] as a modality whereby the country comes up with priorities for financing, and education is one of these priorities. There is a multisectoral approach in dealing with this. In the same light, Burundi has qualified for the [World Bank/IMF's] Heavily Indebted Poor Countries [HIPC] initiative, and already the first batch of 16 billion Burundian francs [$17.2 million] for education has been received. Some of this money will go towards helping children with special needs. Q: How do you identify these special-needs groups? A: There is a criterion in place at the local level among the communities to identify the destitute families to see who qualifies as vulnerable. Additionally, we have a programme for street children and demobilised child soldiers, which provides legal redress for abused children along with support for family reconciliation. Q: Despite the abolition of primary-school fees, some parents have not enrolled their children in schools. Why is this? A: Some of the parents do not yet see the need. Then there is the opportunity lost for them, as they are still using their children as labour. The reasons are mainly sociocultural. Q: Has the government initiated any programme to inform parents on the importance of educating their children? A: The local administration is doing a great job in the advocacy and sensitisation of the parents. Also, the Ministry of Education is participating in social mobilisation along with the members of parliament, who are going to [inform] the people at the grassroots level. Q: Do you think these sensitisation campaigns are effective, given the large number of Burundian refugees in neighbouring countries who have yet to return home? A: These campaigns are organised at the local administration level, and also there are meetings taking place at the refugee camps outside the country. There have been, for instance, the tripartite meetings between the UNHCR [United Nations refugee agency], the Burundi government and the Tanzania government to encourage attitude change and look at the possibility of using some of the teachers in these camps in the programme. Q: The issue of retention in school is quite a challenge for the countries that have already abolished fees in primary schools. What measures has the Burundian government put in place to deal with this? A: The curricula should be relevant; the infrastructure, child-friendly; and the school feeding programme in place. We also add value by deworming the children. Also, water and sanitation are important, especially for the girls, because at some time of the month they will miss school if there are no private toilets. Q: Does the government have any plans to help pupils who complete the six years of basic education? A: It is quite a challenge, as, admittedly, most will not go to secondary school. We should take up the challenge to increase access to secondary education for these children in our countries. At the moment, there are technical schools where these children can learn a trade. Q: What is your opinion on the fee-abolition initiative? A: It is a noble gesture, as millions of children get to have access to basic education. However, access and quality have to go together. In the schools, something qualitative has to be learned if gains are to be made.