The ministry in charge of national education organized, for a day, a tooling session for journalists from the education desk on the “Back to school” campaign and the major current issues in education in Burkina Faso. It was this 1is October 2023 in Koudougou.
25 journalists in conclave in Koudougou, for a day, to immerse themselves in the “Back to school” campaign, led by the ministry in charge of national education with the support of UNICEF. Objective, to strengthen the capacity of participants in processing information on education. To this end, several communications punctuated this session such as that on education in emergency situations and that on the curricular reform of national education: State of play and perspectives. There was also that on the strategic plan for the development of basic education and secondary education and especially communication on the “Back to school” campaign.
For the Minister in charge of National Education, Joseph André Ouédraogo, everything that the participants learned in addition to what they already know, “reassures us in the idea that this session was not too much”. One of the big challenges his department is facing at the moment is education in emergency situations, he says. Because according to Joseph André Ouédraogo, the context is such that today, the government must do everything to ensure that all children in the country have access to education. And it is a challenge that they intend to meet thanks to the contribution of journalists.
He thus thanks UNICEF which is supporting them in this «lutte noble». The latter specifically supports teacher training activities to prepare for the start of the school year, and the distribution of inputs throughout the country in order to support the most vulnerable children, says Emilie Roy, head of the education section of UNICEF. . She adds that “We also support the construction of temporary infrastructure when necessary and permanent structures when we can.”
According to him, the campaign is currently in full swing and will extend over approximately four weeks to ensure that all children and all communities have received their message. Concretely, as part of the “Back to school” campaign, Emilie Roy affirms that “we communicate with more than a million people to encourage the registration of children in school throughout Burkina Faso.” And the distribution of inputs is intended for more than a hundred thousand children, she assures.
Abdoul-Karim Etienne SANON
