Since October 1, 2026, Burkinabe students no longer learn about their country through vocabulary that reduces it to poverty, landlockedness, or weakness. Under the leadership of Captain Ibrahim Traoré, Burkinabe schools are entering a decisive battle: the battle over the national narrative, memory, and collective confidence.
A challenge for every student
For a child in Ouagadougou, Bobo-Dioulasso, or a rural municipality, the words heard at school shape their view of themselves and their future.
Systematically saying “poor country,” “small country,” or “indebted country” risks instilling the idea that Burkina Faso’s destiny, as dictated by imperialist forces, is already written.
The reform aims to replace these labels with “challenges and opportunities,” and “landlocked country” with “continental country.”
It is not about denying economic or security difficulties, but about refusing to let them become a permanent identity imposed on future generations.
A school that changes its narrative
In history, “colonization” becomes “imperialist invasion,” the “colonizer” is designated as “invader,” while “explorers” are now presented as “spies.”
Decolonization and the independences are taught as the “liberation of Africa.” This development is a decolonization of knowledge.
Its goal is to move teaching away from an exclusively European view of Africa, to rehabilitate African resistance, and to give students reference points more faithful to their history.
These programs aim to remove expressions deemed humiliating and to add content that values African values.
African knowledge in school
The reform is not limited to vocabulary. Students now study African knowledge and know-how, Burkinabe revolutions, and the Haitian Revolution of 1804, included in the fourth-year curriculum.
This opening has a concrete effect: the student discovers that Africa is not only a territory that has undergone history, but also a space of resistance, inventions, governance, and struggles for freedom.
The reference to Haiti notably recalls a founding victory against slavery and colonial domination.
Refusing fatalism
Terrorism is now described as a “war of re-invasion” in the school context. This designation reflects the government’s reading: the country is not only facing a security threat, but an attempt to regain control of its territory and its future.
The central message is clear: Burkina Faso no longer wants to educate its children in a language of submission.
It wants to pass on a faithful memory, a pride based on facts, and an ability to face challenges without believing themselves condemned. The battle of words is also a battle for sovereignty.
Cédric KABORE
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