Burkina Faso Moves To Decolonise School Curriculum

Burkina Faso is overhauling its history, geography and civic education curricula for the new school year as part of a government drive to “decolonise” what students are taught.

“We have decided to review these curricula, remove words that treat us like children or animals, and add chapters that promote our values,” Higher Education Minister Moumouni Zoungrana said at a government event.

Zoungrana said existing textbooks portrayed Burkinabe people as “mere objects”, while giving little attention to their victories and focusing instead on defeats and negative traits.

Burkina Faso was a French colony until gaining independence in 1960.

School textbooks have not yet been revised, according to a history and geography teacher in the capital, Ouagadougou. However, the ministry has distributed a booklet to teachers outlining expressions to avoid and chapters that should be removed or added.

“We will no longer speak of explorers…but of invaders,” the teacher said.

The teacher added that the revised curriculum would seek to rehabilitate African resistance fighters who were portrayed as tyrants or barbarians in older textbooks.

The changes are expected to affect how students are taught about Burkina Faso’s history, its colonial past and African resistance to colonial rule.

SOURCE: AFP