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Education Reform – 2006

In May 2006, Burundi adopted a policy to offer free primary education. As the policy went into effect, primary enrollment increased by 30%. Along with offering a free primary education, the government also initiated recruitment of 5,000 teachers on top of the existing 21,000 teachers, increased the education budget by $1.5 million and purchased thousands of benches and blackboards.¹ As a result, the net primary enrollment increased from 1,036,859 to 1,324,937. The secondary enrollment also increased from 159,240 to 180,384.²

1. “Burundi Struggles To Implement Free Primary Education,” Voice of America News, May 16, 2006
2. “World Development Indicators,” World Bank, 2013, http://databank.worldbank.org.