Overview of the Country
Background:
Official name: Republic of Burundi 1
Capital: Bujumbura 1
Location: Eastern Africa 1
Official languages: Kirundi and French 1
Other languages: English and Swahili 1
Population: 13 ,238 ,559 (2023) 2
Gross Domestic Product (GDP): US$ 2.64 Billion (2023) 3
GNI per capita, PPP (current international $): US$ 950 (2023) 4
Membership of Regional Economic Communities (RECs):
- East African Community (EAC)
- Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA)
- Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS)
- International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR)
Additional Resources:
Sources:
Education Policy Objectives, Governance, and Structure
The five priority programs of the Education Sector Plan include: 1
- Improving access and equity
- Improving the quality of teaching
- Expanding and modernizing higher education and scientific research
- Expanding and reforming of technical and vocational education and training
- Improving sector governance.
Improving Access and Equity 1
- Ensure at least one year of preschool for all 5-year-old children;
- Enroll all children aged 6 to 11 in school;
- Implement measures to encourage all out-of-school children and adolescents of school age for the first three cycles of fundamental education to return to school;
- Increase access and completion rates for the fourth cycle of fundamental education;
- Align post-fundamental general and pedagogical training with the needs of the higher education system.
Improving the Quality of Teaching 1
- Strengthen the capacity of all teachers in their profession;
- Improve the results of fundamental and post-fundamental general and pedagogical students;
- Use evaluation results to enhance quality management;
- Improve the teaching of science and technology;
- Develop curricula for preschool, fundamental, and post-fundamental education.
Expanding and Modernizing Higher Education and Scientific Research 1
- Develop new engineering training programs to meet labor market needs and promote regional integration, and modernize existing training offerings to ensure better alignment between training and employment;
- Rationally distribute students across technical and scientific programs;
- Develop quality assurance in higher education and scientific research;
- Promote the emergence and realization of innovative business creation projects that capitalize on the skills and research outcomes of public research and higher education institutions;
- Provide statistical data and strengthen the financial autonomy of institutions.
Expanding and Reforming Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) 1
- Effectively achieve the qualitative and quantitative objectives of TVET;
- Build and equip TVET institutions to increase training capacity;
- Improve training offerings to ensure quality education aligned with employment needs;
- Support the improvement of employability for TVET graduates;
- Establish management mechanisms for the harmonized and balanced development of the educational system, particularly in the context of TVET expansion.
Improving Sector Governance 1
- Ensure equitable management and provide close supervision and support;
- Produce timely quality statistics;
- Strengthen capacities and establish human resource management mechanisms to improve personnel allocation at both central and decentralized levels;
- Allocate financial resources in line with sector priorities;
- Ensure regular dialogue on the implementation of educational policies;
- Ensure necessary skills to implement programs.
Governance Structure for Education: 2
- Ministère de l’Éducation Nationale et de la Recherche Scientifique oversees all levels of education, including preschool, fundamental, post-fundamental, technical and vocational education, and higher education
Education System Structure: 3
- Primary: lasts for 9 years. It is compulsory and public primary school is free.
- Secondary: lasts for 3 years. Entry into Secondary school system is mediated by a national exam. Students are placed into specialized tracks based on that examination taken at the end of primary studies.
- Tertiary Education: includes both private and public universities.
Additional Resources:
- REF REPUBLIQUE DU BURUNDI. (2018). PLAN NATIONAL DE DEVELOPPEMENT DU BURUNDI PND BURUNDI 2018-2027
- REF Plan transitoire de l’éducation au Burundi 2018-2020
- République du Burundi. (2020). Décret n°100/090 du 28 octobre 2020 portant missions, organisation et fonctionnement du Ministère de l'Éducation Nationale et de la Recherche Scientifique
- UIS country profile of Burundi
Sources:
Access and Participation
School age population (2023): 1
- Pre-primary: 1 204 565
- Primary: 2 369 146
- Lower secondary: 1 017 859
- Upper secondary: 867 604
Gros enrolment ratio (2020): 1
- Pre-primary: No data found
- Primary: 105.16%
- Lower secondary: 44.76%
- Upper secondary: 48.37%
Completion rate (2017): 2
- Primary: 50.14%
- Lower secondary: 25.34%
- Upper secondary: 7.16%
Out-of-school rate: 2
- Primary: 17.89%
- Lower secondary: 33.32%
- Upper secondary: 61.58%
Additional Resources:
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Teaching
Percentage of teachers qualified according to the national standards (2020): 1
- Pre-primary: 94.02%
- Primary: 93.52%
- Lower secondary: 98.86%
- Upper secondary: 94.01%
Percentage of teachers Trained according to the national standards:
- Pre-primary: No data found
- Primary: No data found
- Lower secondary: No data found
- Upper secondary: No data found
Sources:
School Facilities
School infrastructure and facilities: 1
Electricity:
- Primary: 8.73% (2019)
- Lower Secondary: 41.89% (2017)
- Upper Secondary: 100% (2018)
Single‐sex basic sanitation facilities:
- Primary: 34.70% (2019)
- Lower Secondary: 82.47% (2017)
- Upper Secondary: 100% (2018)
Sources:
Technical and Vocational Education and Training, and Higher Education
Participation rate of youth and adults in formal and non-formal education and training in the previous 12 months: 1
15-64 years old:
- Both sexes: 13.53% (2020)
- Male: 14.34%
- Female: 12.87%
15-24 years old:
- Both sexes: 35.51% (2020)
- Male: 37.75%
- Female: 33.77%
Proportion of 15- to 24-year-olds enrolled in vocational education: 1
- Both sexes: 2.75% (2020)
- Male: 2.77%
- Female: 2.74%
Share of youth not in employment, education or training (NEET): 2
- Both sexes: 11.2% (2020)
- Male: 11.5%
- Female: 10.9%
Number of people 15-35 years old: 3
- Total: 4,573,963 (2024)
- Employed: 3,240,653 people (70.9%)
- Unemployed: 36,134 people (0.8%)
- Inactive: 353,567 people (7.7%)
- Student: 944,066 people (20.6%)
Gross enrolment ratio for tertiary education: 4
- Both sexes: 6.22% (2023)
- Male: 7.00%
- Female: 5.44%
Total number of accredited Higher Education institutions: 50, including: 5
- Public: 7
- Private: 43
Additional Resources:
- UNEVOC TVET Country Profile
- ADEA Continental Mapping of HESR (upcoming)
Sources:
Equity and Inclusion
| Gender Parity Index (2020) (GPI) Gross enrolment ratio 1 | Adjusted Gender Parity Index (GPIA) Gross enrolment ratio 2 | Proportion of schools with adapted infrastructure and materials for students with disabilities 2 | |
| Primary | 1.01 | N/A | 0.00% (2019) |
| Lower secondary | 1.21 | N/A | 0.00 % (2019) |
| Upper secondary | 1.14 | N/A | 0.00 % (2018) |
| Tertiary | N/A | 0.78 (2023) | N/A |
Additional Resources:
- Ministère de la Solidarité Nationale, des Affaires Sociales, des Droits de la Personne Humaine et du Genre
- Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE) Chapter
- Evidence for Gender and Education Resource (EGER) Profile
- GEMR – Inclusion Profile
Sources:
Education Financing
| Government expenditure on education as a percentage of GDP 1 | Expenditure on education as a percentage of total government expenditure 1 |
| 4.82% (2022) | 15.73% (2023) |
Additional Resources:
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Literacy
| 15+ years | 15-24 years | 25-64 years | 65+ years | |
| Literacy rate by age group 1 | 75.54% | 93.56% | 68.44% | 34.32% |
| Both sexes | Males | Females | |
| Literacy rate by sex 1 | 75.54% (2022) | Males: 81.84% | 69.44% |
Additional Resources:
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Educational Technology
| Proportion of schools with access to internet for pedagogical purposes 1 | Proportion of secondary schools with access to computers for pedagogical purposes 1 | |
| Lower secondary | 0.00% (2019) | 0.00% (2019) |
| Upper secondary | 6.85% (2018) | 17.12% (2018) |
Additional Resources:
Sources:
Education in Emergencies (EiE)
| Refugees and asylum seekers 1 | Internally Displaced Persons due to conflict or natural disasters 2 |
| 89,952 | 74 000 |