Burkina Faso: Getting an Early Start in Education Sets the Trend for Later Life
On 20 February 2003, Tamesweoghin nursery opened its doors in Ganzourgou, forever changing this rural community in central Burkina Faso. At Tamesweoghin, children between the ages of three and six enjoy a free pre-school education, learn to socialize with other children, and are provided with nutritious meals.
Seventy-two children currently attend Tamesweoghin, 43 girls and 29 boys. The three educators, also known as petites mamans, are responsible for planning and organizing the nursery’s various activities, which include sports, educational games, drawing and painting, clay work, and poetry recital, to name a few.
Five-year-old Saudata Kabore seems shy at first, but she soon speaks animatedly about her experience at the center. “This morning we sang,” she declares proudly. “I like coming here because I draw pictures and I do clay work.”
UNICEF, together with the Ministry for Social Welfare and National Solidarity, is providing financial and technical support as well as pedagogical and play material for 90 such centers throughout the country. Extensive research has shown that access to early childhood development (ECD) services and early learning for young children will strongly influence their future physical and mental health and social development. Thus, ECD not only ensures a healthy start into a child’s life but also means an investment into the development of their society’s future.
Salimata Kabore, one of the educators at the center, can see the difference between those children who have the benefit of such an early start and those who do not. “Children who attend the center from an early age are more social and independent,” she notes. “They also receive hygiene education and are used to washing their hands before meals. Children who have never attended the center usually don’t learn these important behaviors.”
Even though attendance at the center is free, all parents have agreed to make a regular symbolic contribution to its operation and maintenance. In addition, the parent-teacher association cultivates a nearby piece of arable land, thereby helping to ensure that each child receives a daily nutritious meal.
Since the establishment of the nursery, there has been a steady increase in primary school enrolment in the Tamesweoghin community, and enrolment in pre-school has increased from 32 children (including 19 girls) in 2003-2004 to 193 children (including 90 girls) in 2010-2011. Clearly, the concept of early childhood education and the need to prepare children for entering primary school is taking hold here in Burkina Faso
