Education System in Burundi
| Education | School/Level | Grade From | Grade To | Age From | Age To | Years | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Primary | Ecole primaire | 1 | 6 | 6 | 12 | 6 | Certificat de Fin ďEtudes Primaires (Certificate of End of Primary Studies) | |
| Middle | Collège | 7 | 10 | 12 | 16 | 4 | Certificat du Tronc Commun (Common Cycle Certificate) | |
| Secondary | Lycée général | 11 | 13 | 17 | 29 | 3 | Diplôme ďEtat (State Diploma) | |
| Vocational | Collège- Lycée technique | 7 | 12 | 13 | 19 | 7 | Technicien A3 (A3 Technician) - 5 years Technicien A2 (A2 Technician) - 7 years | |
| Vocational | Enseignants du primaire | 4 | Primary school teachers are trained in lycée pédagogiques or in four years in teacher training institutes following upon Collège (4 years of secondary school). | |||||
| Tertiary | Premier cycle universitaire | 2 | Candidature | |||||
| Tertiary | Enseignant secondaire | 3 | Diplôme Professionnel ďEnseignement (Professional Teaching Diploma) | |||||
| Tertiary | Deuxième cycle universitaire | 2 | Two years' study beyond the Candidature leads to the Licence | |||||
| Tertiary | Troisème cycle universitaire | 1 | One year following upon the Licence or the Diplôme d'Ingénieur |
Primary Education
Education in Burundi is compulsory for 6 years, meaning that every child is supposed to complete their primary education. Unfortunately half a million children never enter school at all. Of those who do, just 36% complete this phase. The genders are however fairly evenly represented.
Secondary Education
The remaining seven years are intended to be spent at secondary school, although few children in Burundi ever have the opportunity, as average school dwell time is just short of 5 years. The language of instruction continues to be Kisundi or French. The academic model is similar to the one used in France.
Tertiary Education
Tertiary enrollment is just over 1%. The only institution is the University of Burundi in Bujumbura which was founded in 1960, and is illustrated here in better days.
The buildings were badly damaged during the civil war, and only 3,000 students currently study under deteriorating conditions. Despite this, it maintains faculties of arts & humanities, law, medicine, psychology & education science, pure sciences, applied sciences, and agricultural science. It also hosts institutes of agriculture, commerce, sports & physical education, technology, and pedagogy.