EMANCIPATION:  Burkina Faso’s new school programs seek to challenge colonial portrayals of African history, elevate liberation struggles and indigenous knowledge, and strengthen national and cultural sovereignty…

By  Nicholas Mwangi

Burkina Faso has begun reviewing its history, geography and civic education curricula. The government says the aim is to “decolonise” the country’s schools by removing colonial-era portrayals of African history and giving more space to national history, African resistance, cultural values, and local knowledge.

Speaking during a meeting with education officials in Ouagadougou, Secondary Education Minister Moumouni Zoungrana criticised the language used in school textbooks to describe European colonialists.

“Those who came to conquer Africa are called explorers, conquerors. Were they conquerors? They were spies…. They were invaders,” the minister said, according to APA News.

The minister said certain terms in the current materials serve to “infantilize” and “animalize” Africans in the teaching of their own history. “We have made a firm resolution to reread these curricula, to reread the content and to remove the words that are infantilizing and animalizing us,” he said.

As Steve Biko rightly said, what the master has conquered in the colonised is their mind.  No development can take place without the decolonisation of mindsets…

He added that the reform would go beyond removing offensive language. “We have made the same decision to add other chapters that promote our values and eliminate the chapters that are dragging us down,” he said.

Further, during the second phase of Burkina Faso’s National Days of Patriotic Commitment and Citizen Participation (JEPPC), where officials presented education reforms and responded to concerns raised by citizens.

It was emphasised that beyond the revision of historical narratives, the reforms seek to make education more responsive to Burkina Faso’s sociocultural and environmental realities. Measures include strengthening civic and moral education, introducing English progressively from the second grade, expanding instruction in national languages, and promoting bilingual education and cultural activities in schools.

Decolonising reforms

Souleymane Kimbié Armel, of the Comité international Mémorial Thomas Sankara, told BreakThrough News that the curriculum overhaul follows directly from the country’s wider political project.

Armel said the reforms sought to decolonize the minds of younger generations, arguing that previous curricula glorified European colonialists while presenting African societies through degrading descriptions.

He cited the expression “the flight of the Moogho Naaba,” referring to the Mossi king of Ouagadougou at the arrival of invading forces, as an example of terminology that requires critical examination.

“The change in the curriculum is the logical continuation of reforms aimed at decolonizing mindsets, beginning with the youngest members of society,” Armel said.

He also challenged what he described as the longstanding portrayal of Burkina Faso as an inherently poor country, arguing that such narratives obscure the country’s capacities and resources.

According to Armel, the educational system has historically failed to recognize the value of Burkina Faso’s cultural diversity, sometimes presenting ethnic differences as a source of division rather than a strength.

Instead, he said, the reforms aim to restore popular confidence and pride by helping students understand their own histories, cultures and collective capacities.

“All these reforms aim to restore the people’s pride and confidence in their own abilities,” he said.

The emphasis on national history and indigenous knowledge is therefore intended not only to change what students learn but also to challenge inherited assumptions about African societies and their capacity for self-directed development.

Liberation key to new curriculum

Liberation struggles are at the centre of the new curricula, Armel said. “African states and countries of the Global South have always fought for their emancipation. The history of these struggles must be known by present and future generations,” he said. “It is in this spirit that the Haitian Revolution, the Chinese Revolution, and Thomas Sankara’s revolution are being taught.”

“The objective is to sow the seeds of revolution among young students,” he said. He noted that the Ministry has developed teaching modules and curricula and distributed them to teachers.

He added that the reforms are not limited to political education. “Beyond teaching these revolutions, the transformation also involves technical and scientific education, with the aim of ensuring that young Burkinabè are both politically conscious and technically competent.”

Armel linked the reforms to economic sovereignty, drawing on the South African anti-apartheid leader Steve Biko.

“As Steve Biko rightly said, what the master has conquered in the colonised is their mind. No development can take place without the decolonisation of mindsets,” he said.

 “This will help prevent the economy from being outward-oriented and dependent on external forces. It will also help stem the brain drain to Western countries.”

“Teaching in national languages and incorporating indigenous knowledge will contribute to achieving political sovereignty,” he continued.

“In a context where the people must remain continuously mobilized, the education system should enable them to rely on their own capabilities to take charge of their country’s development.”

Challenges ahead

Armel acknowledged that implementing the reforms will be difficult.

“Implementing these curricula also presents challenges, including the need to train teachers in the new concepts and ideas being introduced. This will enable teachers to understand and teach in the spirit of these changes,” he said.

“In addition, textbooks and teaching materials for both teachers and students must be developed to support the reforms and improve their effectiveness.” He also pointed to political opposition. “As with any reform, there is resistance from Francophiles who are ardent supporters of the French system. These groups represent obstacles that must be taken seriously,” he said.

 “Ultimately, the state must provide teachers with training and greater motivation so that they can sustain the revolution within the school system”. – Breakthrough News

Comment

FREE MINDS

Burkina Faso’s decision to decolonise its school curricula deserves a welcome across Africa. Restoring national history, African resistance, cultural values and indigenous knowledge to the classroom is an investment in dignity and intellectual freedom. Colonial domination endured through more than stolen land and forced labour. It also shaped whose knowledge counted, whose achievements deserved celebration and whose resistance was dismissed as disorder. Teaching invasion as exploration sanitises violence and leaves African children viewing their ancestors through the conqueror’s eyes.

Correcting those distortions should be a continental responsibility. Children deserve to encounter Africa as a maker of history: a continent of civilisations, scientific inquiry, political thought, creativity and struggles for freedom. They must also learn to question evidence and challenge authority. The struggle against mental slavery, articulated by Marcus Garvey and echoed throughout Africa’s liberation traditions, remains unfinished wherever education reproduces assumptions of African inferiority. Political independence cannot fulfil its promise while the classroom diminishes the people it should empower. Burkina Faso’s ambitions must now be matched by trained teachers, sound textbooks and resources. Historical recovery requires rigorous scholarship, open debate and space for inconvenient truths, including scrutiny of those currently exercising power.

SA must act

For South Africa, this initiative exposes an uncomfortable failure of urgency. The ANC received an overwhelming mandate to dismantle apartheid’s inheritance. Its stewardship of curriculum transformation deserves sharper scrutiny than liberation credentials alone can answer.

There have been reforms. A revised History curriculum for Grades 4 to 12 was published for public comment in March 2026. That development matters. Yet, a process stretching across years invites a legitimate question: why has meaningful transformation taken so long? The black child should never have to wait indefinitely for an education that places African experience, dispossession, resistance and achievement at its centre.

Some critics suspect that political caution reflects anxiety about making white children feel guilty and black children angry. That remains conjecture, not an established explanation of ANC policy. But the underlying proposition deserves an unequivocal response: protecting anyone’s comfort cannot justify diluting history.

No child inherits personal guilt for crimes committed before their birth. Every child inherits a responsibility to understand the society those crimes helped create. Anger at injustice can become democratic purpose when teaching provides knowledge, context and critical judgment.

Africa should embrace Burkina Faso’s direction and insist on credible implementation. South Africa must turn curriculum commitments into classroom practice, with clear deadlines and public accountability.

Our children deserve the intellectual freedom to understand their past and shape their future.