Privatisation and commercialisation of public education in Francophone countries
Tuesday 22nd September 2026
Today is Francophone Mobilisation Day against the Commercialisation of Education when civil society organisations across French-speaking countries stand up for the human right to quality, free public education for all.
In recent years, civil society organisations and academics have worked together to create videos, raising awareness around the impacts of privatisation on labour rights, educational equity and quality. This blog, the first of two, spotlights three videos made by Réseau de Recherche Francophone sur la Privatisation de l'Education (ReFPE) (the Francophone Research Network on the Privatisation of Education). The network includes over 30 researchers from 13 countries.
Education Privatisation in Francophone Africa
Video by the Réseau de Recherche Francophone sur la Privatisation de l'Education (ReFPE) titled Etat des lieux de la privatisation en Afrique francophone with Thibaut Lauwerier
In the first interview, Thibaut Lauwerier, researcher at the University of Geneva, Switzerland, and president of the NGO, educoop, discusses research undertaken by 13 researchers between 2021 and 2022 which aims to understand the state of play of education privatisation in Francophone Africa. The research focuses on five countries: Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Morocco, Niger and Togo.
Five key findings
In these countries, there is a general trend towards greater privatisation since the countries became independent. Across the countries, most primary school pupils attend public school. The private sector is more dominant at preschool and secondary school levels.
There are significant differences in the education offered by public and private schools. Generally, private schools have better quality infrastructure, with drinking water, electricity and toilets. For example, in Togo almost 50% of private preschools have a toilet, in comparison to 15% of public preschools. At the same time, teachers in the private sector experience more precarious conditions with lower wages and insufficient qualifications. For example, in Côte d’Ivoire, the most common qualification among private school teachers is a primary school level qualification. By contrast, the most frequent qualification among public school teachers is a secondary school level qualification.
Public demand for private educational provision is primarily driven by a lack of public school provision. States do not adequately fund preschool or secondary education or public schools in rural areas. Other factors include: teacher strikes, poor quality educational resources and a wish for alternative pedagogies.
Public policies and legislation promote the development of private education, which is not accompanied by necessary regulation. As a result, states are unable to ensure effective control of privatisation.
Public education also experiences increasing privatisation. For example, in Burkina Faso lots of families are faced with additional charges from public schools, despite public education officially being free.
Thibaut’s key recommendation is that international actors should support the effective implementation of international declarations, which note that states must regulate private actors in education.
Further details on the respective roles and duties of states and private actors in education can be found in the Abidjan Principles, an officially recognised reference point on the right to education.
The Impact of Privatisation on Teachers in Francophone Countries in Sub-Saharan Africa
Video by the Réseau de Recherche Francophone sur la Privatisation de l'Education (ReFPE) titled Impact de la privatisation sur les enseignants en Afrique with Marie France Lange, Thibaut Lauwerier, Rita Locatelli
During this webinar from 2022, Thibaut is joined by Rita Locatelli, a researcher from Université Catholique de Milan as well as Marie France Lange, director of research at the Institut de recherche pour le développement (CEPED IKD-Universite de Paris Cite). Together they present their joint research titled The impact of privatisation on teachers in francophone Sub-Saharan African countries.
All of the academics underline the difficulties of researching education privatisation in Francophone countries in Sub-Saharan Africa due to the lack of quantitative data. Even where data exists, it is often not reliable. For example, private schools are often not registered and thus not included in the statistics. The lack of good quality statistical data on the private sector makes it difficult to undertake research. Nevertheless, the speakers outline a number of developments.
Privatisation and Commercialisation of Higher Education in Switzerland
Privatisation et marchandisation de l'enseignement supérieur en Suisse by the Réseau de Recherche Francophone sur la Privatisation de l'Education (ReFPE) with Fanny Ferrillo.
Fanny Ferrillo, master’s student at the University of Geneva, outlines the increasing privatisation of higher education in Geneva, despite the availability of good quality public higher education, with a growing number of private institutions and students enrolled there. She also explains that public higher education in Switzerland is equally affected by privatisation with, for example, funding from the private sector flowing into these public institutions. She concludes by linking privatisation to the growth of socio-economic inequalities.
2022 Presentations and Discussion on the Education Commercialisation
Recording of the online event to celebrate the francophone mobilisation day against the commercialisation of education in 2022
In 2022, policymakers, civil society organisations and researchers gathered together for an online event on the privatisation of education in Francophone Africa, which included a series of presentations still relevant today.
Huguette Rakotoarivony, national coordinator of the Coalition Nationale Malgache pour l’Education pour Tous (CONAMEPT), and Assim Konate from Tribune Jeunes pour le Droit au Mali (TRIJEUD) presented the research synthesis An overview of the privatisation of education in Francophone Africa: a comparative analysis (États des lieux de la privatisation de l'éducation en Afrique francophone : regards croisés). The paper explores the existing evidence on education privatisation across Côte d’Ivoire, Madagascar, Mali, and Sénégal and is a collaborative effort between their organisations and also the Coalition des Organisations en Synergie pour la Défense de l’Education Publique (COSYDEP) and the Mouvement Ivoirien des Droits Humains (MIDH).
Explore the full video series by the Réseau de Recherche Francophone sur la Privatisation de l'Education (ReFPE) here.
Learn more about education privatisation and marketisation in Francophone countries as well as civil society groups advocating for the strengthening of the right to quality, free public education here.
Views expressed in this blog/ the videos are those of the author/s’ or speaker/s’ alone. Publication on this blog does not represent an endorsement by PEHRC of the opinions expressed.