Côte d'Ivoire's 2015 legal and policy reform to achieve gender equality in education

In 2014, enrolment rates in primary and secondary education in Côte d'Ivoire were alarmingly low, and the enrolment gap between girls and boys was particularly large. Following a landmark law in 2015 which made primary and lower secondary education compulsory, Côte d'Ivoire drastically improved the enrolment rates in primary and secondary education. It also closed the gender gap in primary education and managed to substantially reduce it at the secondary level. 

Human development heavily relies on education. In countries where a large part of the population is young, ensuring the adequate training of the future workforce through education constitutes the main lever of future socio-economic development. Education is also one of the most powerful determinants of women's empowerment. Guaranteeing that girls benefit from an uninterrupted primary and secondary education not only improves their future economic empowerment, but also has substantial effects on all other aspects of their life trajectories.  

In 2014, 44% of Côte d'Ivoire's population was less than 14 years old. In this context, enrolment rates in education, and particularly of girls, remained alarmingly low. The gross enrolment rate – which looks at enrolment of students regardless of their age1 – of Ivorian girls in primary education stood at 81%. This was substantially lower than Ivorian boys (93%), and well below the global average rate (103% for both boys and girls). Likewise, Côte d'Ivoire's overall gross enrolment rate in secondary education was 36 percentage points lower than the world's average, with a gender gap of 14 percentage points. 

Among the shortcomings of the education system, Ivorian policy makers identified enrolment levels as one of the most pressing issues to be addressed. To increase school enrolment and ensure children remained in schools, the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire enacted a landmark law in 2015 structured around four axes:

• Make primary and lower secondary education compulsory. Article 1 of the 2015 education law mandates compulsory education for all children of both sexes aged 6-16 years – which corresponds to primary and secondary education. 

• Sanction parents who failed to send their children to school. The law establishes clear sanctions against parents who fail to comply with the obligation (Article 3), with fines ranging from Franc CFA 50 000 to 500 000 (about USD 80 to 800) as well as prison sentences of two to six months. The law foresees a 10-year transition period due to end in 2025 during which sanctions against parents do not apply if there is no public school near their home. 

• Reintegrate out-of-school children aged 9-16 years through a two-pronged approach. For children aged 9-13 years who have dropped out of the educational system, the law mandates the creation of classes passerelles (bridging classes) to facilitate their re-entry into the general track. For out-of-school children aged 14-16 years, the law reorganises and further develops the vocational training system to ensure their successful and accelerated entry into the labour market.

• Laying the foundations for an enhanced dialogue between parents and educational institutions. The law mandates that parents' representatives must be closely associated with school-level bodies in charge of consultation and institutional management.

Côte d'Ivoire also strengthened its policy framework and closely monitored the effects of the reform, which culminated in the organisation of the États généraux de l’éducation nationale et de l’alphabétisation (EGENA – General Assembly on National Education and Literacy) in 2021-22. The nation-wide consultations involved stakeholders ranging from officials of the Ministry of National Education and Literacy to school directors, experts, academics and development partners. The EGENA assessed the current strengths of the Ivorian educational system, identified its remaining weaknesses, and provided a clear and structured framework for the future development of education in Côte d'Ivoire. It also highlighted the need to increase girls' enrolment in secondary education and to reinforce existing mechanisms, such as the construction of more secondary boarding schools. 

The 2015 Ivorian law on education drastically increased enrolment rates and reduced gender gaps. Gross enrolment in primary education reached 99% in 2021 – nearly on par with the global average – and the share of out-of-school children went down from 27% in 2014 to 3% in 2021. In secondary education, gross enrolment increased by more than 20 percentage points, attaining 61% in 2021 – although it remains 15 percentage points below the global average. Meanwhile, girls' gross enrolment rates converged towards boys' levels. Between 2014 and 2021, the gender gap narrowed down from 12 to 5 percentage points in primary education, and from 14 to 9 percentage points in secondary education. 

While the law primarily focused on enrolment levels, it left significant crucial barriers unaddressed. These challenges continue to hamper the quality and reach of education in Côte d'Ivoire and often constitute severe obstacles to girls' and women's school enrolment: 

• The overall quality of public education remains low, characterised by a lack of training of teachers, limited access to schooling material, low levels of school achievements and poor infrastructures – including limited availability of secondary schools. 

• Safety at school and on the way to school is poor. Gender-based violence at school often constitutes the primary barrier to girls’ secondary schooling, notably in remote places where long travel distances to educational infrastructures can be potentially dangerous or perceived as such by parents. 

• In contexts of limited resources, discriminatory social norms continue to favour the education of boys to the detriment of girls, who are often confined to their domestic role. 

• The education provided is often misaligned with the needs of the Ivoirian economy which leaves many young graduates from secondary schools and universities without job opportunities. 

• Gender-based segregation by field of studies – notably in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) – remains substantial in tertiary education, reflecting discriminatory views on boys' and girls' innate abilities.