Modern Practices of Education Modernization in West Africa (Using the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire as an Example)
Author(s)
Larisa N. Danilova, Doctor of Sciences (Pedagogy), Associate Professor at the Department of Theory and History of Pedagogy, https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1272-401X, Author ID in RSCI 652033, Yaroslavl State Pedagogical University named after K.D. Ushinsky
108 Respublikanskaya St, Yaroslavl, Russia, 150000, tel: +7 (4852) 302325, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Abstract. Introduction. Many African countries are now taking measures to improve their educational systems, and most remain focused on the total eradication of illiteracy. According to UNESCO, every fifth child of primary school age is outside the system. These statistics have a slow trend to decrease, but the situation is complicated by poverty, armed conflict and migration, a child’s gender and religion, place of residence, and health status. Educational reforms in African states are being implemented with consideration of these factors. In this article, such reform efforts are examined on the example of the subregion economy leader, the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire. After the long-term complex crisis that the country experienced in the late 1990s—2010s, its educational system, which had been dynamically developing since the late 1960s, lost its leading position and faced problems centered around the unavailability of even basic education and simultaneously problems concerning global educational challenges (informatization of education, access to education for children with disabilities, gender mainstreaming, etc.). The purpose of the study is to analyze the current modernization of Ivorian education.
Materials and Methods. The study was carried out on the basis of a cultural approach supplemented by comparative-pedagogical research methods involving a wide range of Ivorian and foreign sources.
Results. The analysis characterizes modern Ivorian reforms and their identity in the region. Their objectives, causes, and content are defined. Patterns in the current modernization have been identified. Parallels with changes in the sub-regional context are drawn.
Conclusion. It is determined that the priority areas for the development of education in modern Côte d’Ivoire are improvement of basic education, expansion of non-formal education, renovation of teacher education, as well as digitalization in education. The study also established that the principles of carrying out reforms that the reformers adhere to include targeting, pluralism, openness, cultural conformity, globalism, and a scientific approach. All that, as well as the reasons and expectations of the changes, demonstrates similarities with the educational policies of the other West African countries, but at the same time determines the cultural identity and uniqueness of Ivorian educational changes.
Keywords: educational reforms, education in Africa, education in Côte d’Ivoire, school development in Côte d’Ivoire, teacher training in Côte d’Ivoire
For citation: Danilova L.N. Modern Practices of Education Modernization in West Africa (Using the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire as an Example). Pedagogicheskiy IMIDZH = Pedagogical IMAGE. 2024; 18 (2): pp. 136-148 (In Rus.). DOI: https://doi.org/10.32343/2409-5052-2024-18-2-136-148
DOI: : https://doi.org/10.32343/2409-5052-2024-18-2-136-148
UDС: 37.014