After years marked by structural crises and a general decline in academic standards, the Ivorian school system in 2025 presents a radically transformed image. Driven by the historic reforms of President Alassane Ouattara and the leadership of Professor Mariatou Koné, the education system is now reaping the rewards of a strategy focused on performance and transparency.

1. A dramatic leap in infrastructure and access

Massive investment in real estate has become a tangible reality. Ivory Coast has gone from 294 colleges and high schools in 2011 to 902 in 2024 .

1. Equity: The country now has 24 institutions of excellence, including 15 girls' boarding schools (like the one in Sinématiali), symbols of gender promotion.
2. Schooling: The gross primary school enrollment rate jumped to 105.9% in 2025 , while that of lower secondary school more than doubled in 14 years.

2. The EGENA Pact: A compass for quality

Faced with the alarming findings of the PASEC 2019 report on the level of students, the General Assembly of National Education and Literacy (EGENA) made it possible to define 42 transformative levers.

1. Colossal budget: More than 865 billion FCFA mobilized for the implementation of the recommendations.
2. Transparency: Introduction of the Objectives and Performance Contract (COP) and Budgeted Annual Work Plans (PTAB) for results-oriented management.

3. Bold educational reforms

The return to traditional dictation and differentiated weighting has paid off. The international recognition of Ivorian students, prize-winners in Canada (dictation) and Botswana (mathematics), testifies to this resurgence in academic standards.

Major innovations of 2025:

1. Curriculum Revision: Introduction of English from primary school, of computer science (ICT) from pre-primary school and of the general history of Africa.
2. Digitalisation: Deployment of the Education Information and Management System (SIGE) and strengthening of the "My school at home" platform.
3. Regionalization: New teachers are now committed to staying 10 years in their recruitment region to reduce geographical disparities.

4. A calm and morally sound school climate

Ongoing dialogue with the unions has made it possible to stabilize the school calendar and to respect the required number of teaching hours.

1. Discipline: The phenomenon of early leave has been eradicated, notably thanks to civic rehabilitation courses in Bimbresso.
2. Combating fraud: Thanks to video surveillance and social media monitoring, the number of exam fraud cases has been divided by seven in five years.

5. Results showing significant improvement

The impact of the reforms can be seen in the 2025 exam statistics:

1. CEPE: 86.58% (up 3.12 points)
2. BEPC: 51.41% (a spectacular jump of 11.23 points)
3. BAC: 40.15% (constantly increasing)

Time for the passing of the torch

As Professor Mariatou Koné joins the Ministry of State Portfolio after having reformed the fundamentals of education, it falls to the new Minister, Paul Koffi , to ensure the continuation of this legacy. The momentum is now irreversible: Ivorian schools are no longer simply providing education, but are now training students for excellence and employment.

Note: Ivory Coast also continues to innovate with the experimentation of teaching in 10 national languages and the deployment of "bridging classes" to reintegrate out-of-school children into the formal system.