Burkina Faso makes patriotic training mandatory for students

Burkina Faso’s government has introduced a mandatory “patriotic immersion” program for students who pass the national exams, starting with this year’s baccalaureate graduates, reports Afrique-RFI on May 28.

The program combines theoretical and physical training in civic values, national unity, and self-defense. Completion will be required for university enrollment, and students who refuse may face prosecution, according to the Minister of Secondary Education, Boubakar Savadogo.

Authorities insist the program is not military training nor a path to joining civilian defense forces (VDPs), but rather a values-based education inspired by the country’s popular military leader Captain Ibrahim Traoré.

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