Transforming education in Côte d'Ivoire

Côte d'Ivoire has been implementing ambitious reforms in line with its Education and Training Sector Plan 2016-2025.

Efforts toward an inclusive and quality education system have led to improvements, including near universal primary education, but systemic challenges hinder learning. Less than half of Ivorian students attain the minimum competencies in reading or mathematics by the end of primary school.

As outlined in Côte d'Ivoire's Partnership Compact, the government is working with GPE and other partners to improve foundational learning, ensuring that all students are equipped with the skills needed to learn and thrive in education and beyond.

Building on lessons learned, the government will scale up successful initiatives that have been piloted in recent years, such as projects to improve the teaching and learning of reading, writing and math at the primary level, as well as pre-primary provision for children aged 5 in all primary schools.

New teaching and learning materials, improved teacher training, and gender-sensitive and inclusive pedagogy and curriculum are critical aspects of Côte d'Ivoire’s plans to achieve large-scale and sustainable change benefitting all children.

Result story

Koundinin in school

Learning better in Côte d'Ivoire
  • To improve learning, Côte d’Ivoire, with support from GPE, has been targeting efforts in 6 regions with the lowest learning results and the highest poverty rates.
  • Interventions include expanding access to preschool, helping out-of-school children with catch up classes, training primary teachers, and bringing in community oversight through school management committees.
  • Results are so promising that the government is expanding these initiatives to the whole country.
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Key data

36%

out-of-school rate for children of lower-secondary school age

18%

of children start learning one year before entering primary school

100%

of primary teachers have the minimum required qualifications

27%

of government expenditure on education

Grants

(data as of June 16, 2025)

 

  • Type: System transformation

    Years: 2024 - 2028

    Allocation: US$35,928,000

    Utilization: US$677,954

    Grant agent: UNESCO

  • Type: Multiplier and Girls' Education Accelerator

    Years: 2024 - 2028

    Allocation: US$62,455,000

    Utilization: US$1,420,112

    Grant agent: World Bank

  • Type: Multiplier

    Years: 2023 - 2027

    Allocation: US$15,000,000

    Utilization: US$2,917,554

    Grant agent: World Bank

  • Type: System capacity

    Years: 2021 - 2025

    Allocation: US$700,000

    Utilization: US$595,447

    Grant agent: UNICEF

Civil society engagement

As part of its investment in civil society advocacy and social accountability efforts, GPE’s Education Out Loud fund is supporting:

  • The Ivorian Network for the Promotion of Education for All (RIP-EPT) for the 2024-2026 period. This builds on previous support from the Civil Society Education Fund (CSEF).
  • Girls Not Brides for the 2024-2026 period.

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Knowledge and innovation

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