Burkina Faso is revising its history, geography and civic education curricula to promote African perspectives and national values, the military government has announced.
Higher Education Minister Moumouni Zoungrana said the changes would remove language considered demeaning to Africans and give greater recognition to African achievements and resistance to colonial rule.
Under the proposed revisions, figures previously described as explorers could be presented as invaders, while African resistance leaders portrayed negatively in older textbooks would be reassessed.
A history and geography teacher in Ouagadougou said revised textbooks had not yet been introduced, although the ministry had distributed guidance outlining changes to teaching materials.
The initiative forms part of the government’s broader drive to promote national sovereignty under Captain Ibrahim Traoré, who came to power in a 2022 coup.
