The Program for African Growth through Education, Incorporated (PAGE, Inc.) is organized to function exclusively for educational and charitable purposes as may qualify it for tax exempt status under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. These purposes include promoting and advancing the needs for educational infrastructure in Burkina Faso, West Africa, by: 1) advocate construction of secondary and vocational education facilities in Burkina Faso; 2) collect educational material (learning software, used computers and laptops, etc.) in support of existing school curricula and to alleviate the crucial needs in Burkina Faso; 3) contribute to the establishment of second harvest schools for the increasingly large numbers of students expelled from middle and high schools following the BEPC and BAC examinations; 4) develop strong partnerships locally, nationally, and internationally to secure funds and expertise in support of the overall mission of PAGE, Inc. 5) establish a mechanism for student and teacher sponsorship.
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Burkina Faso has one of the highest illiteracy rates in the world with more than 70% of its adult population unable to read or write and only 44.6% school enrollment rate for its youth. The lack of basic infrastructure remains the biggest handicap to improving access and outcomes. A more practical or vocational training can also lessen the blow of massive failure rates at the two national exams (and subsequent expulsion for many) and empower the youth whose future is left hanging in the balance.
The following charts aptly paint the picture of the need for more infrastructure of the kind envisioned by PAGE, Inc. They recap the national rate of success at the BEPC (9th grade) and BAC (12th grade) exams as compiled by the leading private newspaper L’Observateur Paalga in its June 16, 2014 edition. |
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Chart 1 : Success rates at the BEPC 9th grade national exam over 10 years
At the June 18th weekly Government meeting, the Minister of Secondary and Higher Education reported the 2014 success rate to the cabinet putting it at 28.62%, touting a 6.05% improvement from the 2013 results. [Le ministre des Enseignements secondaire et supérieur a fait au Conseil une communication relative au déroulement de l’examen du BEPC, session 2014. Le taux national de succès au BEPC de la session de 2014 est de 28,62% contre 22,57% en 2013, soit un taux d’accroissement de 6,05%].
Chart 2: Success rates at the BAC 12th grade national exam over 10 years
The 2014 results are not yet available as the exam is still ongoing.
While the problems of access to school and opportunity to progress through the grades are too big for any single entity to solve, PAGE’s members have no doubt that steps such as we are taking with this one school in this one community can make a difference in the lives of the many who, over the years, will benefit from a space to continue learning and growing. This first building is for us the first step in the proverbial thousand mile journey.
While the problems of access to school and opportunity to progress through the grades are too big for any single entity to solve, PAGE’s members have no doubt that steps such as we are taking with this one school in this one community can make a difference in the lives of the many who, over the years, will benefit from a space to continue learning and growing. This first building is for us the first step in the proverbial thousand mile journey.