Burkina Faso and Ghana are discussing a teacher exchange programme aimed at improving language skills and deepening educational cooperation between the two West African neighbours, officials said.
The proposal was raised during a courtesy visit on Jan. 14 by Burkina Faso’s ambassador to Ghana, David Kabré, to Ghana’s Minister of Education, Haruna Iddrisu. Talks focused on the deployment of Ghanaian English teachers to Burkina Faso, alongside the placement of Burkinabe French teachers in Ghana.
Both governments say the initiative is intended to strengthen human capital development, address shortages of qualified language teachers and reinforce regional integration through education.
Ambassador Kabré said the proposed mobility programme would help improve the quality of English teaching in Burkina Faso while offering Burkinabe teachers opportunities for professional training and exposure in Ghana.
The exchange, he added, would also contribute to closer cultural and educational ties between the two countries, which share a long land border and strong economic links.
Ghana’s education minister welcomed the proposal, saying discussions were under way to establish a formal teacher exchange framework. Under the plan, Ghanaian teachers would support English language instruction in Burkina Faso, while Burkinabe teachers would help strengthen the teaching of French in Ghanaian schools.
Both countries face persistent challenges in language education.
In Burkina Faso, authorities see the expansion of English teaching as critical to improving access to international markets, higher education opportunities and regional mobility. The country is largely francophone, but English is increasingly viewed as a strategic skill in a globalised economy.
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In September 2025, the Burkinabe government announced plans to roll out English teaching across all primary school grades, following a pilot phase involving 824 schools nationwide. The Ministry of National Education, Literacy and Promotion of National Languages has acknowledged, however, that the expansion faces obstacles, including a shortage of trained English teachers and the need to adapt teaching methods to local contexts.
Officials say support from English-speaking neighbours such as Ghana could help bridge those gaps, particularly as Burkina Faso scales up its reforms.
In Ghana, French language proficiency remains a strategic priority, given the country’s position as an anglophone state surrounded by francophone neighbours, including Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire and Togo.
Although French is taught in Ghanaian schools, official figures suggest that only about 3% of the population speaks the language fluently. Successive governments have identified limited teacher availability and low student exposure as key constraints.
In April 2025, Ghana reaffirmed its commitment to promoting French by participating in the Francophonie Walk, an initiative designed to highlight the language as an economic and educational asset.
Mildred Frimpong, chief executive officer of Ghonline, an organisation that promotes French language learning in Ghana, said improved proficiency would enhance employment prospects for young people in the largely francophone West African sub-region.
“Strengthening French education in Ghana is not just a cultural issue, it is an economic one,” she said, noting that regional institutions, multinational firms and cross-border trade increasingly require bilingual skills.
Education analysts say a teacher exchange programme could help both countries make more efficient use of limited human resources while fostering practical cooperation at a time when regional integration is gaining renewed attention.
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has long promoted bilingualism as a tool for mobility and cooperation, but implementation has often lagged due to funding and capacity constraints.
Officials in Accra and Ouagadougou have not yet announced a timeline for launching the exchange programme or specified how many teachers would be involved. They said further technical discussions would be needed to define recruitment criteria, training requirements and funding arrangements.
If implemented, the initiative would mark one of the most concrete examples of bilateral cooperation in education between the two countries, with potential spillover benefits for regional labour mobility and cultural exchange.
As West African governments grapple with youth unemployment and skills shortages, officials say language education will play a growing role in preparing students for opportunities beyond national borders.
