Textbooks no longer “luxury items” in Burkina Faso

The Burkina Faso government will distribute millions of free books to primary school students and launch a pilot project to give no–fee schooling in a push to curb the number of people in this African country growing up without even basic education. “This is the end of the time when reading and maths textbooks are seen as luxury items for parents,” said Odile Bonkoungou, minister of basic education and literacy, on August 27, launching the free books project. Some 10.5 million books for primary school children in reading and math classes have already been ordered, according to Bonkoungou. Of those, 3.5 million will be distributed this academic year. Read more at IRIN News.