Multiple political, economic and security crises over the last decade have created immense challenges for education in the Central African Republic (CAR):

• 43% of students do not complete basic education–the majority of whom are girls–and most students who complete basic education do not master basic reading and math skills.
• Only 4.7% of 7- to 14-year-olds have foundational reading skills, and repetition and drop-out rates across all education levels are very high.
• There is one classroom for every 148 students in public primary school and 158 students in public secondary school.
• In 2019, 63% of teachers are community teachers and paid by households.

Continuous security and economic issues have direct consequences on the education system that are not likely to fade away in the short term and result in significant challenges for the government to provide basic services to the entire population of CAR.

The low levels of domestic financing for the sector, persistent gender inequalities and ineffective sector coordination were identified as high priorities for education reform.

Amid this challenging situation, GPE has continued to work closely with the government of CAR to support children’s access to quality education. Key areas for GPE’s engagement in the country are around access to education and increased quality of teaching and learning.

GPE’s support to CAR

CAR became a GPE partner country in 2008 and has received a total of US$103 million in grants so far. GPE is one of the biggest donors to the education sector in the country.

The current GPE grant of $31.6 million grant, implemented by the World Bank, is starting to yield positive results and is linked to the ambitions laid out in CAR’s Partnership Compact.

Catch-up classes held during school holidays provide additional instruction to low-performing students at risk of dropping out to strengthen their reading and math skills.

The implementation of an accelerated learning program (ALP) is underway as well, targeting 16,000 students: to date, 5,265 students have been enrolled, 48% of which are girls.

CAR's prolonged periods of conflict have resulted in the displacement of many children, a large number of out-of-school youth, and a significant loss of years of education.

The ALP allows students to complete six years of primary education within three years and then integrate/reintegrate into the formal school system after successful completion of the lower secondary entry exam.

Around 300 classrooms will be constructed by the end of this year, and the Sango language version of the curriculum has been developed and is ready to be used for teacher training.

CAR’s Partnership Compact prioritizes continuation of the remedial education and accelerated learning programs to reach out-of-school children. It is also focused on improving teachers’ competencies, as the building blocks of the process of transforming education in CAR.

The compact aims to establish equitable and inclusive basic education supported by qualified teachers.

The reform includes creating a system for managing the recruitment of qualified and committed teachers as well as strengthening initial and continuous teacher training; and it will target access and retention of students in school through formal and non-formal education.

Institutional capacity to implement the reform will be strengthened by better production and use of data, monitoring and evaluation, and working in partnership with all education stakeholders.

The GPE 2025 approach in action in CAR

Amidst a challenging context, CAR has initiated GPE’s new approach to transform education in record speed. Efficient country-led dialogue with education stakeholders identified key challenges and priority reforms and aligned partners and resources to achieve results at scale.

As a result, CAR’s Partnership Compact presents well-laid out strategies to tackle the country’s challenges, draws on lessons learned and has embedded gender equality across the proposed interventions focused on the equitable and inclusive access to a quality primary education.

CAR is eligible for additional grant support from GPE, including the Girls’ Education Accelerator, which helps partner countries achieve gender equality through dedicated funding.

In parallel to the Partnership Compact development, the country also strategically approached donors to quickly launch the process of securing funds and has successfully mobilized $30 million in co-funding for the education sector.

Country efforts and partner support are addressing education challenges with sustainable solutions, as CAR develops its own pathway to transforming its education system.