• Mauritania reopens schools amid backlash to education reform law

• Law phases out private primary schools, raising closure, job fears

• Critics question if public system can absorb surge in students
  

Students in Mauritania returned to school on Monday, October 6, after a three-month break, but the start of the academic year was overshadowed by controversy over the country’s education reform law.

The law, enacted in 2022, makes schooling compulsory from age six and sets out the gradual phase-out of private primary education in favor of public schools.

Under the reform, private primary schools must stop admitting new students after 2027, a deadline that has alarmed private-sector educators, who fear widespread closures and heavy job losses. Many private institutions have criticized the measure as “brutal” and a threat to their financial survival.

Amadou Sarr, Director of Studies at a Nouakchott school, described the back-to-school mood as “gloomy.” He argued that phasing out private primary education would cut off secondary schools’ main pipeline of students.

 According to Sarr, “80% of students admitted to the seventh grade, junior high certificate, and high school diploma come from the private sector,” a figure that highlights the private sector’s weight in Mauritania’s education system.

Malick Diagne, a teacher with nearly 50 years of experience, noted that private schools depend on the primary level for their economic survival, warning that its elimination would jeopardize many institutions. Parents, meanwhile, are voicing concern over whether the public school system can absorb the surge of students, given poor infrastructure and a shortage of qualified teachers.

The government maintains that the reform aims to promote equality and uphold the republican principles of the education system. Yet the challenges remain immense: UNESCO data from 2024 show that Mauritania’s primary completion rate is still below 70%. Moreover, the Global Partnership for Education estimated in 2022 that only 5.9% of primary teachers had the minimum required teaching knowledge.

The 2024 academic year thus begins amid heightened tensions, reigniting debate over the role of private education. These frictions come as Mauritania strives to build a more inclusive education system in the face of rapid population growth and accelerating urbanization.

Félicien Houindo Lokossou