Burundi Education is a matter of prime concern and the Ministry of Education is providing full support for educating the masses. The literacy rate of the country is very meager and it is about 65% of the total population.
Primary education is provided free of cost and officially it has been made compulsory for children aged between 7 to 14 years.
Initially, in 1996 only 50% of the children attended primary schools whereas the enrollment in secondary schools was even much lower consisting of only 8.5 %. Till 1954, the imparting of education in Burundi was the sole responsibility of religious missions and this was restricted to primary grades only.
The languages of instruction in Burundi schools are Kirundi and French. Initially, the literacy percentage was decreasing very rapidly but then the situation improved and by the year 2000, the literacy percentage was about 52.
Recently there has been a considerable hike in the pupil-teacher ratio of Burundi schools. In the year 1999, the public expenditure on education was approximately 3.9% of GDP. Thus, the level of Burundi education is improving with each passing day and the children of Burundi are reaping a positive outcome from this.