CLAIM: Burkinabe’s Military Leader, Ibrahim Traoré Declares Free Education For All Its Citizens
On March 22, 2025, an X user, @Its_ereko made a post claiming that the military leader and President of the Transition of Burkina Faso, Ibrahim Traoré has declared free education for all its citizens, including the distribution of free textbooks to primary school students.
The post which had three images of Traoré reads: “Ibrahim Traore declares education is FREE for all Burkina Faso 🇧🇫 citizens . He says Education is a basic necessity and everyone must be given an opportunity to go to school. In addition to this , primary school kids will be given text books for FREE Can your President do it?”
As of the time this report was published, the post had over 360,300 views. In the comment section of the post, @VjTomz wrote “That’s the first thing you do as a leader of a country.. even phone as a gadget has become smart and we call it smart phone why not humans who built it?” while @AnthoniaIbeh said “Correct president. Not like Nigerian president”.
Same claims were posted here, here, and here.
VERIFICATION
Ibrahim Traoré is the military leader and interim president of Burkina Faso. He assumed the post in September 2022 following a successful coup d’etat that deposed the then interim leader, Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba.
Since he assumed the post, Traoré has initiated several reforms aimed at enhancing the quality of education in the country. On Tuesday, December 31, 2024, Traoré announced efforts to modernize school infrastructure and shift from general education to technical and vocational training, as part of the “Presidential Initiative for Quality Education for All.” Not “free education for all”.
Before then, in August 2024, President Traoré emphasized the importance of building “great schools” within Burkina Faso to combat brain drain and retain talent within the country.
Further search revealed that in 2007, the Burkina Faso government launched a program to distribute millions of free books to primary school students, aiming to make education more accessible. However, the official Facebook page of the government and the website of the country’s ministry for information revealed no specific information or news update indicating that Traoré has declared free education for Burkinabes and for the distribution of free educational textbooks to primary school students.
While President Traoré has initiated efforts to improve the education sector, such as the construction of 40 amphitheaters for universities and the launch of a presidential initiative to revitalize education and training, there is no verified information confirming a nationwide implementation of free education for all citizens.
CONCLUSION
The claim affirming that Burkinabe’s military ruler, Ibrahim Traoré has declared free education for all its citizens, including the distribution of free textbooks to primary school students is FALSE as there is no confirmation of such declaration from official government sources.
