Resumen de Medium of instruction and learning achievements in Burkina Faso primary education: analyzing disparities by student socioeconomic status and school location

Jean-Baptiste M. B. Sanfo, Keiichi Ogawa

• Language-in-education may help understand inequalities in African education. This study investigated inequalities between students taught using only the official medium of instruction (MoI) (French) and those taught using a bilingual MoI (French and another language). It also examined how estimates differ across student SES groups and between rural and urban students. The study employed Residualized Quantile Regression and the Burkina Faso Program for the Analysis of CONFEMEN Education Systems 2019 data. Findings revealed no learning disparities associated with MoI in reading. However, low- and average-performing students are expected to perform better in mathematics when instructed in a bilingual MoI. Moreover, findings suggest that students with average SES benefit from bilingual MoI in reading achievements, while those from low and average SES backgrounds benefit in mathematics when under this MoI. Furthermore, high-performing students from rural schools tend to benefit from bilingual MoI in reading, but most students benefit from this MoI in mathematics. Overall, the findings highlight the complex relationship between MoI and learning outcomes. Understanding these dynamics is essential for policymakers to develop language-in-education policies that promote learning for all students.