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The Insititute for Ethics and Human Rights at the University of Fribourg (Switzerland) in collaboration with local NGOs and the Swiss Development Cooperation agency (SDC) developed a series of 52 indicators on the right to education in Burkina Faso. The preliminary results of the study - which took place over a period of two years in 2002-2004 have been published and are available from UNESCO (http://www.unesco.org/uil/en/publs/b_mtreducation.htm).

The basic premise behind the project is to use the framework of the 4 A scheme - accessibility, adaptability, availability and acceptability - and to develop indicators that measure the real degree of appropriation of the right to education by the populations concerned. In order to provide a true reflection of the situation on the ground and to capture the complexity of the right to education, a large number of indicators were established under each of the four 'As' with the caveat that it is also the interactions between the different elements that can also be decisive for the real implementation of the right.

Some examples of the 52 indicators that were developed by the pilot group (which consisted of members of local NGOs, government officials, academic researchers from Burkina Faso and from Switzerland as well as representatives from the Swiss Development Cooperation) include;

1. Acceptability - Is the right to basic education enshrined in the Constitution?
- What is the share of government-funded public expenditure on education in relation to GDP?
- What percentage of schools integrate national languages into the teaching programme?

2. Adaptability - Number of school aged children (7-12 years) per teacher
- Number of learners enrolled in evening classes
- Primary school completion rate by gender
- Number of radio stations including basic education in their programming

3. Availability - Percentage of malnourished children by age cohort
- Equipment available to schools and literacy centre - water, canteens, toilets
- Percentage of literacy centres with a child-minding facility

4. Accessibility - Female to male net drop-out rate
- Percentage of the school population located more than 2.5km from a school
- Share of annual average cost of schooling with respect to total household income

The preliminary findings of the study demonstrate that it there are groups of key indicators that appear to be of the greatest relevance for determining the real degree to which the right to education is being realised in practice. Both positive and negative dynamics emerged from the study and a nuanced picture of education in Burkina Faso was developed.

The positive dynamics that were measured by the indicators included; an improvement in the net rate of gender parity in school enrollment over the 3 years that were measured and a high rate of achievement in the non-formal sector. There was also a growth in public funding.

The negative dynamics observed came to light in the disaggregated data; there was a substantial degree of inequality depending on the family situation of the learner - in urban areas a girl under the guardianship of extended family members was far less likely to go to school than a girl living with her parents.

The indicators for measuring the right to education in Burkina Faso are designed for use by policy-makers, activists and researchers. It is hoped that the pilot group will continue to collect data in order to track changes in the situation in years to come and that the results of these observations will be made widely available in order to push for a more complete realisation of the right to education in Burkina Faso.