28 November 2016

The heads of the 57 member States of the International Organisaton of La Francophonie (OIF) released the Antanarivo Declaration on 27th November, 2016. The Declaration calls for the regulation of private actors in education, in the strongest terms yet expressed by heads of State, as well as for increased support for public schools. It follows significant mobilisation by francophone civil society groups whose work against the commercialisation of education is recognised in the Declaration, and in paragraph 39 in paricular. It reads:

'Noting the development of academic and educational establishments with a commercial purpose, and committed to public, free and quality education for all, we ask the OIF and the Conference of the Ministers of Education of States and Governments of the Francophonie (Confémen), in collaboration with civil society, to continue the reflection raised during the Kinshasa Summit (2012), and to take measures to promote efficient institutional mechanisms for the regulation of private actors in education, in order to ensure quality and equity of education services.'