Additional note to the call

For a long time, educational policies in the colonies, once under the sole control of empires, are gradually coming under the scrutiny and recommendations of various multilateral institutions:

• UNESCO quickly initiated actions to support education in the colonies and post-colonies. An important role was played by the first Regional Conference of Ministers of Education held in Addis Ababa in 1961 (consider also the conditions for developing "fundamental French" in the 1950s and its use in French colonies). Later, the Jomtien program in 1990, along with the World Declaration on Education for All.

• The World Bank published a report "Education in Sub-Saharan Africa: Towards a Strategy for Adjustment, Revitalization, and Expansion" in 1987, proposing a series of strategies within the framework of structural adjustment policies.

In these various programs, French is not explicitly mentioned because the entire African region is involved and must adjust according to the adopted general education policy orientations. The educational system, in its operational logic, is subordinated to development objectives.

Several research institutions were established in Francophone Africa:

• The Center for Applied Linguistics in Dakar in June 1963, which engaged in the development of the "Pour parler français" method designed for Senegalese primary education.

• The Institute of Applied Linguistics, affiliated with the University of Abidjan in 1967, primarily geared toward academia.

Several major projects were launched in the late 1960s, funded by multiple parties (UNESCO, France, Quebec, Belgium, etc.):

• The Bouaké Televised Education Project (Ivory Coast), established in 1969 and closed in 1983, was a considerable undertaking aimed at enhancing Ivorian children's education.

• The Télé-Niger Project, established in 1964.

• The Education Ruralization Project in Cameroon, initiated in 1969, with no clear outcome.

• BELC: Publication of two methods for Chad (1966/67?), "Sixième vivante" and "Cinquième vivante," supported by a very engaging exercise that has long been forgotten, text reconstruction. The "Apprenons à lire" method for Madagascar, developed by Mr. Malzac based on proposals from BEL, in the years 1965/66 (IPAM publication).

France was engaged in these projects based on variable-scale financing: prioritizing schooling rather than focusing solely on the French language as an intervention variable.

The role played by AUPELF, now AUF, should not be forgotten. It intervenes less in French language education and more in reading education.

The OIF and the ELAN program for the development of bilingual education.

However, it's important to note that the countries of the Maghreb remained largely distant from these different policies, even though they received support from France and UNESCO.