Training
The educational system in Togo is built according to French model with a six-year primary school, which the children start at the age of six. After that, the students can proceed to a seven-year post-secondary education divided into two stages.
- COUNTRYAAH: Country facts of Togo, including geography profile, population statistics, and business data.
Officially compulsory schooling until the age of 15 applies to both boys and girls. The proportion of children starting school has increased significantly since the mid-1990s and by the end of the 2010s almost all boys and slightly fewer girls attended elementary school. Less than half, mainly boys, also complete the superstructure stages.
The six-year primary education must be free of charge for all. Dropouts are still common, partly because of many teenage pregnancies. There is a great shortage of teachers at all levels in the education system.
Teaching is in French, ewe or cabré. Alongside the state school system, Christian mission schools and Muslim schools play an important role in education.
There are a few universities and colleges in Togo, including a university in the capital Lomé and another in Kara in the north. However, they lack sufficient resources, which sometimes led to demonstrations among both teachers and students.
- Educationvv: Provides school and education information in Togo, covering middle school, high school and college education.
FACTS – EDUCATION
Proportion of children starting primary school
90.0 percent (2017)
Number of pupils per teacher in primary school
40 (2017)
Reading and writing skills
63.7 percent (2015)
Public expenditure on education as a percentage of GDP
16.0 percent (2016)
Public expenditure on education as a percentage of the state budget
16.0 percent (2016)
2015
November
Protests against nature reserves
Eight people are killed and over 100 injured in clashes between police and protesters in the town of Mango about 60 miles north of Lomé. The protesters live in areas where the government wants to set up reserves to protect wildlife. The protesters oppose the project, citing that their supply options are reduced if the reserve is set up. Amnesty International criticizes the government for using force against the protesters. The government later sheds plans on animal welfare reserves.
New team surrounds the media
Parliament adopts a law that makes it punishable by up to two years in prison and just over SEK 7,000 in fines for disseminating “false, malicious and offensive” information in the media. Eight media companies say that the new law violates the overall rules for media operations in Togo and that it is an attempt by the power holders to limit news reporting.
May
The government is leaving
President Gnassingbé formally begins his third term. Three weeks later, Prime Minister Kwesi Ahoomey-Zunu resigns with the entire government. Gnassingbé thanks the ministers in a radio speech and says it is in line with the tradition in Togo that the government resigns at the beginning of a new presidential term.
Journalists protest against arrest
Some 50 journalists are conducting a sit-down protest near the police headquarters in Lomé, in protest against a colleague a few days earlier being arrested on suspicion of slander by the country’s security minister. Bonéro Lawson-Bêtum is the head of the magazine La Nouvelle and has written about the minister on his Facebook page.
April
Gnassingbé wins contested presidential election
April 25
President Gnassingbé is re-elected with almost 59 percent of the vote according to the official election results. Jean-Pierre Fabre, who is running for the CAP2015 opposition coalition, gets just over 35 percent. CAP2015 claims that the official figures are a scam and that the coalition’s own control bill shows that Fabre has won. Fabre says he sees himself as the country’s new president and intends to “mobilize the masses” into protests. More than half of those entitled to vote participate in the election.
March
The presidential election is postponed
The West African cooperation organization Ecowas calls on Togo to postpone the presidential election. The reason is that the opposition claims that there are major shortcomings in voting lengths, and according to Ecowas, there is no way to properly review them before the postponed election day of April 15. The Election Commission agrees to postpone the election for ten days, until April 25.
January
Gnassingbé is running for re-election
Presidential elections are announced until April 15. President Gnassingbé announces that he is seeking re-election, after being nominated by the Unir government party, despite demands from the opposition that he should step aside.
Schools are closed after strike
The government “temporarily” closes all schools in response to public employee unions’ strikes for higher salaries. Only the universities continue their education.
