Education System in Côte d'Ivoire

Primary	Primary School	1–6	7–13	6	Certificate of primary studies
Middle	Lower cycle of secondary school			4	Certificate of the lower cycle of secondary study (brevet d'étude du premier cycle - BEPC).
Secondary	Second cycle of secondary school			3	Graduates earned the Baccalauréat, which indicated a level of learning roughly equivalent to one or two years of university study in the United States.
Secondary	Alternative secondary education			4	Combination of academic and practical training, leading to an elementary certificate (brevet élémentaire—BE)
Secondary	Vocational School
Post-secondary	Technical and teacher-training institutions			2
Tertiary	Undergraduate			3–4	The system is organized after the French national model: holders of the selective baccalauréat follow a two-year curriculum leading to the DUEL (Diplôme Universitaire d'Etudes Littéraires), the DUES (Diplôme Universitaire d'Etudes Scientifiques), or the DEUG (Diplôme Universitaire d'Etudes Générales). One more year of study leads to the Licence (the level of an American bachelor's degree), and an additional year leads to the Maîtrise (the equivalent of a master's degree). Further studies lead to the DEA (Diplôme d'Etudes Approfondies), a post-graduate specialized degree, , and after the successful defense of a doctoral dissertation, to the Doctorat de Spécialité de Troisième Cycle (the Ph.D.).
Tertiary	Graduate			1	Master degree
Tertiary	Doctorate			3–7

Primary Education

Literacy levels hover around 50% as education stumbles under the burden of Ivory Coast’s ongoing civil war and its aftershocks. What follows is a description of a system that once was – hopefully it will not be too many years before classrooms are rebuilt, and student and educators return there. The education system comprises of 3 stages, namely primary, secondary and tertiary education, with the rural poor falling away as years passed. The intention is that children enter the former at age 7, and remain there for 6 years, while they learn the basics of the same subjects that children learn everywhere.

Secondary Education

The secondary school model is a 2-tier one. After the first 4 of 7 years, examinations are held for the certificate of the lower cycle of secondary study, or brevet d'étude du premier cycle. With this in hand, students could go out to work, move on to a collège or lycée, or enter a teacher-training institution. Those who remain on at secondary school for the balance of the period are entitled to apply to study at a university, if either of such exist.

Vocational Education

It makes almost no sense at all to speak of ongoing education in a country that has been war-torn for so long. What efforts exist at all are those of foreign donors seeking to convert child soldiers to a useful life. For most young people though, the hope of any work at all is but a distant dream.

Tertiary Education

Institutions of higher learning known as grandes écoles awarded certificates of training in specialized fields. The National University of Côte d'Ivoire was founded in 1959 and had an enrollment of over 18,000 students in its heyday. The French government continued to subsidize its faculties of law, sciences, letters, agriculture, public works, administration and fine arts long after independence.

Today it remains literally shell-shocked, having traded hands several times as military base.

Resources:

Ministry of National Education