Between 2012 and 2016, UNESCO carried out several activities in support of curriculum reform in Burkina Faso through two extra-budgetary programmes: CapEFA and the project 518 BKF1000.

The aim of both programmes is to strengthen the national institutions responsible for the initial and continuing professional development of teachers and their trainers, supervisors and managers.

Notable outputs of the CapEFA programme are:

• The development of diagnostic studies of institutional and organizational capacity building needs for teachers and a capacity building plan for these needs (2012 to 2014);
• Training of trainers for central managers, using a blended approach, in the development of a Curricular Policy Framework;
• The development of teacher guides and manuals and teacher training in the use of new guides, as well as in-service training for post-primary teachers (2015-2016);
• The development of an advocacy and communication strategy on curriculum reform (2015), followed by training of communication officers from the three education ministries and journalists on advocacy, communication and the web; support for the communication campaign to coincide with the pilot phase of curriculum reform (2014 to 2016).

The most notable outputs of the 518 BKF1000 project are the following:

• The training of 235 trainers and supervisors from teacher training institutions on the following themes: taking into account gender specificities and children with special educational needs; analysis of class practices; pedagogy for large groups; sciences and mathematics education; use of ICT in education (2011-2014);
• The training of a core of 6 Burkinabe teacher trainers and pedagogical supervisors capable of designing online self-training modules for their peers (2015);
• The implementation of four online self-learning modules on science, mathematics and technology education, large group pedagogy, gender mainstreaming and special education needs, and ICT integration. These training modules were delivered electronically to 250 trainers and supervisors. They are also available to a greater number of users via an online platform which can be accessed via tablets and mobiles (2015);
• Study tour to raise awareness in teacher training institutions of the benefits of e-learning, and to enable them to learn from existing experiences in the sub-region (2015) ;
• Completion of two diagnostic studies of capacity building needs of the structures responsible for the management of teacher training (2012); Strengthening the capacity of 44 administrators and managers in charge of teacher training (2012-2013)