Education in Gabon - Admission and Assessment

Admission and Assessment

To be enrolled in 6e in a general education public secondary school, students must be at most 13 years old and pass the CEP. Distribution in the schools is done by education boards, based on exam grades. The Concours was introduced to determine eligibility for the secondary school stipend, which, as of the 1970s, is being distributed to any student enrolled in a public secondary school, who maintains a passing grade every trimester. Students who do not pass the CEP must repeat the year regardless of their class grades. Students who failed in two successful years are not allowed to enroll in public school. In addition, students who are older than 13 are not allowed into general education public secondary school, regardless of their exam grades. Those students are routed to a technical school where they can learn a trade in 4 years, the most common certificates from technical Collèges being for mechanics, plumbers and electricians.

The option for students who do not meet the official requirements for public schools is to enroll in private schools, which have their own eligibility rules. There is no official requirement for transferring to a public school, thus many students who do not meet the requirements for entrance in 6e get back in the public school system through transfers at later grade levels. Classes that will take a national exam at the end of the school year, 6e and tle, also participate in a practice exam called "examen blanc", in addition to the regular monthly assessments. The examen blanc is implemented by the school in which the students are enrolled. Aside from the practice exam, report cards are due every trimester.