Education in Gabon - Secondary School

Secondary School

Secondary school consists of seven grades: sixième(6e), cinquième(5e), quatrième(4e), troisième(3e), seconde(2nde), première(1ere) and terminale(tle). The first four grades are called "Collège" or "Premier Cycle. Premier Cycle and Second Cycle combined make up a "Lycée". In the last Collège grade, 3e, students are enrolled in a national exam called "Brevet d'Études du premier cycle" (B.E.P.C.). This exam originally served to determine eligibility to enroll in the Second Cycle, but is now only used to obtain an official diploma, as students go to 2nde based solely on their 3e grades. Secondary school graduation is sanctioned by a national exam called "Baccalauréat".

There are several types of secondary schools in Gabon. The most common schools are general education and technical education public Lycées and Collèges, such as the Lycée National Leon Mba (LNLM), the Collège Bessieux, or the Lycée Technique National Omar Bongo (LTNOB) and the Collège d'Enseignement Technique, which is part of LTNOB. The second group consists of private secondary schools and the third is made up of international schools such as the Lycée Blaise Pascal, which add international topics to their curriculum and also prepare students for international diplomas. All public and private secondary schools are required by the government to identify a school uniform for students to wear. The only schools that are not required to impose a uniform are international schools.