Beninese pupils’ reading and maths results decline
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Beninwebtv
Beninese pupils completing primary school achieved poorer results in reading and mathematics in 2025 than in 2019, while their mathematics level was also below that of 2014. The PASEC2024 report, published on 22 October 2026 after an assessment in 16 African countries, found that only 38.5% of pupils reached the reading threshold and 24.8% the mathematics threshold, according to CONFEMEN.
Beninese pupils in their final year of primary school achieved poorer results in reading comprehension and mathematics in 2025 than in 2019. Their level in mathematics was also lower than that measured in 2014, according to Beninwebtv, which reported on the international PASEC2024 report published on 22 October 2026.
In the 16 sub-Saharan African countries assessed, 38.5% of pupils reached the reading proficiency threshold at the end of primary school, compared with 24.8% in mathematics. Between 2019 and 2025, none of the comparable countries made progress in reading and seven recorded a decline, according to CONFEMEN, the French-speaking organisation that assesses learning outcomes at the start and end of primary school. Data for the PASEC2024 cycle were collected mainly in 2025.
The publication comes after episodes that disrupted schooling in Benin, including the relocation of schools for security reasons in the north of the country in September (schools relocated for security reasons) and the suspension of classes for 346 pupils in Ouinhi in October (classes suspended in Ouinhi).
