Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2014, published 104th ILC session (2015)

Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138) - Côte d'Ivoire (Ratification: 2003)

Article 2(3) of the Convention. Age of completion of compulsory schooling. Further to its previous comments, the Committee notes the observation from the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) in its report for the World Trade Organization (WTO) General Council review of the trade policies of Côte d’Ivoire, dated 2 and 4 July 2012, that education is neither compulsory nor free in Côte d’Ivoire. Furthermore, according to the ITUC report, only 59 per cent of boys and 51 per cent of girls are in primary education, and only 32 per cent of boys and 22 per cent of girls attend secondary school.

The Committee notes the Government’s indication that a bill is being drawn up to make schooling compulsory until the age of 16 years. The Committee considers that compulsory schooling is one of the most effective means of combating child labour, and that it is important to stress the need to link the age for admission to employment to the age of completion of compulsory schooling. The Committee therefore requests the Government to take immediate steps to ensure that the law introducing compulsory schooling is adopted as soon as possible and to send a copy of it with its next report. It encourages the Government to continue taking effective measures to improve the operation of the education system, particularly by increasing the school attendance rate at both primary and secondary levels.