Bamako, Mali – In a decisive move to reclaim its cultural and intellectual sovereignty, Mali’s Ministry of National Education has issued a directive suspending the teaching of the 1789 French Revolution in schools across the country.
The directive, which was formalized in a memo issued to academy directors on October 9, 2025, mandates the immediate withdrawal of the French Revolution lesson from the 9th-grade history curriculum nationwide. This reform is part of a sweeping government initiative to “decolonize” the nation’s education system and center Malian and African identity.
A Curriculum Grounded in African Identity
The suspension of the French Revolution module marks a symbolic and practical shift away from Eurocentric narratives that have dominated the region’s education since the colonial era.
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Replacing the Narrative: The Ministry has replaced the French colonial curriculum with modules focused on Malian and African history, heritage, and values.
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New Focus Areas: The revised history curriculum now prioritizes the study of pre-colonial civilizations, such as the Mali and Songhai Empires, the intellectual traditions of Timbuktu, and the legacies of African resistance leaders like Samory Touré who fought against colonial occupation.
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Strategic Goal: Education officials state that this reform aims to align classroom content with Mali’s current vision of cultural sovereignty, ensuring students understand their own history before that of Europe.
Dropping French as the Official Language
This educational overhaul follows a historic constitutional change regarding the status of the French language in Mali.
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Official Status Revoked: Under the new constitution enacted by the military junta led by Col. Assimi Goïta, French has been dropped as the country’s “official language” and downgraded to a “working language”.
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Elevating Local Tongues: In its place, the government has granted official language status to 13 national languages, including Bambara, Bobo, Dogon, and Minianka.
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Primary Education: The reforms extend to primary schools, where instruction is increasingly being conducted in local languages like Bambara to facilitate better understanding and cultural connection for young learners. Innovative programs, such as those by RobotsMali, are now using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to generate educational content and stories directly in Bambara for students.
Geopolitical Context
These domestic reforms mirror Mali’s shifting geopolitical stance. Since the military junta took power, Mali has systematically severed ties with France—its former colonial ruler—expelling French troops and ambassadors while strengthening alliances with neighbors like Burkina Faso and Niger under the Alliance of Sahel States (AES).
For the Malian government, removing the French Revolution from the classroom is not just a change in syllabus; it is a declaration that Mali’s future will be defined by its own history, not that of Paris.
