Burundi : the Minister of Education cancels all recent transfers on the eve of the start of the school year

SOS Médias Burundi

Bujumbura, September 4, 2025 – The Minister of Education denounces illegal transfers and imposes an immediate return to their original schools, under penalty of salary suspension.

The Minister of National Education and Scientific Research, Professor François Havyarimana, announced on Monday, September 1, 2025, the cancellation of all teacher transfers granted since July by provincial and district education directorates. He describes these assignments as “illegal transfers,” decided without respect for official procedures.

This statement was made in Rumonge, in Burunga Province, southern Burundi, during the official launch of two-week capacity-building workshops for school principals, head teachers, and teachers.

Objective : avoid back-to-school disorder

According to the Minister, this measure aims to prevent disruption among teaching staff on the eve of the start of the school year. Many schools were at risk of finding themselves without teachers following these unsupervised transfers.

“All transfers granted since July are null and void. The teachers concerned must return to their original schools as soon as the school year begins. In the event of non-compliance, their salaries will be suspended,” stressed Professor Havyarimana.

Transfers without replacements: an administrative misconduct

The Minister reiterated a fundamental principle : any transfer must be accompanied by the effective replacement of the teacher in their original position. This is not the case for the majority of recent transfers, which were decided without coordination, sometimes with disregard for educational interests.

“These transfers do not comply with any personnel management rules,” he lamented.

Priority for teachers forgotten between 2005 and 2010

Transfers will remain suspended until the implementation of two key steps :

1. Recruitment of new teachers to meet the needs of the education system;
2. Priority transfer of teachers redeployed between 2005 and 2010, some of whom still walk more than 30 km every day to get to school, while receiving modest salaries.

Correcting injustices and restoring order

According to the Minister, this decision aims to correct long-standing injustices and restore order and fairness in the management of human resources in the education sector.

“It is time for the state to also protect those who have long been neglected in the system,” he added.

The 2025-2026 school year is scheduled to start on September 15, according to our sources.