Access to Education in Central African Countries (Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo, Gabon and Chad)

Introduction. The article highlights the problem of accessibility of education (primary, secondary, higher) and income inequality in Central African countries. The purpose of the study is to present and analyze international static data that show the difficult situation with access to education in the following countries: Cameroon, Chad, Central African Republic, Congo, Gabon. The data obtained are necessary for the development of practical solutions for effective assistance to the population of countries in obtaining affordable education by different social strata of the population. Materials and Methods. Official documents and scientific sources were analyzed and synthesized. The search for relevant data was conducted using various databases, including UNdata, Academic Search Complete, Web of Science Core Collection, Education Source, E-Journals, ERIC, Google, Google Scholar, Springer, etc. mainly for the last 5 years. Special attention in the analysis was paid to the search of official information with the data of international organizations UNESCO and the World Bank. Results. In Central African countries (Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Congo and Gabon), the income gap between the richest and poorest is very wide. In Cameroon and Gabon, the income gap between rich and poor is not as wide as in Chad, Congo and Central African Republic, so primary education levels in these two countries remain higher than in other countries. It was found that in Central Africa there was a sharp decrease in the number of students in higher education institutions between 2010 and 2014. One of the reasons (a distinctive feature) of the low coverage of higher education in Central Africa has been identified – the lack of material support for a larger number of the population and, as a result, minimal accessibility of higher education for the younger generation. The study proves that at this economic stage of development, Cameroon and Gabon are leaders in the field of education in Central African countries. Discussion and Conclusion. Affordable education is necessary to reduce poverty and improve economic growth, but the high cost of education combined with limited access to it leaves many children uneducated. The findings from the study of education access in Central African countries raise the issue of education for the majority of the population, with a view to developing possible ways to economically and politically revise the leadership's approach to better assist the countriesʼ populations. The article will be useful for specialists in the field of education in different countries, as well as for sociologists, culturologists, economists, and politicians.