Ouagadougou: A total of 84 candidates from the 2026 baccalaureate session began on Monday in Ouagadougou the composition of the first national competition for the detection of female scientific talents, called "HAKILI MOUSSO", an initiative launched by the President of Faso, Captain Ibrahim Traor, to generate enthusiasm among young girls for scientific and technical fields. The candidates are taking exams in mathematics, physics, and chemistry. They were selected from among the top three girls in each of these disciplines at the level of 14 regions.
According to Burkina Information Agency, at the end of the competition, the five best candidates in each discipline will receive prizes. Their supervising teachers, who supported them during a week of preparation, will also be rewarded. "The idea of the HAKILI MOUSSO competition is to give girls a framework for expression and also to inspire them to pursue technical and scientific fields for the rest of their university studies," said the coordinator of the Presidential Initiative for Quality Education, Dr. Zakaria Sor.
Dr. Sor explained that the competition was born from a vision of the President of Faso, who, after observing the results of the baccalaureate, noted the need to highlight more girls who distinguish themselves in scientific disciplines. "HAKILI MOUSSO is responding to this objective of ensuring that the girls who distinguished themselves during the baccalaureate exam can come together for healthy competition among themselves in order to raise the level even further," he stated.
Dr. Sor also emphasized that the initiative aims to deconstruct certain social representations according to which scientific fields are essentially reserved for men. "This competition will demonstrate that there are girls who are very good in these fields and who are ready to take up the challenge of the country's development by embracing scientific professions and fields in higher education," he added.
The Minister Special Advisor on Technological Development, representing the President of Faso, Dr. Floriane Oudraogo/Zongo, indicated that HAKILI MOUSSO aims to generate more interest in science among young girls. "The goal is to spark this enthusiasm for science because, when we look at the figures, we see that many girls choose humanities fields after the BEPC. The goal is to correct this anomaly in order to encourage girls to pursue scientific fields," she said.
For the Minister-Counselor, the initiative also aims to "popularize women in science" and to offer young girls a framework allowing them to demonstrate their abilities. "It's about ranking the best among the best," she noted. Dr. Oudraogo/Zongo assured that the candidates are already informed of the various support mechanisms available for the continuation of their studies, including scholarships, university residences, and health care.
"The goal is to offer this platform to women in order to show them that we want them to have a framework in which they can express themselves and to make them understand that we want to support them in the continuation of their studies," she explained. Mathematics candidate Samira Emma Bambio was delighted to participate in this inaugural edition. She thanked the President of Burkina Faso for the opportunity offered to young women through this initiative and expressed confidence in her chances of achieving the highest average.
The candidates and their supervising teachers were interned for a week before the start of the exam. This period allowed them to review their coursework and better prepare for the competition.