The Effect of Migrant Remittances on Schooling in Burkina Faso: A Disaggregated Analysis of Primary and Secondary Education

Considered one of the key drivers of recent economic development and a lever for improving individual and collective well-being, education represents a strategic investment. This study, therefore, investigates the effect of internal and external remittances on the education of children in rural Burkina Faso, using a multinomial endogenous treatment effect model and data from the National Land Management Program covering 6,224 children across 1,827 households. The results show that both internal and external remittances significantly improve primary education by increasing children's likelihood of school enrolment and reducing their risk of dropping out. At the secondary level, external remittances continue to have a positive effect on education, while internal remittances tend to reduce the likelihood of enrolment and increase dropout risk.Furthermore, the findings reveal that external remittances have the strongest impact on enrolment, while internal remittances are more effective at reducing dropout risk at the primary level. These results highlight the need to increase investment in educational infrastructure, especially at the secondary level, to enhance the effectiveness of remittances. They also emphasize the importance of raising awareness among migrants and recipients about the long-term benefits of investing in children's education.Copyright© 2025 The Author(s). This article is distributed under the terms of the license CC-BY 4.0., which permits any further distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.Article’s history: Received 18th of July, 2025; Revised 19th of August, 2025; Accepted 4th of September, 2025; Available online: 30th of September, 2025. Published as article in the Volume XX, Fall, Issue 3(89), 2025.