Local Authorities and Educational Resilience Sustaining Primary Education Through Endogenous Resources Amid Insecurity in Fada N’gourma Burkina Faso

Since 2016, Burkina Faso has faced a security crisis that has severely affected education, with thousands of schools closed and teachers displaced or threatened. As central government responses have proved insufficient, local authorities are increasingly called upon to mobilize endogenous resources to sustain educational continuity. This study examines the endogenous contribution of Fada N’Gourma municipality, the capital of the Eastern Region, to educational continuity amid insecurity over the 2019–2023 period. Using a mixed-methods design combining questionnaires and semi-structured interviews, it draws on a sample of 210 respondents comprising school principals, teachers, heads of basic education districts, and municipal key informants. The findings identify three categories of endogenous action: building school infrastructure and renting premises for relocated schools; providing equipment and food supplies and bringing together pupils in examination classes; and mobilizing community human resources through a formal stakeholder consultation framework. These initiatives enabled ten schools to reopen, kept more than 2,000 pupils in education, and accommodated 3,363 internally displaced pupils in relocated schools. Statistical analyses confirm the significance of education stakeholders’ reported satisfaction with these contributions. The findings are discussed in relation to the Safe School approach, Cyrulnik’s resilience theory, and De Clerck’s participatory management theory. The study concludes that municipalities play a decisive role in safeguarding the right to education amid insecurity, although this role remains insufficiently recognized and supported by the state.