Incidence des allocations d’études sur le choix des filières de formation dans les Universités Publiques du Bénin

Abstract

This article analyzes the impact of study allowances on the choice of university courses in Benin, revealing a tension between state regulatory strategies and the individual aspirations of students. Through a mixed approach combining the analysis of regulatory texts (2016-2023) and interviews with 25 key players (institutional managers, teachers, students), the research shows that the coupling of study allowances with study courses introduces a fundamental bias of assessment that massively orients enrolment on the basis of baccalaureate performance alone. Students, constrained by financial imperatives, adopt “calculatory” choices, favouring certain courses despite a personal lack of interest in them, all of which leads to high dropout rates and academic demotivation. The government, via the MESRS, justifies this regulation by a logic of controlling the cost of study grants, but reproduces a hierarchy of knowledge (Bourdieu 17) and limits freedom of choice. The article highlights the responsibilities shared between the State, universities and students, and advocates for a reform integrating individualized criteria (cognitive potential; alignment between study and professional projects) and a balance between strategic courses, fundamental studies and classical humanities, in order to reconcile economic efficiency, educational equity and the preservation of academic diversity in Benin.