Gabon

by Graham Clarke

Gabon in a nutshell

Source : http://www.cia.gov

Gabon is a country in west central Africa sharing borders with the Gulf of Guinea to the west, Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, and Cameroon to the north, with the Republic of the Congo curving around the east and south.

Its size is almost 270,000 km² with an estimated population of 1.5 million (July 2011 CIA est.).

The capital and largest city is Libreville. In the early 1990s, Gabon introduced a multi-party system and a new democratic constitution that allowed for a more transparent electoral process and reformed many governmental institutions.

The small population together with abundant natural resources and foreign private investment have helped make Gabon one of the most prosperous countries in the region, with the highest HDI in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Its official language is French.

Education in Gabon

The 1996 education law states that schooling is both free and compulsory between the ages of six and sixteen. The government acknowledged in 2001 that schooling was only free in principal, and in fact had not been able to implement this as intended.

The education system has been criticised for not meeting the needs of the country. The curriculum aims at entering primary level children to secondary, though the majority do not do so thus creating a partially inadequate workforce of school leavers aged 11. The government has, as of 2006, yet to form a policy to address this.

Sourced from the Right to Education project [1]

School-level education

Primary level

Primary education lasts for six years from age six to eleven. The language of instruction is French, and an additional one year is added to the usual five at this level in order to teach pupils the language.

Secondary level

Secondary education lasts for seven years from age 11 to 18. It is divided into two cycles, the first lasting four years awards the Brevet d'Etudes du premier Cycle (BEPC) on completion. The second cycle last three years and culminates in the baccalauréat (secondary school certificate), required for progression into higher education.

Further and Higher education

Universities in Gabon

1. Omar Bongo University [2]
2. Universite des Sciences et Techniques de Masuku
3. Ecole Normale Supérieure (Higher School of Teacher Training)
4. Institut National des Sciences de Gestion (National Institut of Management)
5. Ecole Nationale D'Etudes Forestières at Cap Estérias (National School of Forestry)
6. Ecole Nationale de Secrétariat (National School of Secretarial Studies)
7. Ecole Normale Supérieure de l'Enseignement Technique (Technical Teacher Training School)

ICT in education initiatives

Virtual initiatives in schools

Ministry of Education

The Gabonese Ministry of Education worked with HP and ARES to integrate ICT into their education policy, to raise the general quality of teaching and raise awareness of ICT among pupils. This involves providing schools with computers and LANs, teachers with laptops, create a learning portal and train teachers in the use of computers and ICT.

Radio Emergence

Based in Libreville and run for and by youths delivering educational radio. The Ministry of Education collaborates with the National Pedagogical Institute and UNESCO to deliver education directly into schools.

IPDC project database - information on initiative to improve the service of Radio Emergence through funding and training [3]. Contact name Michel Elvis Kenmoe.

One Laptop Per Child

One Laptop Per Child

Blog entry by Jeff Saucier talks bout how deployment in Libreville was due to begin in February 2011, though it is not possible to confirm whether this took place or how successful it was. [4]

OLPC Gabon team information [5]

Virtual initiatives in post-secondary education

Derived largely from 2007 Infodev report by Babacar Fall [6]

Current frameworks in place

1. The African Institute for Computer Technologies (IAI), based in Libreville, is the result of international co-operation in creating a training centre for computer executives and technicians in francophone Africa.
2. The University of Science and Technology of Masaku (USTM) in Franceville is a national centre for training engineers and technicians with vsat links to Houston, USA in order to deliver up to date programs.
3. Campus numérique francophone de Libreville (the Francophone digital campus in Libreville), connected to the Université Virtuelle Francophone (Virtual French speaking university) (UVF), provides training in scientific and technical information. More information [7]
4. The Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie (AUF) offers the TRANSFER programme to “support ICT in higher education and research” through Internet site design training. The AUF also runs the Information and Communications Technology and Fostering Knowledge programme, offering a range of content including access to scientific and technical information, Internet access, producing multimedia content, providing documents to the institutional members of AUF, face-to-face vocational training, distance training leading to qualifications, and Web hosting for young, innovative businesses.

AUF and AVU

The two organisations have signed a 'convention of co-operation' that allows them to work together. Presumably this refers specifically to Gabon.

Africa No.1

A news and educational radio station, broadcasting since 1981, aimed at Francophone Africa as a whole. On account of its shortwave transmitters, the station broadcasts around the world, to the major capitals of the French speaking African countries and Paris. [8]

References

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