Guinea

Or do you mean Guinea-Bissau or Equatorial Guinea (Africa)?
Or just possibly Papua New Guinea (Asia) or one of the countries that is or used to be called Guiana (South America)?

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by Graham Clarke

For entities in Guinea see Category:Guinea

Guinea in a nutshell

Guinea, officially Republic of Guinea (French: République de Guinée), is a country in West Africa formerly known as French Guinea.

The country's current population is estimated at just over 10.6 million (CIA 2011 estimate).

Source : http://www.cia.gov

Guinea's size is almost 246,000 square kilometres (94,981 sq mi). Its territory has a crescent shape, with its western border on the Atlantic Ocean, curving inland to the east and south. The Atlantic coast borders Guinea to the west, along with Guinea-Bissau. Senegal forms its inland northern border, along with Mali, to the north and north-east. Côte d'Ivoire is to the south-east, Liberia to the south and Sierra Leone to the southwest. The Niger River runs through the nation, providing both water and irregular transportation.

Conakry is the capital, seat of the national government, and largest city.

The nation is sometimes called Guinea-Conakry to distinguish it from its neighbor Guinea-Bissau.

Guinea is home to twenty four ethnic groups: the three largest and most dominant are the Fula, Mandinka and Susu.

Education in Guinea

Education is free and compulsory from the age of seven until sixteen.

Four different ministries are responsible for each level:
Pre-primary Ministry for Social Affairs and the Promotion of Women and Children (MASPFE)
Primary and secondary Ministry for Civic and Pre-university Education (MEPU-EC)
Vocational and professional Ministry for Vocational and Professional Education (MET-FP)
Tertiary Ministry for Higher Education and Scientific Research (MESRS)

http://www.right-to-education.org/country-node/435/country-minimum
http://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/584/Guinea.html

School-level education

Primary

Primary level education is for six years, starting age seven, and is compulsory.
At the end of the sixth year, the Certificat d'Etudes Primaires (Elementary School Certificate) is taken by all students. Those that pass the CEP are allowed to continue into the secondary system (though this appears to contradict the information taken from the constitution)

Secondary

Secondary education lasts for seven years and divided into two cycles.
The first (grades 7-10) lasts for three years and culminates in the Brevet d'Etudes du Premier Cycle or BEPC (Junior High School Certificate). Those that pass the BEPC continue to the second cycle of secondary education. Those that fail are directed to the vocational or technical schools.

The second cycle consists of four years (grades 10-13) and leads to the Baccalauréat (High School Diploma).

Vocational and Technical

While there is clearly a vocational / technical education route in Guinea, it is currently not possible to confirm how the system works.

Further and Higher education

Universities in Guinea

There are two universities:

1. The University of Gamal Abdel Nasser in Conakry
2. The University of Kankan

There are also three research institutes:

1. Institut Supérieur Agronomique et Vétérinaire "Valéry Giscard d'Estaing" (The School of Agricultural Sciences, Forestry, and Veterinary Medicine)
2. The Advanced Institute of Education at Maneah
3. The Institute of Mining and Geology in Boké
4. These research institutes have been annexed to the universities.

ICT in education initiatives

Derived largely from the Infodev 2007 ICT in Education report by Osei Tutu Agyeman [1]

Virtual initiatives in schools

Under The Kapok Tree

Sous le Fromager, created in 2006 and devised and funded by USAID and the Institute National de Recherche et d’Action en Pédagogie (INRAP), is an interactive radio station aimed at developing both teachers and pupils at primary level. The initiative was realised by distribution to schools of wind up, non-electricity dependent radios and further guidance for teachers to aid in delivering interactive learning. The course delivers lessons in language, mathematics, science, community health, and early child development methods. Broadcasting for 90 minutes per week, 22 weeks per school year, it is estimated that the scheme reaches 20,000 teachers and 900,000 pupils

This short case study (found on page 99) provides further evidence of the scheme's popularity and success[2]:

“The Program is like the Sesame Street of Guinea. We all know the Sesame Street song, and you know it was the first program of its kind in our culture. Sous le Fromager is like that.”

GLOBE

14 primary, secondary and private schools were funded by USAID to take part in the Global Learning and Observation to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE), a project linking more than one million students in over 1,400 schools in 105 countries. Each school was donated one laptop for the collection and analysis of data relating to atmospheric research, soil, earth, biological, and geological data and information gathering using scientific instruments provided by GLOBE.

Pas à Pas

Another radio broadcast aimed at teachers only, and intended to aid their teaching and assessment methods. 30 minute programs provide simulated teaching after which the teacher is 'interviewed' about their use of instructional strategies. Listenership is around 30%. [3]

Virtual initiatives in post-secondary education

University e-content modules

The Faculty of Science at the University of Conakry, in collaboration with the Higher Institute for Science Education ISSEG, has developed e-content modules for mathematics, physics, biology, and chemistry.

The Centre Universitaire de Labe, a campus of the Université de Conakry, produced an e-mathematics module in 2003.

The universities of Conakry and Kanakan offer on-line university courses in collaboration with the Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie (AUF) (Would be useful to find out what these courses are)

RESAFAD

The African network for distance education (Réseau Francophone de Formation à Distance) has delivered teacher training courses, targeted at head teachers, through the internet. A cyber cafe accommodating 30 people was set up by the Higher Institute for Science Education to deliver the training, with plans to establish similar in eight regions of the country. Around 960 teachers took part in the training.

ISFAD

Guinea appears to have a Higher Institute for Distance Education (Institut Supérieur de la Formation à Distance ISFAD). The Infodev report records activity in teacher training courses around 2003-04, but there does not appear to be any reported activity in the intervening period.

The National Distance Teaching Service

A system for delivering French language courses for teachers through the radio and audio-cassette, materials provided by the AUF.

References

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> Countries

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For OER policies and projects in Guinea see Guinea/OER

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