VZCZCXRO5639
RR RUEHMA RUEHPA
DE RUEHRY #1349/01 3531124
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 191124Z DEC 07
FM AMEMBASSY CONAKRY
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1981
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 CONAKRY 001349 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12598:  N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL SOCI KDEM GV
SUBJECT:  MOVING PAST THE SIXTH GRADE - GUINEA'S EDUCATION GAP 
 
REF:  CONAKRY 1215 
 
¶1.  SUMMARY.  A recent poloff road trip to Upper Guinea provided 
useful insights into Guinea's crippled education system, 
illustrating the considerable obstacles that contribute to the 
country's ongoing struggle to improve literacy and basic education. 
In the prime minister's hometown, most children do not have access 
to education beyond the sixth grade level.  Inadequate 
infrastructure and a lack of quality teachers pose significant 
barriers to progress.  At the University of Kankan, students asked 
hard hitting questions, indicating that despite a lack of resources, 
they are engaged and taking advantage of what they do have in order 
to maximize their educational opportunities.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  Poloff met with school officials in Kouroussa (the prime 
minister's hometown) and visited three classrooms of middle and high 
school students.  The following day, poloff gave a brief 
presentation on civic responsibility to a group of 60 students at 
the University of Kankan, which was followed by a 90-minute question 
and answer session. 
 
------------------------------------- 
BREAKING PAST THE SIXTH GRADE BARRIER 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶3.  Public school administrators in Kouroussa detailed a laundry 
list of complaints that focused mainly on the district's lack of 
adequate infrastructure and problems in attracting and retaining 
quality educators.  The group reported that the prefecture has about 
23,000 students enrolled through the sixth grade (10,000 of which 
were girls), but only 4,300 enrolled above the sixth grade level 
(1,300 of which were girls).  When asked to explain the gap, 
educators said that they simply lack the infrastructure to 
accommodate students, pointing out that while each district has at 
least one elementary school, there is only one high school for the 
entire prefecture.  One teacher added that for many children who 
want to go beyond the sixth grade, the only option is to move and 
try to get into a school in another prefecture. 
 
¶4.  On the question of quality educators, the group reported that 
the prefecture employs a total of 543 teachers of which 331 are 
contractors.  (Note:  Nationwide, more than half of Guinea's 
teachers are contracted, which means that they are generally paid 
less and receive minimal benefits (reftel).  End Note.)  One 
administrator said that the Ministry of Education keeps sending them 
contractors, but that they generally do not stay for long because 
the living conditions are so difficult given the prefecture's 
reputation as one of the poorest in the country.  Another added that 
villages often have to provide food, lodging and other assistance to 
the contractors because they are inadequately and infrequently paid 
- assistance that many villages are tired of providing, he said. 
The group noted that contractors earn an average of $36 a month 
while tenured teachers earn at least twice that amount. 
 
¶5.  After the meeting, poloff visited three middle and high school 
classrooms and found over one hundred students crammed into each 
room, squeezed together as they shared rickety benches and desks. 
There were no textbooks.  Teachers taught their lectures from their 
own notebooks of handwritten notes on specific subjects.  The 
students were an eager audience and quickly raised their hands as 
they asked a number of questions about the U.S. education system and 
opportunities for studying there.  Illustrating the challenges the 
students themselves face, one young man in the very back of the room 
asked: "How do we convince our parents that it is important that we 
go to school?" 
 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
KANKAN'S UNIVERSITY STUDENTS EAGER FOR KNOWLEDGE 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶6.  At the University of Kankan, Guinea's second largest university, 
Poloff met with the Rector, as well as a visiting U.S. Fulbright 
professor and a number of other professors and administrators.  The 
rector said that the school's current enrollment is 8,000.  He added 
that the university had recently issued a policy requiring all 
students to live off campus, freeing up former dormitory facilities 
that are now being converted into classrooms.  According to the 
rector, the university will be able to accommodate another 3,000 
students, but that additional professors are necessary, especially 
since many of the current staff are quickly approaching retirement. 
He said the school is expanding its teaching facilities in order to 
respond to upward pressure from the high schools for university 
spots. 
 
¶7.  A brief conversation with a visiting U.S. Fulbright professor 
who had arrived in Kankan about six weeks earlier revealed that in 
general, the university did not use textbooks.  She noted that most 
of the teaching is done based on lecture notes and that a "culture 
of reading" generally does not exist -  most students are not used 
to picking up a book. 
 
¶8.  During a dynamic 90-minute session with university students, 
 
CONAKRY 00001349  002 OF 002 
 
 
poloff fielded a wide range of questions dealing with everything 
from U.S. educational opportunities, to visa questions, to U.S. 
foreign policy in Iraq, Iran and other parts of the world.  There 
were a number of tough questions, which indicated that despite a 
lack of resources, students were well-informed on current events and 
international affairs. 
 
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COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶9.  This trip, which provided a detailed snapshot of the education 
system in just one of Guinea's 33 prefectures, illustrates the 
inherent problems that plague the country's efforts to improve 
literacy and education in general.  In Kouroussa, only 18 percent of 
students have access to education beyond the sixth grade, a figure 
that does not include the students who simply cannot afford to go to 
school in the first place.  Without access to basic education, many 
of Guinea's future generations face limited economic opportunities. 
Furthermore, lack of education creates barriers to progress in 
general, in terms of both democracy and prosperity, as fewer 
citizens have an opportunity to learn about basic civic education, 
human rights, health, and other basic subjects.  Closing Guinea's 
education gap will be critical to advancing the country's 
development.  END COMMENT. 
 
CARTER