Guinea

Basic Information

• Assisting: 7,500 primary school girls
• School year calendar: October - July
• Target areas of assistance: Conakry, Kindia, Boké, Mamou, Labé, Faranah, Kankan and N'Zérékoré
• Partners: World Education has relationships with eight local partners (six organizations, two of which operate in two regions): CAM in Kindia and Labé, ASED in Faranah and Conakry, APROFIG in Kankan, ADEG in Mamou, ZALI-AC in N'Zérékoré, and VGD in Boké.

Program Overview

Selection Process

Scholars are selected through a transparent process which increases accountability and inclusiveness. In accordance with AGSP selection criteria, there is a National Steering Committee in Guinea, presided by the Ministry of Education and which includes representatives from other organizations working in girls' education in Guinea. The National Committee meets twice a year and develops the general selection criteria for Guinea.

The scholarships are comprised of school supplies, books, uniforms, a backpack, a hurricane lamp, soap, and cooking oil.

Mentors

The AGSP team in Guinea developed a mentoring orientation guide for the NGO partners. The guide addresses orientation topics for mentors and school club committees that include information on roles and responsibilities, HIV/AIDS and hygiene, problems associated with girls' access to education, solutions to these challenges and how to organize career days and other activities for the girls. There are over 400 mentors working with AGSP in Guinea. The mentors are selected by the federated parents' associations, the alliances, the management committees and school administrators with support from NGO trainers. There are several types of mentors in Guinea:

• Role model: credible educators who live in the community
• Tutor: older students or resource people in the community
• Study group supervisor: teachers from the AGSP schools
• School club and exchange visit supervisor: people who are available in the community (mostly from parents' associations, alliances, management committees and the school administration)

Program Update

In Year 1, the AGSP in Guinea provided 6,000 scholarships to girls in primary school in Boké, Mamou, Labé, Faranah, Kankan and N'Zérékoré. The program was funded by USAID/Guinea and managed through World Education's PACEEQ program. In October 2005, the AGSP was integrated into the Year 2 regional program and will be funded by USAID/Washington for the remainder of the contract. While the program is managed by World Education's office in Boston, in-country program implementation is overseen by a team of World Education AGSP staff who provide support and oversight to eight NGO partners.

In Year 2, the AGSP reached 7,500 girls. The World Education team in Guinea oversees the procurement of scholarship items worth $600,000 while the NGO partners are responsible for scholar selection, scholarship distribution and mentoring and community involvement activities.

In Year 3, the program implementation model is the same as it was in Year 2: funded by USAID/Washington as part of the Region 1 contract.