USAID/Guinea: Scholarships Encourage Young Girls to Stay in School in Guinea

MARCH 3, 2005

Scholarships Encourage Young Girls to Stay in School in Guinea

Young girls in Guinea face numerous obstacles to going to school. The Ambassador's Girls Scholarship Fund is providing 6,000 5th and 6th grade girls with books, notebooks, pens, pencils, dictionaries and other practical materials designed to encourage them to complete primary school -- and to excel in their studies.

Dawda Compo, a small farmer from Tanéné, a small village outside of Boke, in western Guinea, looks proudly at his daughter Fatou, a twelve-year-old school girl who has been chosen to receive a scholarship through the USAID-sponsored Ambassador’s Girls’ Scholarship Program (AGSP). Says Compo, “I think the scholarship will help motivate her. It also helps take off the burden off of us. I am a poor farmer, and I never got to go to school. If my daughter doesn’t study, life will be hard for her. If she studies, who knows? She may even become president!”

Dawda Compo, like many other community members in Tanéné, is encouraging his young daughter to go to school. Because of the enthusiasm and the commitment of the community to promoting girls’ education that Tanene was chosen as the site for a ceremony to celebrate the nationwide distribution of scholarships to 6,000 girls in Grades 5 and 6 throughout Guinea.


U.S. Ambassador to Guinea Jackson McDonald presents a scholarship package to the Grandmother and caretaker of Oumou Sampou, a young scholarship recipient.

Twelve young girls in Tanéné, including Fatou Compo, were given a scholarship package during a ceremony held on February 23, 2005, in which U.S. Ambassador Jackson McDonald symbolically handed out the first of the scholarship packages to the schoolgirls at Hamdallaye Primary School. Also in attendance were the Guinean Minister of Pre-University and Civic Education, Galema Guilavogui, the Governor of the Boké region, American and Guinean educational specialists, and representatives from the local PTA and the Local Alliance for Girls' Education—two groups that provide strong support to encourage young girls in the area to attend school.

The scholarships handed out during the ceremony, estimated at approximately $100 USD each, include schoolbooks, notebooks, a dictionary, pens, pencils, material to make a middle school uniform, and a small amount of cash to cover school enrollment and health insurance fees —all practical items designed to ease the burden of sending young girls to school, and encourage exceptional students to excel.

Oumou Sampou, a girl's scholarship recipient in Tanene, a rural community outside of Boke, In Guinea.

Oumou Sampou was given a scholarship not only because her family is quite poor, but also because she is an excellent student.

Through the U.S. Presidential African Education Initiative, the U.S. Embassy under the leadership of Ambassador Jackson McDonald and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) have put into place the AGSP, which benefits at least 6,000 girls in Grades 5 and 6. The goal of the program is to promote girls’ educational opportunities, and to raise awareness of the critical importance of keeping girls in school until the end of the primary cycle. The Ambassador’s Girls’ Scholarship Program will also include a girls’ mentoring program, innovative projects focused on girls’ education, and celebrations of National Girls’ Education Day.

Young girls in Guinea face numerous obstacles to going to school, including poverty—the inability to pay basic school costs, excessive chores around the house and/or out in the field, the responsibility of caring for younger siblings, and lack of access to a primary or secondary school close to home are just some of the barriers parents mention. Primary school enrollment for young girls is 67% nationally (58% for girls in rural areas). Unfortunately, dropout rates for young girls from primary school are also quite high.

With this in mind, the selection criteria for the scholarships were designed to address the problems faced by young girls from poor families, orphans or young girls who live far from their families, girls who are disabled, victims of early pregnancies, and those who are infected or severly affected from HIV/AIDS. The AGSP also rewards young girls who are excelling in school, encouraging them to continue their studies, and to act as role models for other young Guinean schoolgirls.

The Vice-President and President of the Local Alliance for Girls' Education

Mamousou Camara and Hawa Sané, Vice President and President of the Local Alliance for Girls' Education, have raised the community's awareness of the importance of young girls attending school.

The overall school and girl selection criteria, from which communities could choose, were developed by a national steering committee, presided by Mr. Guilavogui and comprised of major organizations promoting girls’ education in Guinea.

Says Hawa Sané, President of the Local Alliance for Girls' Education, the scholarships ease the burden for parents in this community, who are very poor. "We think they will also motivate young girls, and hopefully will encourage other girls to do well at school."

In addition to the AGSP, a complimentary girls’ scholarship program is simultaneously being carried out in Guinea by USAID partner Educational Development Center (EDC). By offering over 2,600 additional scholarships to girls in Grades 5 and 6 in the capital city of Conakry as well as other rural areas of the country, EDC has helped USAID ensure national coverage of scholarships to young girls in every corner of the country.

Story and photos by Laura Lartigue