USAID/Guinea: Ambassador's Girls' Scholarship Program Grows Up in Guinea

FEBRUARY 3, 2006

Ambassador's Girls' Scholarship Program Grows Up in Guinea

USAID/Guinea expands the Ambassador's Girls' Scholarship Program nationwide, giving 7,500 grade-school girls practical support as well as community encouragement.

With the backing of her community and some critical study tools funded by USAID/Guinea, 11-year-old Salimatou Bangoura last week took another step toward realizing her aspiration to become a teacher, a doctor or a computer scientist.

The 5th-grader at Nongo Primary School in Conakry, Guinea, was one of 29 recipients to be recognized at a Jan. 27 ceremony launching the Ambassador's Girls' Scholarship Program (AGSP) for the 2005-2006 school year. A total of 7,500 5th and 6th grade girls in Guinea will receive the grants, which include such study essentials as textbooks, notebooks, pens and pencils, fabric for a school uniform, and an oil lantern.

Salamatou Bangoura, a 5th-grade student at Nongo Primary School in Conakry, wants to be a teacher, a doctor or a computer scientist.

In its second year, the program offers much-needed support for girls' education in Guinea, where only 48% of girls successfully complete Grade 6. Dropout rates are particularly high in rural Guinea, where school costs are beyond many families' means and girls often are compelled to leave school for domestic and income-generating work.

The scholarship package, valued at about $80, will be complemented by other activities throughout the school year, such as the creation of school working groups, tutoring, exchange visits, women role model mentors, career days, and the organization of a national day recognizing the importance of girls' education.

In Nongo as elsewhere in the country, the girls were selected by local PTAs based on criteria established by a national steering committee and adapted to each community. Among the criteria are family income level, student disability, the absence or the disability of a student's parents and academic achievement.

The program is implemented by USAID and its partner, World Education, in collaboration with the Guinean Ministry of Pre-University and Civic Education.

For Salimatou, the scholarship represents recognition of her academic achievement and an incentive to do even better in school. "First, it will encourage me to study," she said. "There are tools that I can use for homework and that will help me to take notes."

Students at Nongo Primary School in Conakry.

Her classmate, Claudine Louamou, 12, pronounced herself "happy" with the scholarship. An orphan, Claudine also is thinking about her future: "I want to be a nurse and support orphans when I grow up."

Thirteen-year-old Adama Camara, a 6th grade scholarship recipient, wants to be a police officer or a journalist. The scholarship "gives me courage and motivation to study better," she said. "These are tools that I was missing, that encourage me to study."

"Our involvement in the education sector in Guinea aims to improve the quality of Guinea education system, in particular to provide equal opportunity for boys and girls, and rural and urban children, to attend school," U.S. Ambassador Jackson McDonald told those attending presentation ceremonies at the Nongo school. "We encourage the pursuit of equity for girls' education in Guinea, because we know that human resources are the most precious resources a nation can have."

Praising local community support for the program, Galema Guilavogui, head of the Ministry of Pre-University and Civic Education, expressed his support for the continued successful collaboration on education programs between the government of Guinea and USAID.

The Ambassador's Girls' Scholarship Program is part of the African Education Initiative launched by President George W. Bush in 2002. The $200 million initiative promotes teacher training, textbook development and girls' scholarships throughout Africa.

Story and photos by Richard Stirba