In early September, Guinea took a big step toward giving almost 1 million out-of-school children the chance to go to school and helping close to 400,000 children who are on the verge of dropping out to stay in school. The ministry of education and its partners --donors and civil society-- signed three documents that pave the way for improved collaboration and harmonized funding of the education sector in the country. Following this process, the country plans to submit an application for funding to the Global Partnership for Education to support the implementation of its new education sector plan.

All partners agreeing on how to work better together for Guinea’s children

In a Memorandum of Understanding, the education ministry agreed with all partners how responsibilities will be divided, how partners will be consulted, how they will implement the program, and how the implementation will be monitored.

The partners also endorsed an education sector program (2015-2017) which lays out the priorities for the next three years. The government of Guinea identified education as a key sector in its strategy to reduce poverty. In the coming three years, it will focus its efforts on four priority areas:

1. Increase access to a quality basic education for all children, including through reducing disparities. The government aims to have 94% of children in primary school by 2017, compared to 84% now.
2. Improve learning at all levels of education, notably by increasing the number of textbooks available and improving reading ability in the first grades.
3. Align vocational training and higher education with the needs of the job market. This will be done for example by increasing opportunities for on-the-job training from 50% to 80% of vocational students.
4. Enhance the management of the education sector, using better coordination and decentralization.

A joint fund for education

The third document is an agreement to create a joint fund in which three partners –the French Development Agency, UNICEF and the Global Partnership for Education -- will pool their resources. This type of funding mechanism is not used widely yet but its value is high. Pooled funds result in:

• better alignment with national processes, as the funds are managed in accordance with national standards
• better coordination among external donors, as the pooled resources finance a single program rather than individual projects
• increased capacity for the recipient country and greater flexibility to reallocate resources if needed in case of emergency.

The pooled funding mechanism is in line with the principles of aid effectiveness agreed by the international community to which the Global Partnership subscribes.

Closing of schools because of Ebola

The collaboration and harmonization is a welcome step in Guinea as the country faces the Ebola epidemic. The outbreak was confirmed on March 21 and since then 771 cases of infection have been reported, leading to close to 500 deaths.  The situation is worsening with reports of community-led violence against health workers in the forest region of southeastern Guinea.

Workers from the World Health Organization, Doctors without Borders and other partners are working alongside Guinea’s ministry of health to stem the spread of the virus.

But they couldn’t prevent the postponement of the opening of schools across the country for the new school year. As so often in emergencies, children are paying the highest price: in addition to facing a deadly virus, they also miss out on valuable learning time.

Looking ahead: Applying for GPE funding

Since 2008, Guinea has received two program implementation grants from the Global Partnership for Education, totaling $64 million.

With the funding, Guinea focused on increasing access to and improving the quality of basic education, and strengthening the management of the education system. The grants helped to construct and rehabilitate classrooms, carry out learning assessments, provide textbooks, and train teachers.

In December this year, the country will be eligible to apply for a new grant of up to $38 million from the Global Partnership, which would feed the pooled fund and allow the country to continue with the education priorities laid out in the education sector plan. With 61% of all students completing primary school in 2012 as compared to 37% in 2002, there has been great progress but much remains to be done.

Source for figures: Guinea 2015-2017 Education Sector Plan and UIS