FUND A TEACHER

• PROVIDE TEACHERS AND ENCOURAGE SCHOOL ATTENDANCE. Guinnovation hired four teachers in 2017 to teach 240 children aged 6-9 years at four schools (Benguerin, Darou Salam, Gessore and Tondon) in Lelouma prefecture. By late-June 2018 the children had completed eight months of school. Among the 224 students, 106 (97%) students finished (retention rate) the first school year.

• ACCESS TO BOOKS, SUPPLIES, UNIFORMS & CLEAN WATER. As the school year advanced, Guinnovation quickly learned that educational needs in Guinea are not limited to teacher shortages but also shortages of didactic material and resources, such as reasonably up-to-date textbooks. To prepare for the second year of FUND A TEACHER (2018-2019), Guinnovation purchased 480 books (one reading and math book per student), notebooks, and uniforms for the students, and additional books for the four teachers. The books belong to the school and will be made available to future second graders.

• BUILD EDUCATORS’ CAPACITY. Because only 17% of Guinean students passed the 2022 National Sixth Grade exam, Guinnovation sponsored a capacity-building training for the four teachers in December 2022 led by the government’s educational supervisor to better equip our students to take the National Sixth Grade exam in June 2023. Passing this exam is a requisite for continuing state-subsidized education in middle school. Mr. Sidibe supervised teacher and student performance and facilitated teacher training.

• DEVELOP STRATEGIES TO IMPROVE RETENTION. While those living in Guinea and our four villages were largely spared by the COVID-19 pandemic, poverty, changing climate, reduced water resources, and economic shifts contributed to a substantial decrease in our retention rate, 106 (44%) students.