REPUBLIC OF GUINEA

LABOR- JUSTICE-SOLIDARITE

Ministry of Higher Education Scientific Research and Innovation

MHESRI

UNIVERSITE GENERAL LANSANA CONTE

SONFONIA - CONAKRY
FACULTY OF ART AND LANGUAGE SCIENCES
ENGLISH LANGUAGE DEPARTMENT
TEACHING AND EDUCATION
HISTORY OF EDUCATION IN GUINEA

CELA
2023- 2024

Student full name: Hawa Diané

Matriculation : 310 349 421 51
Contact : 622-76-25-78
Email : [email protected]

Given by: Mr. Harouna Rachid Ly

 Sommaire
1. Introduction of history of education in Guinea
2. Brief historical development of education in Guinea
3. Introduction of western education during the colonial period
4. Traditional education
5. Missionaries and western education
6. Period of missionary control
7. The mohammedan schools
8. The period of joint effort of missionary and government
9. The period of complete government control
10. Post independence period of education
11. Dedicated Guinean educationist

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Education in Guinea
1. Introduction
The educational system of the country of Guinea before it became an independent
country was patterned on that of France. All schools in the country were nationalized in
1961. French remains the language of instruction, apparently as an interim measure. A
cultural revolution aimed at de-Westernizing Guinean life was inaugurated in 1968.
Since then, eight vernaculars have been added to the school curriculum, and village-
level programs have been set up to assist in the implementation of the plan. Although
the French educational structure and its traditional degrees have been retained, African
history and geography are now stressed.
Education in the country is free and officially compulsory for all children between the
ages of 7 and 13, but in 1997 only 54% of eligible children actually attended primary
school. The enrollment ratio dropped to 14% for the secondary schools. Enrollment
remains substantially lower among girls than boys. The gross female enrollment was
40.7% compared to the 67.7% for the boys. The percentage of adult literacy is 41%. In
1999, primary school attendance was 40%. One girl attends school for every two boys.
The government resources for education are limited, there are not enough school
facilities to adequately serve the population of school-age children and the availability
of school supplies and equipment is poor.
In 1962, the private schools were nationalized. Higher education is provided by
universities at Conakry and Kankan and by 21 other institutions. In 1991, the
government of Guinea initiated an education sector reform program to increase
enrollment, particularly for girls, and to improve education services. As 2001, the
reform was ongoing, and the government was continuing to commit funds for
educational improvements.
Before Guinea became independent, its educational system was patterned on that of
France. All schools were nationalized in 1961. French remains the language of
instruction, ostensibly as an interim measure. In 1968, a "cultural revolution," aimed at
de-Westernizing Guinean life, was inaugurated; since then, eight vernaculars have been
added to the school curriculum, and village-level programs have been set up to assist in
the implementation of the plan. Although the French educational structure and its
traditional degrees have been retained, African history and geography are now stressed.
As of 1999, public expenditure on education was estimated at 1.8% of GDP.
Education is free and compulsory between the ages of 7 and 13. Children go through
six years of primary and seven years of secondary school. In practice, however, few
children complete their schooling. As of 1999, 49% of primary-school-age children
were enrolled in school, while 12% of those eligible attended secondary school.
Projected adult illiteracy rates for the year 2000 stand at 58.9% (males 44.9%; females,
73.0%).

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In 1998 there were 674,732 primary-level pupils and 13,883 teachers in 3,723 primary
schools, with a student-to-teacher ratio of 49 to 1. In 1997 there were 143,243 students
enrolled at the secondary level, with 4,958 teachers. The pupil-teacher ratio at the
primary level was 46 to 1 in 1999. The Gamal Abdel Nasser Polytechnic Institute was
established at Conakry in 1963. The Valéry Giscard d'Estaing Institute of Agro-
Zootechnical Sciences was founded in 1978 at Faranah. The University of Conakry was
founded in 1984. In 1997, 8,151 students and 947 teachers were engaged in post-
secondary education.

2- Brief historical development of education in guinea

The constitution of 1958 guarantees free, compulsory, and equal education to every
citizen until the age of 15. However, the legal and constitutional foundations of the
educational system have been undermined by an early Socialist-inspired plan that often
resulted in decrees being directly handed down from the executive branch of the
government without any consultation or debate with qualified experts.

Illiteracy is an ongoing problem that the Guinean government addresses through

regular nationwide campaigns. While progress has been made, the percentage of
illiterates among the adult population is still among the highest in West Africa. In 2000,
adult literacy rates were 36 percent for males and 22 percent for females. There has been
an effort to promote literacy in the national and tribal dialects, but that rate still does not
exceed 50 percent.

2-a Introduction of western education during the

colonial period in colonization

The nineteenth century constituted a momentous turning point in the history of

Africa. Not only did it witness the end of the slave trade and the inauguration of
legitimate commerce, the high tide of European imperial invasion, conquest, and
pacification, but it also heralded the introduction of Western education. European
Christian missionaries were the precursors of Western education. While Western
education was a valuable instrument of effective colonization and pacification of Africa,
ironically it was also very useful for the eventual decolonization of Africa. It is against
this background that the history of Western education remains an overarching theme in
African history. However, it is erroneous to assume that there was no system of
education in Africa before the advent of the Europeans. The nature of colonialism
resulted in the denigration and disruption of the African traditional cultures and systems
of education to make way for Western education and European civilization. Although

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private schools were set up to reverse these distortions, they were too few to make any
significant impact.
This article examines the central and pioneering role of the Christian missionaries in
the introduction of Western education—specifically, the emergence of private and
public schools—in the sub-Saharan Africa, and the place of Western education in the
effective colonization and eventual decolonization of Africa. It is noteworthy that the
mission school systems, modeled after European metropolitan institutions, became the
cornerstone of future educational planning in post-independence Africa. At the higher
education levels, European university systems were wholly adopted with little
modifications in almost all of the newly independent African states. Western education
became indispensable in the formation of new identities and national development.

2- Traditional education
The concept of education in Africa was not a colonial invention. Prior to European
colonization and subsequent introduction of Western education, traditional educational
systems existed in Africa. The enduring role of education in every society is to prepare
individuals to participate fully and effectively in their world; it prepares youths to be
active and productive members of their societies by inculcating the skills necessary to
achieve these goals. Although its functions varied, African traditional education was not
compartmentalized. Fundamentally, it was targeted toward producing an individual who
grew to be well grounded, skillful, cooperative, civil, and able to contribute to the
development of the community. The educational structure in which well-rounded
qualities were imparted was fundamentally informal; the family, kinship, village group,
and the larger community participated in the educational and socialization process.
In his Education in Africa, Abdou Moumouni affirmed that the educational process
essentially was based on a “gradual and progressive achievements, in conformity with
the successive stages of physical, emotional and mental development of the child”
(Moumouni 1968, p. 15). The medium of instruction was the native language or “mother
tongue” through which systematic instruction was delivered by way of songs, stories,
legends, and dances to stimulate children’s emotions and quicken their perception as
they explore and conquer their natural environment.
The African child was taught the various tribal laws and customs and wide range of
skills required for success in traditional society. Traditionally, education received by
Africans was oriented toward the practical. Work by Magnus Bassey (1991) indicates
that those who took to fishing were taught navigational techniques like seafaring, the
effects of certain stars on tide and ebb, and emigrational patterns and behavior of fish.
Those who took to farming had similar training. Those who learned trades and crafts,
such as blacksmithing, weaving, woodwork, and bronze work, needed a high degree of
specialization and were often apprenticed outside their homes for training and
discipline. Those who took to the profession of traditional priesthood, village heads,
kings, medicine men and women diviners, rainmakers, and rulers underwent a longer

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period of painstaking training and rituals to prepare them for the vital job they were to
perform.
Teaching was basically by example and learning by doing. African education
emphasized equal opportunity for all, social solidarity and homogeneity. It was
complete and relevant to the needs and expectations of both the individuals and society.
This is because it was an integral part of the social, political, and economic foundation
of the African society. However, the advent of the European missionaries and the
introduction of Western education through the mission schools changed, in many
fundamental ways, the dynamics of African education. Western education soon took the
center stage in Africa, debasing, challenging, and supplanting the traditional, informal
education along with its cultural foundations.

3- Missionnaires and western éducation

The history of Western education in Africa is directly traceable to the relentless

efforts of European Christian missionary bodies. Missionary activities in Africa began
as early as the late fifteenth century following the successful exploratory missions
sponsored by Prince Henry (” the Navigator”) of Portugal. For these expeditions, Prince
Henry received several letters of indulgence from the Church encouraging the
propagation of the Catholic faith. Although a few Portuguese missionaries visited the
courts of the oba (king) of Benin and Mani-Kongo for the purpose of conversion of
Africans, their efforts did not translate into firm establishment of Christianity in these
areas. Between the fifteenth and eighteenth centuries, Christianity made practically no
headway in Africa as the Portuguese abandoned their idea of conversion. The new and
lucrative trade in slaves became a European focus; missionaries now administered
prayers to the slaves on the coasts before their departure to the New World.
The evangelical revival movement in Europe during late 1700s reawakened
missionary zeal. Encouraged by the reports of explorers of primitive, backward, and so-
called” godless” races of Africa, many evangelicals committed themselves to the task
of Christianizing and” civilizing” them. The Great Awakening witnessed the
establishment of missionary societies led by a group of influential Englishmen—the
Clapham Sect—who devoted their time and energy to reviewing the problems of the
moment. Two major issues of the time, the abolition of slavery and extension of
Christianity outside Europe, dominated the deliberations of this group. Prominent
members of the Clapham Sect, including William Wilberforce, Granville Sharp, and
Zachary Macaulay, believed that the slave trade was abominable and repugnant on
humanitarian ground and that abolition of the trade was a necessary precondition for the
successful Christianization of Africa. Consequently, their struggles recorded a
breakthrough in 1807 when the British parliament passed a bill to abolish slave trade in
England. The passage of the slave bill gave stimulus to the growing number of Christian
mission societies who were prepared to commence evangelical work in Africa.

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Missionary concern for Africa was on two major fronts: first to help encourage
Africans to abandon the inhuman trade in slaves, and secondly to teach African natives
the noble ways of life. The reports of European travelers and their travelogues
profoundly informed missionary endeavors in Africa. Their reports reinforced the myth
of a Dark Continent and an uncivilized and secular people, providing the raison being
for the European missionary enterprise in Africa. From the start, however, Europeans
were well aware that for effective conversion and civilization of Africans to occur, the
introduction of Western education through mission schools was necessary. The
missionary agenda was to convert Africans to Christianity through the medium of
education with the Bible as the major master text. The ability to read and understand the
Bible became an overriding index of success for the missionaries.

6- Period of missionary control:

The successful imposition of European colonial rule on Africa between 1890 and 1900
challenged and redefined the purpose of Western (commonly referred to as colonial)
education in Africa. For quite some time, tensions existed between the missionaries and
the new colonial governments over who should control of the schools. The missionaries
jealously guarded their schools. Although they were in dire need of African auxiliaries
for the colonial service, the ecclesiastical focus of instruction at the mission schools
troubled the colonial administrators. In his article” Educational Policies and Reforms,”
Apollos Nwauwa argued that, while missionaries used education as an instrument for
effective conversion of Africans to Christianity, colonial governments saw education as
means of socially and politically controlling the subjects. This marked difference meant
that a clash between the missionary bodies and colonial officials was inevitable. The
establishment of public, government schools in many parts of Africa was a consequent
of this face-off. In Nigeria, for instance, two government schools—a Muslim school and
King’s College both in Lagos—were opened in 1900, and by 1930, the number of
government schools had increased to 51, and that of assisted schools increased to 275
while unassisted (mission) schools were 2,413. In comparison to the mission schools,
government-run schools were too few. Yet, colonial governments were not prepared to
commit their meager budget toward the complete takeover of education in Africa.
Thus, despite the continuing tension between them, the missionaries and the new
colonial regimes recognized that they needed each other. While the various colonial
governments protected the missionaries from, sometimes, hostile African groups, the
missionaries were very useful agents of colonial pacification and acculturation. Since
the sheer costs of running schools independent of the missionaries worried colonial
administrators, some compromised solutions became necessary. Both the missionaries
and colonial administrations shared similar interest in the role of education in the
civilization of Africans and in creating a body of literate, obedient, organized, and
productive Africans for the benefit of European imperialism. Not surprisingly, by 1925,

6
as Roland Oliver and J.D. Fage noted, the British embarked on a far-reaching education
policy” whereby colonial governments would spend their limited funds in subsidizing,
inspecting, and improving the schools already operated by the Christian missions
instead of founding rival and far more expensive systems of state education” (Oliver
and Fage 1979, pp. 214-215). Therefore, for financial reasons as well as for a marriage
of convenience, mission schools not only co-existed with government and private
school, but also surpassed the latter in their rate of expansion and African patronage. As
many sub-Africans became Christians, mission-run schools continued to be attractive.

7
 7- The mohammedan school
The Theory of Islamic Education:

Islamic education comprises a set of concepts and tenets pertaining to human nature,
creed, intellect, and attitude, along with spiritual and physical values, all entwined in
unified perceptual framework and relying, entirely, in its fundamentals and morals on
the Holy Quran and the Prophet’s Sunnah. Through Islamic education, individuals are
educated and cultured following an all-encompassing method that involves all aspects
mentioned, without compromising any giving primacy of one over the other.
Identifying the Meaning of Islamic Education

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7a-The concept and meaning of Islamic Education were
described by Muslim educationists in various ways which
include:

1. Cultivating all intellectual, emotional, physical and social aspects of the personality;
based on Islamic teachings and values, with the aim of achieving the optimum goals of
leading a dignified life entangled with a religious flavor.
2. Providing Muslim individuals with an all-encompassing preparation process that
involves all aspects of his/ her personality which continues throughout his growing
phases to be able to handle this worldly life and the other, in light of the teachings and
values of Islam, and in accordance with an educational methodology defined by
educational specialists.
3. Once applied, these correlated concepts which are intertwined in one rational
framework outlines a number of procedural methods and practical techniques which
prove great efficiency in refining and cultivating human behavior that meets and reflects
the spirit of the Islamic faith.
4. Individual and social activity that seeks to cultivate individuals intellectually,
doctrinally, spiritually, socially, physically, ascetically, and ethically, thereby
empowering them with the knowledge, approaches, ethics and proficiencies needed for
sound growth that can best serve both their practical and spiritual life.
5. Purposeful process that is guided by Islamic Shariah and seeks to cultivate all aspects
of human personality in a way that achieves total submission and worship to Almighty
Allah. It is a process in which a person of special talents directs the learning process of
other individuals, using specific educational materials and appropriate development
techniques.

All these definitions assert that the Islamic education essentially derives its schemes,
principles and uppermost aims from the Islamic Shariah; a fact which deems the calls
for developing an Islamic education without adapting the spirit of the Islamic teachings
as null and void.

Islamic education in this regard is the kind of purposeful education that seeks to develop
and shape the Muslim individual, society and the entire Muslim Ummah that has been
assigned the mission of Allah’s vicegerency on earth. This is achieved through education
in learning institutions such as schools and universities, or at home and through media
channels.

Generally, the Islamic Education, like any other type of education, seeks to cultivate the

9
Muslim individual. And it operates in all fields of educational research, including
teaching philosophies, history, science, schemes, and techniques, besides preparing the
teacher… etc. All this is bound to the Islamic viewpoint and the application of which
helps the Muslim adopt the kind of behavior that corresponds with the Islamic faith.

7b- Development of Islamic Education

Phase I- The Advent of Islam:

This phase started with the rise of Islam in the Arabian Peninsula in the 7th century AD,
and continued up till the end of the era of the Rightly Guided Caliphs. It laid the
foundation for the political, religious, social and ethical life of people, which impacted
the Islamic life for long centuries that followed, and till date.

The revelation of the Quran and the advent of Islam both came as a milestone in the
history of Arabs and their intellectual development, one that asserted the importance of
seeking learning and gaining knowledge along with urging individuals to work their
minds to analyze present realities, enhance human life, and contemplate the surrounding
creation and natural phenomenon. It was a turning point that outlined a new Islamic
intellectual scheme which was formed and aided by Arab sciences, experiences,
characteristics and merits such as courage, generosity, loyalty, modesty and dignity.

And there can be no better proof for that than the noble verses of the Quran that carried
outright command to “read” and a clear appreciation for knowledge. “Recite in the name
of your Lord who created -Created man from a clinging substance. Recite, and your
Lord is the most Generous -Who taught by the pen - Taught man that which he knew
not.” – (Quran 96:1-5)

The establishment of the primary political and social foundation for the state is credited
to this phase of Arab history, in which scattered and warring tribes were brought together
for the first time, under the guardianship of one leader who paved the way for unity and
solidarity by adopting a unified set of fundamentals and calling for the worship of one
god, after tribes used to worship several gods.

The noble Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, represented both; the religious and
political leadership basing all laws regulating authority and the relation between people
on the Holy Quran. And ever since, the state developed its religious coat, and eventually
grew into a community of believers bound by a unified set of morals, values, traditions,
trends, brotherly feelings and one language, that is the Arabic language of the Quran.
This phase set the milestone for social doctrines that had a long-term impact on the

10
development of traditions and Islamic religious systems. The most important of these
principles was the principle of brotherhood, equality and mercy amongst the Believers,
regardless of their race or color. As stated in the Quran: «The believers are but
brothers… ”(Quran 49:10)

Also as the Prophet, peace be upon him, stated in one Hadith: “An Arab has no
superiority over a non-Arab … except by piety." Such doctrines helped fostering
spiritual unity and strengthened brotherhood and harmony between Muslims throughout
all Islamic states, same way they impacted the Arab cultural movement and the
education and learning progression among Arabs.

With the expansion of Muslim conquests during this phase of the Islamic history and
the spread of Islam over larger areas, Caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab gave orders to send
convoys of teachers and judges to teach and educate new Muslim converts, as well as
Muslim children, as a means of spreading knowledge and education all over Muslim
lands. He also sent Quran teachers and preachers to all lands that were new to Islam.
Such religious missions sent by the Caliph had a significant impact on the spread of
knowledge and teachings of the Quran, as well as Jurisprudence, among other Islamic
sciences. The ultimate aim of these educational missions was to develop a sound Muslim
personality, sound society, a prosperous civilization and a well-organized Muslim state.

Phase II- Islamic Conquests and the Development of the Muslim

State:
This stage covers the period stretching between the end of the rule of the Rightly Guided
Caliphs till the end of the Umayyad State, during which the Arab Muslim Empire grew
significantly, with its boundaries extending from India Eastward, to the Atlantic
Westward, and from the Caspian Sea Northward, till Sudan Southward, including spots
of lands that are most rich in resources, and belong to famous civilizations, such as the
Persian, Greek and Coptic Civilizations. During this phase, Arabs were exposed to
historic civilizations, which paved the way for intermingling of nations and
civilizations. Besides being influenced by their Political and Social systems, Arabs
maintained Greek schools in Syria, same way the University of Alexandria remained
through the Umayyads Rule for a long period, where medicine, astrology, philosophy,
among other Greek sciences were taught. It was imperative for Arabs to absorb all that
and grasp their impact. The positive impact of such cultural mingling manifests in the
kind of education Prince Khaled ibn Yazid received, one that combined language,
poetry, chemistry, medicine, and astrology, and used translations of Greek and Coptic
books on Chemistry, medicine and astrology. This phase witnessed significant
development in the field of education, a kind of development that sought to:

11
1-Preserve the Arab identity of the state, and thus scholars set the teaching curriculums,
giving special care for history of other nations.
2-Assert the Islamic identity of the state and teaching Quran and Hadith sciences.
3-Adapting to the overall development and rising needs of the nation, thus organizing
the state administrative and economic institutions. Thus, administrations were Arabized
and the influence of Romans and Persians was eradicated.

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 8- The period of joint effort of missionary and
government:
While missionaries could sometimes clash with colonial governments, for the most part
missions were important tools for colonial governments. As Sir Henry Johnston, a key
figure in the “Scramble for Africa” says, “they [the mission stations] strengthen our hold
over the country, they spread the use of the English language, they induct natives into
the best kind of civilization, and in fact, each mission station is an essay in colonization”
(Johnston cited in Sheffield 1973:10). One of the missions’ most important
contributions to the colonial regimes was their role in educating the native Africans.
Mission schools provided a steady stream of educated Africans capable of filling the
lower levels of the colonial administration and operated vocational and agricultural
schools (Ayandele 1966: 295; Foster 1965: 90-91; Sheffield 1973: 10-11). The
academic education purposely did not train Africans for the higher-level positions of
colonial administrations, which were mostly reserved for Europeans (Ayandele
1966:295; Sheffield 1973:42), a practice which created dependency on the colonizers,
as without them the colony did not have qualified administrators. In addition, while
missionaries did run many academic primary schools, they provided little secondary
education, a practice which prevented natives from becoming “too educated” (Ayandele
1966:286) and potentially subversive. Even if secondary education was provided, it was
often reserved for the sons of local chiefs (Oliver 1952:212; Beck 1966: 120), an elite
the colonial government could then call upon to help rule the colony, a common practice
in colonial Africa.

The latter, non-academic form of education provided by the missions has stimulated
much interest among scholars, who are particularly interested in the failure of many of
these schools and the hypocritical government support for the schools, seeing as the
import of cheap goods from the mother countries caused many vocational school
graduates, such as seamstresses, to be unemployed (Ayandele 1966:296; Foster
1965:134). However hypocritical, government support for the schools should not be
surprising, considering the benefits the colonial governments stood to gain. Even when
governments discouraged domestic industries, graduates of vocational schools
contributed to the economy of the colonies -and therefore indirectly the mother
country’s as well. Instead of needing to import skilled workers such as carpenters, the
mission schools provided colonial governments with workers capable of building and
maintaining the colony’s infrastructure and basic technology, a contribution that kept
the colonies running smoothly.

The agricultural schools the missions ran would have been even more advantageous to
the colonial governments considering the discouragement of local industries that might
have competed with the motherland. Agricultural school graduates did not compete with
European industries or European farmers, as they mainly grew crops that could not be

13
grown in European climates. Furthermore, they were skilled farmers that could grow
cash crops to be consumed back in the mother country, such as cocoa from Ghana
(Foster 1965: 153). Moreover, it was not in the colonial power’s interest for the natives
to become too educated, as they might become self-reliant and could conceivably
demand independence from the colonial power, so encouraging the less intellectual
agricultural schools was in the governments’ interest. The missions’ agricultural schools
were especially beneficial for colonial governments considering that governments
believed that manual labor was a means to prevent “discontent and unrest” in the tribes
(Hansen 1984:232). Thus, by training Africans to fill only the lower levels of the
colonial administration and providing skilled workers from the vocational and
agricultural schools who contributed to the economy and were less likely to question
colonial rule than more educated Africans, mission schools helped to strengthen colonial
rule.

Another negative impact of mission education was that it weakened traditional societies,
which in many ways further served the colonial cause. The weakening of traditional
societies was not simply a consequence of the efforts of missionaries but one of their
main objectives, stemming from their belief in the “civilizing mission.” Supporters of
the “civilizing mission” believed that European colonial enterprises were justified as the
Europeans were imparting their “superior” Western culture and ideas to the ignorant
heathens of Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australasia. For this reason, missionaries
believed they were doing their students a favor by discouraging traditional practices and
promoting Western ones. One method of discouraging traditional practices was to give
students a fully Western education. As a mission school graduate noted, “local history
was almost totally ignored. We were expected to accept the European language as the
superior one, and this was reinforced throughout my school career” (Abu cited in
Berman 1974:536). Being ignorant of one’s history causes one to lose part of one’s
identity and pride in that identity, and one is therefore more vulnerable to attacks
denouncing one’s culture as inferior, especially if at the same time one is being taught
the “noble” history of another culture. Furthermore, mission schools discouraged
traditional ways of life outside of the classroom. One Liberian student recalls that “we
were taught to dress properly, to eat properly, to speak properly. ‘Properly’ meant by
Anglo-Saxon standards. In short, it was a very successful mission in making us little
black Anglo-Saxon Protestants. Cultural deprivation is what many of us suffer from
[…]. After a time, the idea becomes ingrained -it is heathen and unchristian to be an
African culturally” (Awori cited in Berman 1974:536). Through academic lessons and
lessons on Western etiquette and hygiene, mission students were isolated from their
traditional cultures, a traumatic experience that would continue to trouble many students
for the rest of their lives.

It is interesting to note that while in many ways missionaries sought to isolate students
from their cultures, missionaries often insisted in teaching in the native languages. Some
earlier scholarship on mission education has taken this as a positive impact of the

14
missionaries. For instance, the scholar E.A. Ayandele (1966:283), writing in the 1960s,
says, “By their [the missions’] efforts the main languages of Nigeria have been
preserved as a lasting legacy to the Ibo, Yoruba, Efik, Nupe and Hausa.” However, this
practice was in fact probably more due to stereotypes of African ignorance than an
interest in being culturally respectful: missionaries may have believed that it would take
too long to teach a “superior” European language to the unintelligent natives when the
natives’ souls were in such desperate need of saving. Indeed, once the souls had been
saved and since the students must have been considered clever enough, European
languages were almost universally the languages of instruction in the later primary years
and in secondary schools (Beck 1966: 120; Foster 1965: 159; Miran 2002:127).
Teaching in the vernacular had an additional use as it further strengthened colonial rule,
of which missionaries were often agents, for as the Kikuyu people of Kenya were aware,
“[the] inability to communicate in English would be a crucial factor in the perpetuation
of their subordinate status in the colony” (Berman 1974:531). It is much easier to
interact on an equal basis or even challenge the authority of another group when one is
able to communicate in that group’s language, instead of having to rely on an interpreter
or non-verbal gestures, which undermine one’s ability to show authority or express
one’s beliefs. In short, the impact of teaching in the vernacular was more negative than
positive, as it reinforced colonial rule and no doubt did very little to preserve native
cultural identities, seeing as missionaries promoted European languages as “superior”
and only used the vernacular because conversion and religious instruction were such
high priorities.

That missionaries used the vernacular illustrates the fact that missionaries were
principally evangelists, and that they considered their other roles, including their role as
educators, as less important. Given their priorities, it should thus come as little surprise
that missions often provided poor education to the African pupils. There were several
reasons for this poor education, some intentional and some not. First, missions saw
education foremost as a means of conversion (Ayandele 1966: 286; Bassey 1991: 36;
Berman 1974:527; Foster 1965:85; Sheffield 1973:11). The missionaries believed that
“in order to stabilize the faith of converts and to assist in character development, it was
necessary that they should be able to read the scriptures or other books of religious
instruction, translated by the missions. This involved learning to read in the vernacular”
(Hadfield cited in Bone 1969:7). Missionaries were no doubt also aware that Africans
“came to associate European technological achievement with Western education”
(Bassey 1991:45) and therefore offered Western education as a means to attract Africans
of this belief and then convert them. However, the motivation behind teaching Africans
basic literacy and mathematics might not have been a cause for concern if not for the
fact that the religious motivation curtailed education. As Ayandele points out
(1966:285), “the ideal of many of the missions was to make their converts …live
literally as the ‘unlearned and ignorant’ apostles of old.” This ideal, combined with the
fact that many missionaries discovered that Africans with only basic education were
best at spreading the Gospel, meant that missionaries were reluctant to provide higher

15
primary or secondary education (Ayandele 1966:286). Seeing as missions in the British
and Italian colonies had monopolies on education for the nineteenth to mid-twentieth
centuries, this reluctance meant that there were few secondary schools at all (Ayandele
1966:287; Beck 1966: 120). As long as the Africans could read the Bible, the
missionaries were satisfied that they had had enough academic education. A second
reason for the poor education of the mission schools was that in many cases the teachers
in mission schools were unqualified as teachers, but were instead preachers by training.
For instance, in the Salisbury region of Rhodesia, it was reported in 1924 that no male
teachers had educational qualifications (Bone 1969:28).

Third, rivalry between the various Christian denominations also contributed to the poor
standards of education. Edward Berman notes that contemporary critics of the
missionaries felt that “missionaries were more interested in increasing enrolments in
their respective churches than in pooling their resources for the benefit of African
education” (Berman 1974:533). Because of rivalry, instead of building one common,
multi-denominational school in a village that really only needed the one school,
missionaries each built a school for their particular denomination and competed for
students (Berman 1974:533). Furthermore, each denomination had differing policies on
education, so standards in education fluctuated across each colony, depending on what
denomination had schools in each area. For instance, in southern Nigeria, the CMS
policy was to teach in the vernacular at the primary level, while the Roman Catholic
Mission’s policy was to teach in English (Bassey 1991:42). In addition to contributing
to fluctuating educational standards across the colony, inter-denominational rivalry
caused a disparity in access to education. In regions where a denomination felt
threatened by another denomination, the denominations were more likely to establish
more schools in an attempt to gain more converts than their rival, while in regions such
as northern Nigeria, where colonial policy prevented too much rivalry, schools were
scarce (Bassey 1991:45). Thus, because of the motive of proselytization, unqualified
teachers, and inter-denominational rivalry, missions frequently provided poor
education.

Indeed, the quality of the education could be so poor that the colonial governments
complained, as in the case of the Nigerian government, which complained that the
secondary school graduates provided by the missions were “illiterate and ignorant” and
therefore poorly suited to fill the lower levels of the administration (Ayandele 1966:294-
5). However, as Jonathan Miran (2002) argues in his work on the roles of missionaries
and the Italian state in Eritrean education, missionaries should not be held solely
accountable for the poor standards of education. As much as the governments liked to
assign blame to the missions, they were also accountable for the poor education through
their educational policies. As one Eritrean student remarks, “Our sisters [the Italian
Sisters] would have undoubtedly taught better and more, but the Italian government in
the colony did not permit Eritreans to get good instruction” (T.T. cited in Miran

16
2002:128). The colonial Eritrean government ensured that native Eritreans received
poor education by permitting them to only attend school up to the fourth grade (Miran
2002:127). Governments are also not free from blame even if they had a laissez-faire
educational policy, as in Ghana, where “until 1944 the registration of schools was not
required and no attempt was made to exert detailed control even over the activities of
grant-aided [by the government] institutions except for a series of minimal registrations”
(Foster 1965:114). If a government fails to regulate schools at all, they have no right to
complain that the education in their colony is poor.
Therefore, whether through their rigid educational polices or lack thereof, colonial
governments contributed to the poor education, though there is no denying that
missionaries also contributed to the quality of education to a great extent.

In conclusion, the educational enterprise of the Christian missionaries in the British and
Italian colonies of Africa during the mid-nineteenth to mid-twentieth centuries was
primarily negative for the African pupils. Both the academic and vocational forms of
education the missions provided served to strengthen the rule of the colonial powers, so
that the native inhabitants were second-class citizens in their own land. Furthermore,
missionaries, believing in the “civilizing mission,” attempted to disintegrate traditional
society through education by choosing academic subjects, such as the histories of the
Western colonial powers, that illustrated the “superiority” of the Western culture, as
well as by teaching about the superiority of the West in non-academic matters such as
hygiene. These attempts were traumatic for the students and threatened the survival of
unique cultures. Last, missionaries provided a very poor education, causing their
students to be ill-equipped for social or material success, as they believed education to
simply be a means for proselytization, were unqualified teachers, and allowed inter-
denominational rivalries to interfere. As negative as all these impacts of the missionaries
undoubtedly were for the African pupils, the long-term consequences are arguably as
serious. The reservation of high-level positions in the colonial administrations for
Europeans and the corresponding mission education that provided education fit only for
lower positions meant that the withdrawal of European rule could cause serious political
instability in the newly independent colonies. While colonial administration in colonies
such as Kenya attempted to some degree to provide training for Kenyans to fill the high-
level positions (Sheffield 1973:86), the attempts in many cases fell short, and when the
European administration left, Kenya, for instance, had few sufficiently educated
replacements (Sheffield 1973:88). Thus missionaries, by imparting education that
promoted dependence on colonial rule, arguably contributed to the political instability
that continues in the present day in many former African colonies, such as Kenya and
Eritrea. Moreover, mission education formed a poor foundation for future educational
conditions in the former colonies. Given the fluctuating standards between schools and
regions and the lack of qualified teachers in the mission schools which had monopolies
in well into the mid-twentieth century, it should come as little surprise that the quality
of education continues to be a concern in many former colonies. For instance, in Nigeria

17
in 2006, approximately only 51.2% of primary school teachers of either gender were
trained as teachers, and the enrolment rate in primary education for both genders in 2000
stood at about 62.7%, compared to 99.5% in Canada (UN Data 2010). Therefore,
considering that the impact of mission education continues to have serious repercussions
today, one must question whether the First World should continue to interfere in African
education. Volunteers and donors to organizations such as Compassion Canada believe
that they are being humanitarian when they build schools in Africa, volunteer as teachers
or “help” in other ways to improve the quality of education in African nations, yet
missionaries and colonial governments were similarly lauded as performing a “great
work of humanity” (Beck 1966:117) and likewise believed that they were “helping”
their African pupils. However, the superficial motivations and ideologies have changed,
at the most basic level both contemporary Northern charities and nineteenth century
missionaries share the belief that the North must come and “save” the suffering natives,
which in the case of the missionaries, has been proven to have inflicted more harm than
provided relief. Thus, despite what the images of suffering African children on websites
such as that of Compassion Canada might lead one to believe, it is time for Africans to
educate their own, without any interference.

9- The period of complete government control

Education is the responsibility of the Minister of National Education and Literacy, while
the education of learners with disabilities is the responsibility of the Ministry of Social
Action, Promotion of Women and Children. Partnerships have also been established
with other ministries and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) for the design of the
next Ten-Year Education Programmed 2019–2028. In fact, a working session was held
between executives of the Ministry of Social Action, Promotion of Women and
Children, the Ministry of Technical Education, Vocational Training, Employment and
Labor, UNICEF, GIZ, Plan International Guinea and Child Fund. That said, in practice
it is mainly NGOs that help set up inclusive education projects (which, it should be
noted, are financed in part by the International Development Association and the
African Development Bank).

9a- Learning environments

Infrastructure
The Ministry of Education's Resettlement Policy Framework, which guided the most
recent Ten-Year Education Programmed, stresses the need for primary school designs
for areas with low land pressure to include "three classrooms, a headmaster's office with
storage, separate latrines for girls and boys, and an improved water point". This
framework estimates the cost of the work at USD 11,000 per classroom. The Education
for All National Review 2015 also supported the construction of latrines and ramps in

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144 schools. School kits, visual dictionaries and teaching aids for children with
disabilities have been acquired. However, even today, schools equipped with lifts and
ramps are rare or non-existent, which limits access for students who use a wheelchair in
particular. Today, all schools built by the Education Sector Plan/the Pooled-Fund for
Basic Education Project between 2016 and 2019 have ramps and toilets that are
accessible to people with limited mobility.

9b- Curriculum
The National Economic and Social Development Plan 2016–2020 maintains that "the
Government plans to use national languages in the process of improving students’
learning from the first years of schooling."

9c- Teaching materials and equipment:

The Education Sector Programmed 2015–2017 states that all strategies will take into
account the "inclusive education" dimension in order to enroll as many children with
disabilities as possible. In particular, these strategies consist of developing training
modules that cover different methodologies, the gender approach, active pedagogy and
life skills. Moreover, the ministries are responsible for choosing textbooks, which limits
the diversification of training opportunities. The Ten-Year Education Programmed for
Guinea also sets out plans for adapting the teaching and learning environment to the
specific needs of children with disabilities. A protocol for material, human and technical
assistance has been drawn up and adapted. Inclusive education is integrated into
decision-making by the various stakeholders.

9d -Teachers and support personnel

Despite the country's nine teacher training colleges
(Conakry, Boké, Kaloum, Dubréka, Kindia, Labé, Faranah, Kankan and N'Zérékoré),
few courses or teacher training programmes are geared towards inclusive education. In
this regard, there is no school that provides training for preschool teachers or
specialized social workers on disability and gifted students.

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9e- Monitoring and reporting
A State Report on National Education was prepared between 2015 and 2017 and was
one of the key documents used to develop the Ten-Year Education Programme in
Guinea 2019–2028. This report covers all aspects of education in Guinea from 2006 to
2017. Its recommendations include providing training to preschool teachers and all
elementary school teachers on methods and techniques for supporting persons with
disabilities to ensure inclusive education.

That being said, the 2008–2015 and 2015–2017 Education Sector Programmes have
identified some monitoring indicators on inclusion, including the gender parity index at
primary and general secondary levels, the percentage of primary school students with
disabilities, the rural-urban parity index, the gross enrolment rate at secondary schools
in rural areas and the number of learners in NAFA centres. Finally, the World Bank, in
its Development of Inclusive Education in Guinea project, has identified other
indicators including the number of: children with mild disabilities attending schools in
targeted areas; trainers and teachers who are trained in special education programmes;
schools providing a supportive learning environment for children with mild disabilities;
and parents, community members and other key stakeholders who have been made
aware of the situation of children with disabilities.

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 10- Post independence period of education
Before the independence in 1958

The first schools to be established in Guinea were run by Catholics and there were
only three schools for the whole territory which became French Guinea in 1901
and later the actual Republic of Guinea in 1958. These schools were extended to
other major cities in the country and continued to function until 1967 when the
missionaries were expelled. At the end of the19th Century, 360 children were
attending schools, and as recently as 1937-38, less than 1,000 children were
attending schools (about 800 at the elementary level and about 200 at the
secondary level). At the time of the creation of the Party Democratic of Guinea
(PDG) in 1947, the figure increased to about 11,000 pupils at the elementary level
and about 5,000 at the secondary level. However, only 839 Guineans had the
chance to complete secondary school courses while 657 attended vocational
schools. After 60 years of domination, only about 162 privileged students got
scholarships and went to attend higher education in France.

10a- From the independence from 1958 to 1984

After the country gained its independence on October 2nd, 1958, the newly
independent state opted for the spreading of general education schools, vocational
training schools and universities. In 1957/1958, there were 450 classes at the
elementary schools and 65 classes at the secondary level, but by 1966/1967, the
numbers increased to 3751 classes at the elementary level and 882 classes at the
secondary level. In August 1961, education in Guinea became free and
compulsory (in theory) until the baccalaureate level (end of 12 or 13 grade).
Realizing that the nation‟s educational policy was leading to the training of a large
majority of pupils, the state educators, in 1975, started the creation of faculties in
all major cities or regions to supplement the two existing universities (Conakry
and Kankan) in order to provide more access to higher education after secondary
schools. The secondary school teachers training of Maneah created in 1978-1979
became the higher education institute of sciences in the 1990s

The post-independence years were marked by the launching of a series of educational

reforms designed to instate national sovereignty, correct what had been perceived as
defects in the colonial system of education and take up the new challenges which had

21
arisen as the result of the new national status. The reforms in Benin, Cameroon, Guinea
and Tanzania. initiatives were three-fold: (i) to really improve the educational supply,
(ii) to make education more democratic, and (iii) to develop a new educational approach
which would make a break with that applied during the previous period. The
implementation of these reforms has had positive effects, including higher rates of
school enrolment and less inequality. However, there are still some weaknesses. The
analysis of these positive and negative aspects has yielded lessons which should be
applied to the ongoing reforms, which are faced with similar situations to those
occurring in 1960-70
The history of the post- independence Guinean education is characterized by numerous
and successive changes. Since 1958 the overall educational system has moved from the
colonial conservative model. Of the sixties trough the socialist – cultural -revolutionary
model of the sixties into the efficiency model of the eighties. Theses changes called
reforms in most of the Guinean Policy statements, could be grouped into five periods:
the restructuring period following the departure of the French in 1958, the streamlining
phase between 1951 and 1968 characterized by the take over of the educational policy-
making structures by the political leadership of the national policy party, the socialist
cultural revolution of the seventies, the return to traditional western models beginning
in 1977, and the efficiency period since the 1984 military coup d’Etat. The five reform
periods in their distinctiveness and their pendular movement from traditional to
revolutionary and back to traditional again seem to reflect the perpetual adaptation of
Guinean education to its economic, social and political environment. In particular, the
political goal of Guinean education although often hidden, have dominated the seem.
Education was often used in guinea to buy time in periods of political crisis, to reduce
or eliminate opposing political power, and to create new constituencies in charge of
supporting the parties’ ideology and programs. This diversion of the Guinean education
from sound academic purpose had positive and negative effects.
From a detailed description of Guinean socioeconomic and political conditions, the
present study carried out an historical analysis of the educational reforms in post-
independence guinea between 1958 and 1985. The study examined the causes,
conditions and consequences of drastic moves in policies for the delivery of education
by noting the motivating circumstances and the subsequent effects of these reforms.
This study is significant because of its potential contribution to the theory and practice
of educational reforms. From a theoretical viewpoint, it would allow policy makers to
reach a better understanding of reform movements. The identification of external and
internal forces influencing educational changes in a developing country such as guinea
would help in the design of more effective reform strategies and models. In the same
perspective, it would add to the general literature of educational reforms by focusing
attention on a not-well-known country in the international educational literature.
From a practical viewpoint the hope is that such a study ultimately helps to improve the
design of future reforms in Guinean education.

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This study on Guinean educational reforms focused on the dynamics of change for a
span of time covering three decades. Because of the temporal scale of the study and the
various political, social, and economic circumstances affecting the educational reforms,
an historical approach formed the basis of the research study. The historical method
helped in identifying the different phases of the reforms, their distinctiveness, their
causes, and their consequences.
The study of written documents and oral interviews constituted the basis of this
historical approach. Written documents provided the framework and suggested basic
analytical interpretations. Oral interviews supplemented written documents with
additional information aimed to clarifying the conditions surrounding policy decisions
and their consequences.
The gathering of information trough a combination of written and oral sources was
opportune for the contextual situation of the present research. On one hand, policy
documents have been generated for a consistent length of time, making a follow up
possible for three decades on the others hand, some of the key policy makers during
Touré’s time were still active. This was the right time to interview them and compare
the information they provided with that coming from the written documents.

10b- From 1984 to date:

With the collapse of the first regime in 1984, the new government decided to adopt
new educational policy, which aimed not only to make education available to all
Guineans, improve internal and external efficiency, and remove social inequities in
the system, but also to relate education to employment opportunities. With these
new changes, Guinea‟s pre-university educational system succeeded in
accommodating 1,268,734 students (997,645 in the primary and 271,089 in the
secondary) in the academic year 2001/2002 (Ministry of Education-Guinea, 2002)
and 1,843,570 students (1,317,791 in the primary and 525,779 in the secondary) in
the academic year 2006/2007.
The Guinean educational policy adopted in the last two periods (1958 to 2008),
which we discuss next, has had a mixed effect on the educational system of the
country.

10c- The educational policy

From the date of independence in 1958 to the end of the first regime in 1984, the
Guinean government pursued a unique educational policy. Major parts of this
policy aimed not only to eliminate the French education system that existed before
independence and replace it with national languages in all primary school levels

23
 (Urch, 1992) but also to link the education system to the political party at the
local, regional, and national levels. In theory, primary school was compulsory and
lower achievement requirement for access to secondary school was set for females
and a quota was reserved for them to the higher education institutions. However,
the nature of the reform, combined with poorly trained teachers and rapid
enrollment growth resulted in a low quality of education, inadequate external
efficiency, and inefficiency in the allocation of scare resources. Moreover, the
transition from primary school where the medium of instruction was in national
languages, to secondary school, where the medium of instruction was in French,
reduced student comprehension in secondary schools and therefore, undermined
the quality of higher education.

These policies remained in use in the Guinean education system until the collapse
of the first regime in 1984. After the fall of this first regime, a new program of
reform and rehabilitation was initiated to improve access to education and the
quality of education. French was reintroduced as the medium of instruction at all
levels, but the ability to perform well in the new system was compromised by the
fact that two generations of teachers were not trained to teach in French. In spite of
this ambitious program, the reform remained incomplete due to lack of resource
intended to support the policy. A more coherent orientation was introduced by the
new educational strategy of 1989/1990 policy which was a structural adjustment in
education. The goals of this new education strategy were to increase the resources
allocated to education, increase access to school, improve the quality of the
education system, promote equity, strengthen the Ministry‟s capacity for
management and stimulate decentralized planning and management. If this new
policy has been a success in terms of planning and objectives and has attracted
many donors, it has not been successful in meeting its target because of the
conditions governing the policy implementation. Consequently, this and other
previous policies have had a very limited success (World Bank, 1995, 1999, &
2002; Diallo, Back, & Hickson, 2003).

10d- Structure of the education system

The education system in Guinea is organized into a 6-4-3-3(5) plan (6 years in
primary, 4 years in middle, 3 years in high schools, and 3-5 years in the tertiary).
In addition to this plan, a number of post-secondary vocational programs exist of
varying length (Word Bank, 1995; Diallo, 1999). During the academic year,
students in primary school typically attend classes 5 days a week from 8:00am to1:
00pm. In the secondary level (middle and high school), students attend 6 days a
week from 8:00am to 2 pm with slight variations on Fridays and Saturdays and
24
slight variations for private schools. The academic year in Guinea generally starts
on October 5th and ends on July 2nd each year. During this period two holidays
are given, from December 23rd to January 2nd and from April 4th to April 11th, in
addition to the general vacation that starts on July 2nd and ends on October 4th
each year.

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 11- Dedicated Guinean educationist

The first Guinean woman to occupy the head

Of ministry of higher education scientific
Scientific research and innovation mother and
Intentioned spouse,
Mrs. Sidibé got her PhD of 3rd cycle in geology at
Abdelmalek Essâdi (Maroc) obtain in 2012
At the end of three years of research about
Géologie environnement and natural
Hydrology risks between Maroc and
Roumanie Dr diaka Sidibé was previously
Dr Diaka Sidibé
Minister of higher education scientific research and innovation

Managing director of Institut supérieure des mines et géologies de boké .

From 2011 to 2013 assistant director at laboratoire de batiments et de traveaux publics
GEORET, Maroc), she accomplishes many geologies expertise’s missions studies
impact environmental and modeling after her back in Guinea in 2014 she occupy
simultaneously function of head of department “Genie civil et geologique” and
headmistress of the university laboratory in soil materials and mechanics at university
Roi Mohamed V of Guinea.
In October 2019 when she was leading a subject of post doctoral research
“problematique et portance des sols routiers lateriques en milieu tropical : cas de la
Guinée” at Nancy’s university. Dr Diaka Sidibé became the first headmistress woman
of “Institut superieure des mines et geologie de Boké” where she occupy until 26
september 2021, before being named minister of higher education scientific research
and innovation.

26
Mr Hawing Contribution to Guinean education
He is one of the well-known Guinean minister of
Pre university and literacy education in Guinea
Education’s history, the beacon of exact sciences
Still known as mathematics professor at high
School mahatma Gandhi before to be named
Minister of pre university and literacy education
The first Guinean minister to innovate in education
By discovering the algorithm mathematics
This worthwhile action built him up trough
The list of Guinean celebrity pioneer forever Guillaume Hawing
Minister of Guinean pre university education

The current prime minister of education continues to change Guinean education by

reducing certain education disadvantages in Guinea like corruption, favoritism, affinity
and by reducing social misunderstanding for self interest in education field
As we all known how things happens during the exams period by fostering some student
illicitly as showing them subject before exam day. Mr hawing mission is to break down
this line of injustice in education by treating all Guinean pupils at same level for the
wellbeing of Guinean

Religion : Islam
Nom en religion : Yahia
Guillaume Hawing is an inventor teacher and Guinean politician He is the minister of
pre university and literacy education in the government lead by Mohamed Beavogui of
27th October 2021 then Bernard Gomou’s since august 20th 2022
Professional career
Before to be named minister he was the general director of private institute Mahatma
Gandhi of lambanyi
He was named by decree on October the 27th 202, pre university

27
 and literacy education in the government to replace professor Bano Barry in February
2016 he published an invention in algorithm mathematics to generate, to organize, to
classify by order prime numbers
Prize and recognition:
In 2019 two golds medals and a prize of science and innovation at salon international,
innovation week in aAfrica

Ibrahim Kalil Konaté

Ministre of Guinean education and alphabetization

Born on august 2nd 1955 at kalankalan (Kankan), died august 14th 2021at 66 years old
at Conakry caused by covid 19. Between 1982 and 1989 he is graduated with
“Certificat d’Etudes Primaire Elémentaire” of et continue his study at Gbessia’s junior
school between 1989 and 1991 where he obtained his brevet diploma (BEPC) .
Between 1991 and 1998 at Aviation high school Conakry he obtained his
baccalaureate in sciences mathematics. He integrated University International College
(UNC) where he obtain his bachelor degree in management IT.
Professional career:
Teacher in Matoto and sangoya’s junior schools, bonfi and yimbaya high school then
the principal of high school Kissosso and spokesman of union elected of Conakry
town during during the strike of 2007 in guinea

28
Between 2011 and 2017 he was communal director of Matoto education until his
nomination for minister.
In 2017 he was named ministry of national education and literacy in Kassory’s
government lead by Alpha Condé until 2018 before to get replaced by sangaré mory
he occupy until he passed away the post of president of council administration at
Loterie Nationale de Guinée LONAGUI
Prize of recognition: Prize of the good performance at cope Guinea

Conclusion
To conclude background information of the country has revealed that Guinea has gone
through three phases: before independence in 1958, during independence 1958 to 1984,
and from 1984 to date. In each of these periods, different policies have been adopted to
guide the education system of the country based on its economic, political, and cultural
context. Some of these policies had abolished the private schools that existed before
independence and replaced them with government schools. Furthermore, the medium of
instruction (French) was replaced with national languages in all primary schools and
also linked the education system to the political party at the local, regional and national
levels. However, with the changes in government system, the policies toward private
education and limitations of public resources to face the new challenges (access and
quality) forced the new government to reverse these policies. Since then, private
education has been reintroduced again and as the share of private education in the nation
shows, the private sector is growing year after year and students from these emerging
private schools are outperforming students in the public sector in terms of academic
performance in all levels. Investigating the factors contributing to these differences in
academic performance between students in public and private schools is worth
exploring in the future.

29