In the end, it was trying to overcome these challenges that made the summer's experience exciting and valuable. In response to these alarming statistics, the government of Guinea, with the help of the international development community, launched a far-reaching reform program in 1996 to increase primary school enrollments and improve the overall quality of education. Currently, most Guinean classrooms have very limited resources. They are typically characterized by basic cement structures with rickety tables and chairs, and most classrooms are dark, since they rely entirely on natural light. With the exception of a blackboard, there are almost no educational tools in the classroom.
Most students have no materials at all, and teachers have only very basic textbooks.
EDC has responded to these resource-lean environments by creating materials to be used in the classrooms and producing an educational radio program that will soon be broadcast throughout Guinea. When I arrived in Guinea, I was given the role of establishing a pilot program at two schools. Although EDC had developed a great volume of materials, it had not tested and evaluated them in local schools to determine whether teachers and students would understand and be able to use them. Setting up the pilot programs involved working with the Ministry of Education, visiting dozens of schools and finally choosing two sites where the teachers and students were willing to work with us. I was responsible for negotiating the teacher contracts and generating support within the school community for our program.