Family and school education in Guinea in times of uncertainty: hopes, disappointment and vocational training as an optimistic alternative

Family and school education in Guinea in times of uncertainty: hopes, disappointment and vocational training as an optimistic alternative

by Dr. Ester Botta Somparé (Université Kofi Annan, Conakry / Université de Kankan, Guinée)

Thu, Jun 10, 12:00, Zoom 688 3186 6219, Passcode: 215819 (RS Learning)

Abstract

In this lecture, I try to explore the meaning and representation of school and school knowledge for Guinean populations. My research among Fulani cattle breeders in the Boke region investigates the interaction between school, koranic and family education through the local dichotomy between “knowledge for life” conveyed by school, and “knowledge for life and beyond”, provided by family and religious education.  The lecture also explores the instrumental representation of school as a vector of social mobility and the changes occurred since the beginning of 1990s, when University graduates stopped to become automatically hired by civil service. Thus, I analyse here the professional projects of students in Conakry, the strategies they use to integrate the labour market, that vary according to their social origin, but also their pessimistic attitude towards their future in Guinea and their hopes to migrate. Finally, through a presentation of vocational training students in Kankan, I show how professional institutes provide an optimistic alternative and give a more concrete sense to the neo-liberal discourse encouraging entrepreneurship as a way to escape from unemployment.