An earlier version of this story was published by the World Bank.

After decades of political instability, Guinea-Bissau remains a fragile country and one of the poorest.

This context affects the education sector on many levels: low financing; institutional instability; late entries into school, which affects retention; lack of resources in schools; high turnover of school leaders; and poor quality of teacher training. Up until recently, widespread and frequent teachers’ strikes were paralyzing the entire system.

Guinea-Bissau has one of the lowest primary school completion rates in the world: only 27% of children complete primary school. Hence, the Ministry of National Education's sector plan for 2017-2025 seeks to improve the quality and relevance of teaching and learning.

Over 90% of the resources of the education ministry are allocated to teachers’ salaries, leaving schools with insufficient basic resources. Contributions from partners, including GPE and the World Bank, provide critical funding and technical assistance aligned with sector priorities.

A GPE grant of US$4.7 million and an International Development Association grant of $10.7 million, both managed by the World Bank for the period 2018-2024, support the Quality Education for All project, which is helping the government deliver basic education services reliably and effectively.

New teaching and learning materials

Guinea-Bissau and partners are improving the teaching and learning environment in 560 public primary schools in five targeted regions through the Quality Education for All project. Based on evidence from these schools, the education ministry aims to expand the improvements to all other schools and regions.

The project supports the roll-out of Guinea-Bissau’s recent curricular reform by producing teachers’ guides and students’ textbooks for grades 1-4. These materials were tested in 10 pilot schools, with a vision to finalize the new materials and ensure their successful delivery and implementation in all public primary schools targeted by the project.

Seco Wally Primary School in Bula, a village in the center of Guinea-Bissau, is one of the 10 schools that piloted the new curriculum materials. Rabiato Djaló, a teacher at Seco Wally Primary School, notes the textbooks are especially helpful for teaching Portuguese, the country’s official language.

In Guinea-Bissau, children start primary school in Portuguese, a language they do not speak at home – Guinea-Bissau Creole and local dialects are more widely spoken – which inevitably compromises children’s learning.

The 1980s were the last time a new school curriculum had been implemented in Guinea-Bissau. The recent reform, which was launched in 2015, goes beyond a new curriculum and new textbooks and is designed to strengthen school management and support human resources in schools and at the central level.

Fewer teacher strikes

Strikes were paralyzing the education sector in Guinea-Bissau, as teachers protested delays in salary payments and failure to implement the 2018 Teacher Career Law, which encompasses a series of improvements for teachers. The frequent strikes had a significant impact on student learning and completion rates where almost entire school years were lost due to school closures.

Aware of this challenge, GPE and the World Bank are supporting implementation of the government’s reforms and ensuring sufficient coordination between ministries to ensure teachers are paid on time.

To support implementation of the Teacher Career Law, the project helped establish a new Directorate for Human Resources and the appointment of 48 human resources officers. Having a directorate leading efforts to improve teacher management and a robust database on all education ministry staff and local staff in the regions has strengthened communication between ministries and within the education ministry.

This greater control and management have led to key improvements, including paying teachers on time and ensuring teachers do not receive salaries for unjustified absences.

Thanks to technology provided to schools and a staff survey, school human resources departments can better manage the teacher workforce, which has improved accountability and significantly reduced absenteeism.

Additionally, school inspectors have been supported with training, motorcycles to facilitate travel between schools, and tablets with electronic questionnaires to improve inspection records and better monitor school performance.