Education

Inclusive quality education promotes opportunities for all, contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals.

Education needs to part of preparing the new generation for fighting off Climate Change, meet health challenges and be able to change the world in which we live.

Education starts when you are born, and it continues the whole life. It is about getting knowledge, building understanding and learning skills in a global world that get more and more connected. That is why ADPP-GB invests in education.

The ADPP-GB Teacher Training College in Cacheu.

The establishment and operation of this Teacher Training College is based on a memorandum of understanding signed with the Ministry of National Education. Until now more than 200 teachers have graduated, most of them contracted by the Ministry of National Education to work in public schools.

The ADPP-GB Teacher Training College in Cacheu aims to increase the number of highly qualified primary school teachers, especially in rural areas, using a three-year teaching programme.

The Teacher Training College in Cacheu programme is engaged in the big issues of our time and the students use this engagement to train attitudes and skills to become excellent teachers for the children of the 21st Century. They are trained to be committed and work in rural areas where the lack of teachers is highest and with child-centered teaching. In addition to primary school teachers, they are trained to become community development agents, committed to promoting better living conditions for people in the communities where they will work.

At the ADPP-GB Teacher Training College in Cacheu 88 students are now training to become teachers.

In 2020 distance learning was introduced in the lock-down period, making it possible for students to follow their programme, meaning that it was possible for the 2018 team to graduate in 2021.

The ADPP-GB Teacher Training College in Cacheu promotes gender equality. In 2021, ADPP-GB Teacher Training College achieved that 50% of students were girls. This will inspire other girls in the community to demand a better education for themselves.

The ADPP-GB Teacher Training College in Cacheu appreciates the contributions and cooperation from ADPP-GB counterpart fund, the Humana People to People partners and the Ministry of National Education of Guinea-Bissau.

Case story: Sufri Tuki Mane

My name is Sufri Tuki Mane and I started on the three-year ADPP-GB Teacher Training in February 2021. I learned that this teacher training intends to equip future teachers with the knowledge of methods with an attitude and courage to be in front of others. The training starts in rural areas. I dedicate myself to working in rural areas, and I will learn many things in this college. Among other subjects, I learned to instruct students and prepare a lesson plan, where some main points must be taken into accounts, such as primary objectives and didactic functions.

The ADPP-GB Vocational School in Bissorã

Many youths still don’t reach secondary school, and those finishing it often face difficulties in finding a job, as they lack concrete practical experience. For these, there are few possibilities to either continue with their studies or be trained in a vocational skill. This leads to the problem that many of the youths in the countryside end up migrating to the cities, which results in surplus work force in the cities and other problems associated with high youth unemployment.

This vacuum of possibilities also contributes to increasing emigration, draining the country for youth, and adding to the growing challenge of migration from Central and West Africa moving north in search of better possibilities and risking, sometimes, their lives on the travel.

When ADPP-GB in 1996 established the Vocational School in Bissorã, the above trends were not as strong and acute as today, but it was within the same context and possible scenario the school was established. During the latest years the school has strengthened its profile and experiences to tackle these challenges by including entrepreneurship training in its courses.

ADPP Guinea Bissau has an agreement with the Ministry of National Education signed in 2008 to operate and expand vocational training institutions in Guinea-Bissau. Course certificates are homologated by the Ministry of National Education.

Skills training and understanding the world of today go hand by hand in creating capacity of the youth to build the future.

The programmes at Vocational School in Bissorã are continuously being adjusted to the needs of the communities. In 2021, Vocational School in Bissorã continued to train youths from the communities in Horticulture, Fruit and Nutrition. After the six-month training, the students continue for a one-year internship working closely with the small-scale farmers of the ADPP-GB Farmers’ Clubs.

In Water Pump and Solar Energy courses 30 students from the communities were trained to participate in  securing the water systems and are now working in their communities. Three of these students are employed in regional institutions to follow up on the needed actions to secure that the pumps function in the communities.

In total, 189 students graduated in 2021 from the following courses: Agriculture & Livestock; Construction and Bricklaying; Water Pump Installation and Plumping; Water Pump and Solar Energy; Electricity and Solar Energy; Basic Informatics, Computer Maintenance and Repairing; Horticulture, Fruit and Nutrition; and Entrepreneurship.

Case story: Domingos Nhaga

My name is Domingos Nhaga, I am the secretary of our cooperative.

I was born normal like any other child. However, I contracted polio. Despite my handicap I wanted to go to school and was crawling to school until a nun supported me with a wheelchair. In 2019 I participated in a six-month course in Basic Informatics and in 2021 in Entrepreneurship at ADPP-GB Vocational School in Bissorã. At the end of the courses, two colleagues and I created our business idea and managed to benefit from some equipment for processing cereals.

Today our cooperative is up and running, we employ ourselves, and we are managing our company well, offering services to farmers in Bissorã.

I’m sharing my experiences with neighbours who also need to increase their knowledge in entrepreneurship and how to set up and manage a business.