National languages in education in Guinea-Conakry: re-emancipation in progress?

Abstract

Guinea-Conakry, West Africa, was one of the only countries of sub-Saharan Africa to reject the colonial language along with colonial rule, at least in basic education. Under its first president, Sékou Touré, Guinea adopted eight major national languages as media of instruction for primary and middle school levels. Language emancipation through education was part of Touré's platform of combining a socialist economy and nationalist ideology. Unfortunately, education in national languages did not survive past Touré's administration but died with him in 1984. Since then, the entire schooling system has depended solely on French, a language that very few Guineans speak at home. Meanwhile, national languages have continued to play a role in other domains, and in current educational, linguistic and political circles there is talk of bringing these languages back into formal education. Using data gathered from various documentary sources, combined with a synthesis of our interviews and discussions with teachers, literacy facilitators, education authorities, linguists and decision makers, this paper discusses the potential for Guinean languages to be re-emancipated in official policy and national practice. We also describe the approach of one NGO to support this re-emancipation through experimental schooling in Soso, one of Guinea's three most widely spoken languages.