Abstract
In support of its strategic objective of a quality basic education provided to a larger percentage of Guinean children with an emphasis on girls and rural children, the United States Agency for International Development established the following intermediate results: (1) improved sectoral strategic planning, management, and decision-making in basic education; (2) improved instruction in basic education; (3) improved community participation in basic education; and (4) improved gender and rural/urban equity in basic education. USAID/Guinea has invested 57 million dollars for the implementation of its strategy for the current planning cycle (1997-2006). At the beginning of this period, access to primary education had already begun to rapidly increase, but instruction was marked by low quality levels and a weak capacity for system-wide planning. USAID's interventions since 1997 have been of two major types. The first involved collaboration with ministry counterparts for improving planning and instruction. The second has been the reinforcement of communities' capacity to participate in the life of the school. These interventions have all had a positive and promising impact, albeit a fragile one. Detailed evaluations of the interventions and the lessons learned from them are presented. (Author abstract, modified)