Guinea: A Communication Strategy to Facilitate Teacher Redeployment
In 1992-1993, Guinea carried out a redeployment of its teaching staff, which led to increased enrollments in both urban and rural schools with no increased costs. This initiative is described in "The Redeployment of Teachers in Guinea," published by ADEA in 1995. "The Use of the Mass Media and other Communication Tools" is a new chapter of the second edition. The text highlights the Ministry of Education's communication strategy in support of the redeployment operation.
Experience teaches us that the public will not necessarily accept a policy just because the authorities support it, especially if it requires unpopular actions. It was important that this lesson be heeded in the redeployment of teaching personnel in Guinea. Because it was important that people accepted the government's program of teacher redeployment, especially teachers, who felt like scapegoats, the selection of an appropriate strategy for gaining acceptance was critical.
The communication plan
Government decided on a communication strategy that was to be adhered to by everyone directly involved at the centralized, intermediate and decentralized levels of administration. Broadly speaking, the strategy had two main thrusts: First, the communication plan was an integral part of the package of measures used to implement the redeployment program. It targeted the groups that held a stake in that program:
- Teachers who were to be re-deployed (secondary school teachers and surplus personnel in primary schools and administrators)
- Administrators in centralized educational services, regional inspectors, prefectural and community education directors
- Various groups representing the communities, including parent-teacher associations (PTAs).
Second, the public awareness campaign used the combined media strategy of the Sectorial Adjustment Program for Education, which had been in operation for some time. Activities included:
- The broadcasting of short messages with a double objective: clear and concise information for the general public, and motivation to cooperate for those who would be directly affected. Teachers affected by the program needed to know that the redeployment was not aimed at eliminating them but at offering better educational service and to be reassured that, in professional terms, this was a step up.
- The repetition of messages throughout the week via various vehicles such as ads, round tables, interviews and news magazines. They were eventually adopted by rural radio stations, which broadcast them in the main official languages.
The means employed
In order to reach all stakeholders, the communication strategy included both modern and traditional channels. The modern mass media used were radio (national, educational, and rural), television, and public and private newspapers.
Guinean Radio/Television (RTG) was asked to devote an hour each week to educational questions in a radio and television program entitled École guinéenne (Guinean School). On television, key ministry officials presented debates that explained the motives, means, and benefits expected from the redeployment of teachers.
Educational Radio, an internal communications tool of the Department of Education, provided information to its traditional target audience of teachers and parents. Numerous news reports, interviews, discussions, and features were produced both in Conakry and in inland regions and broadcast on national radio.
The most significant radio appeal was via the network of rural radios operating in the deep heartland of the country. These radio programs are held in high esteem and have an important listenership in rural zones, since they are broadcast in local dialects. Rural radio has a participatory and interactive character in some large population basins, where it is used during weekly markets, which are important gatherings of people. The presence at some of these media events of Minister of Pre-University Education, Hadja Aicha Bah, helped win the full confidence of stakeholders and reassured people about government's positive intentions and need for full support.
Articles appeared in the government newspaper Horoya and the bulletin of the Guinean Press Agency (AGP), as well as in the most widely read independent newspapers, Le Lynx and L'Indépendant.
The newsletter, PASE Actualités, distributed by the Information and Documentation Services of the Ministry of Pre-University Education, and the quarterly review L'Educateur, published for teachers, played a key role in providing information about redeployment. These publications, which are freely available to teachers and their administrators, provided a forum for clarifying opinions and methods used in the redeployment operation. Other official circulars also provided information.
Interpersonal communication, however, was the prime means of official disclosure, directly reaching important groups of people during official gatherings and allowing opportunities for immediate reaction. Interpersonal communication permitted listening and dialogue among skeptical groups, particularly unions and political parties. It directly engaged opinion leaders in NGOs and Parent-Teacher Associations, who proved to be powerful supporters of the deployment plan.
Local authorities also became fully involved in information and awareness campaigns conducted at the grassroots level. The Guinean Press Agency (AGP) reported that the prefect in Tougué made a clear declaration of the problem and its solution: "It is remarked almost everywhere in rural Guinea that our schools lack teachers, but in clear contradiction to this, statistics show that there are at least 7,000 teachers at pre-university level on the payroll, for 2,500 available classroom jobs. The obvious implication of this report is that there are about three teachers available per class. And so, can we say that there are too few teachers? The solution must be redeployment, which simply means the judicious use of these available teachers."
This declaration shows that the message formulated by the central authorities was well understood and faithfully transmitted by decentralized authorities. The message was heard by communities that had long been frustrated by government's failure to provide teachers for the schools they had built.
Problems encountered
The lack of credibility of spokespersons was a challenge in some places, as some local authorities and educational administrators did not enjoy the confidence of their communities.
Limited financial resources did not allow for an even distribution of activities throughout the various regions of the country. For example, at the time, only two regional rural radio stations (Labé and Kankan) were operational (today there are four). This limited media access, as national radio and television covered little more than a half of the country. Compensatory measures took the form of live encounters, which necessitated a physical presence with higher attendant costs.
Impact and limits
It has not been possible to evaluate in quantitative terms the reach of the various communication strategies nor to assess their comparative impact, since this kind of follow-up was not planned. A formal evaluation would have been useful for future communication actions. No systematic effort was made to create an archive of audio, print, and audiovisual documents, making it impossible to evaluate the various messages generated during the exercise.
However, all of those involved with this important redeployment operation recognized the prime role played by the media, which allowed a wide dissemination of the information provided by the ministry. By generating interest in the deployment program, the media also facilitated its implementation throughout the country.
For the organization responsible for coordination, the National Institute for Research and Pedagogical Activity (Institut National de Recherche et d'Action Pédagogique, or INRAP), it was a major achievement to have mobilized the public and private media in an operation of this kind over a relatively long period of time. By the experience gained and the partnerships formed during this experience with with many communication professionals, the Department of Education gained high visibility and an image of an administration open to dialogue and negotiation--attributes that would have been difficult to acquire otherwise.
Based on a contribution by
Mamadou Aliou Sow*
Guinea
1. Mamadou Aliou Sow participated in the drafting of and ADEA publication entitled "The Redeployment of Teachers in Guinea".
Conference of Heads of States of Six Sahel Countries on Accelerating Education For All
Heads of states of Burkina Faso, Chad, Guinea, Mali, Niger and Senegal met in Bamako on November 26, 2000 to discuss ways of accelerating Education for All in the sub-region. The Summit was preceded by a meeting of the ministers of education and finance. Following are excerpts of the Summit's final resolution:
"We, the Heads of states of Burkina Faso, Chad, Guinea, Mali, Niger, and Senegal
Resolve to:
- Set up a forceful communication policy in order to share the objectives and the strategies defined by all the stakeholders involved in education policy and reforms and to ensure social mobilization for these reforms;
- Make education a national cause, which rallies the different sectors of society, in particular the actors and principal education players—teacher unions, parent student associations, national organizations, local communities, NGOs, and the private sector;
- Guarantee that the sustainability of nationally approved (by national consensus) educational policies is ensured, which is a necessary factor for their success."
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