2023-12-06 17:45:43
The president of the National Transition Council (CNT), Dr Dansa Kourouma, pleaded for access to higher education in Guinea. For him, higher education should not be a privilege, but rather a right for all citizens regardless of their social rank.
We offer you the entirety of his speech during the opening ceremony of the 4th edition of the Guinean Student Forum:
I stand before you today with a sense of responsibility and commitment to the future of our dear country Guinea. Higher education, since that is what we are talking about, is a fundamental pillar on which the progress of any society rests. It is imperative that we overhaul and rectify ours to meet the challenges of the 21st century.
September 5, 2021 is one of the most important milestones in the history of our country. This date symbolizes our desire to break with resignation, expresses our determination to give meaning to our destiny, to break with this inevitability which hammered home to us that fate was reluctant to accept us into the circle of emerging nations. Now, the leaders of this country know how to understand their responsibility and they have rolled up their sleeves to create well-being for their people. This new vision requires from us an institutional rectification in all areas in order to achieve the refoundation, this major social project of the President of the Republic, Colonel Mamadi DOUMBOUYA, who worked to have Guinea admitted to the register of responsible nations.
Since that date, Guinea has opened a new page in its history in order to transform its immense potential into national wealth for all the women and men of our country.
At the National Transition Council we support this process, among other things, through our legislative work in all sectors. It is in this context that our Advisors read, amended and adopted an important Law relating to the special status of Public Scientific Establishments. This Law completes certain previous provisions, innovates on other aspects and allows significant institutional progress.
However, we must go further, Madam Minister, you and your managers, by looking in more detail at other older provisions relating to teaching and research personnel in order to ensure recruitment of compliant personnel. to your mandate and likely to ensure the competitiveness of our university system.
Madam Minister of Higher Education, Scientific Research and Innovation, Dr Diaka SIDIBE;
Ladies and gentlemen ;
Before you, the university and scientific research network have experienced quantitative progress, but it remains to ensure systemic coherence between higher education institutions, scientific research institutions and university documentation centers to achieve greater synergy collaborative through the pooling of our country’s human and financial resources in the sub-sector of higher education and scientific research.
The institutional reform expected from your ministry should also include the issue of the university card in your agenda to reduce the dispersion of resources and the capitalization of means.
Ladies and gentlemen ;
Institutional reform of the education sector must also transcend ministerial compartmentalization to ensure coherence between the different levels of the system from nursery school to scientific research, including other levels of education.
This work was done by the CNT Advisors. I ask you to take ownership of this institutional reform project and urge you to assume this institutional leadership in order to make effective the refoundation which is the central vision of the Head of State, the President of the Republic, Colonel Mamadi DOUMBOUYA.
Ladies and gentlemen ;
Since September 5, 2021, a major effort has been underway by the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research to provide the country with a training offer more suited to the needs of our national economy. This is a path that you are pursuing to build more professional sectors with the aim of better preparing graduates for entrepreneurship.
This institutional reform is a first step to ensure the overhaul of teaching and learning content in order to obtain a better match between training offers and the needs of the country’s socio-economic and socio-professional sector. Because it is the responsibility of the refoundation to reduce the number of graduates who are not employable and therefore without horizons or future prospects.
Institutional reform also means ensuring that higher education informs the Government and the country with new and regularly updated data on the job market, student life and socio-professional integration.
You have the capacity to do so with the numerous researchers in your ministry and the data collection tools at their disposal. This is how it will be possible to avoid ending up with old and necessarily obsolete data on the use and employability of the products of our university system. This institutional reform will establish a new way of opening, closing and reorienting training programs.
Ladies and gentlemen ;
Higher education and scientific research are key ingredients of innovation without which systems, knowledge and techniques wallow in inertia, stagnation and limited capacity for transformation, and therefore development. Far from sterile mimicry, our capacity for innovation, creation and creativity must be the breeding ground for shaping the new Guinean, the Guinean, I was going to say, “reformatted”. I am talking here about scientific research that emphasizes the originality of our endogeneity while being interested in cutting-edge trends. Here we are, for example, at a time of the meteoric rise in power of artificial intelligence. What are our perspectives on the subject? You have to swim in these waters too, quickly and well. But also learn to develop our own working tools for the integrated development of our continent and our country Guinea.
Ladies and gentlemen ;
Dear students of Guinea;
We must recognize past successes while accepting present shortcomings. Education is the foundation on which the development of a nation rests, and for Guinea to prosper, we must rethink our approach to higher education. This does not simply mean making minor changes, but rather undertaking a complete overhaul of our educational institutions.
The first step in this overhaul consists of evaluating and modernizing our academic programs. The world is changing rapidly, and our students must be prepared to meet society’s changing challenges. We need to incorporate flexible programs that encourage innovation, creativity and critical thinking. Partnerships with communities, industries, businesses and international institutions must be strengthened to ensure the relevance of our academic programs.
Consubstantially, we must invest massively in the training of teachers and researchers. A competent and motivated faculty is essential to ensure the quality of teaching. We must encourage research and development, create incentives to attract and retain top academic talent, and provide opportunities for continuing education.
The second stage of this overhaul concerns the modernization of our educational infrastructure. University campuses must be equipped with cutting-edge technologies to facilitate online learning, research and innovation. Libraries must be built, equipped and digitized in Conakry and within the country, to provide easy access to a wide range of educational resources. Classrooms should be interactive, encouraging active student participation.
We should make the University Campus the tiny universe of the projection of our society, our State and our Republic. Democratic life, civic responsibility, the incubator of development strategies, etc.
Additionally, we need to carefully consider the issue of accessibility. Higher education should not be a privilege, but a right for all citizens, whether rich or poor, whether from the countryside or the city. Steps must be taken to ensure that students from disadvantaged backgrounds have access to quality education, whether through scholarships, affordable student loans or other financial aid mechanisms.
Excellency Mr. Prime Minister, Head of Government, Dr. Bernard GOUMOU, representative of His Excellency Mr. President of the Transition, President of the CNRD, Colonel Mamadi DOUMBOUYA;
Madam Minister of Higher Education, Scientific Research and Innovation, Dr Diaka SIDIBE;
Dear students of Guinea;
Dear Students, we have an asset: Peace, diversity, the search for our land, our subsoil, our history. So preserve it.
Let us preserve the integrity of our country, it is our responsibility. Its beautiful forests and savannahs, its mangroves, these rich mountains, its rivers and rivers, its cultural identity, which differentiates us qualitatively from others.
It is also its political identity, by renouncing politics made of violence, division and countervalues.
You are not political instruments, you are not spectators of public life, but actors.
Criticize and propose;
Debate without complexes and without complacency;
Because the political projects of those who want to govern our country must be evaluated through the prism of the expertise and commitment of the university. Scan teacher researchers, students and especially the opinions of political science, public rights and science laboratories…
To conclude my remarks, allow me to say as the son of a teacher and very proud to be one, that the rebuilding and institutional rectification of higher education in Guinea requires a bold vision, a strong political will and a continued commitment. The department’s current efforts are rather reassuring. However, more investment will be needed in education. Because by doing so, we are investing in the future of our Nation. It is a demanding path, but it is essential to ensure the prosperity and well-being of our people. By joining forces and working together, we can shape a bright educational future for more emancipated, responsible and proud youth.
Long live the Republic of Guinea!
Long live a peaceful and successful Transition!
Thank you !
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