Conakry Refugee School

Conakry Refugee School (CRS) is an urban school situated in the Simbaya Gare area of Conakry, the capital of Guinea in West Africa.  Guinea is among the poorest countries on the African continent, its development hampered by a weak infrastructure and political instability. 

The School was founded in 1993 to provide an education for refugee children from Liberia and Sierra Leone after many thousands had fled to Guinea to escape from the brutality of civil wars in their own countries during the early 1990s.  After spending time in refugee camps in various parts of Guinea  many came to Conakry.  Most of these children were deeply traumatised, losing family members on the way, witnessing atrocities from all sides and enduring the desperate conditions of the refugee camps.  For these children, whose lives continue to be hard and full of stress, CRS gives a sense of belonging and hope for a positive future. 

Conakry Refugee School  is situated on three sites in rented buildings which include self-furnished classrooms,  basic sanitation facilities and a cooking area where all students  receive a free school meal.  It has use of a piece of rough ground where pupils can do some physical education and practice sport. 

CRS provides a comprehensive education that enables students to progress from kindergarten to graduation, providing them with the qualifications to continue on to Further (vocational ) or Higher  Education or to enter the labour market.  Although Guinea is a French-speaking country the school’s curriculum is taught in English as both Liberia and Sierra Leone, the countries from which most of its pupils had fled, are English-speaking.

At present CRS has 546 students, many of whom have had to restart their education after years of living in disrupted circumstances.  Consequently many children are much older than their school year group.  The school has 28 professionally qualified, dedicated and supportive members of staff, almost all of whom are refugees themselves. 

The School has always had to struggle to stay open.  Originally founded and supported solely by parents and teachers, it receives no funding from the Guinean Government or any other external agency.  It has had to rely on a constantly fluctuating and tiny income from school fees to pay the rent, provide basic materials and pay the teachers a small salary (which is barely enough to feed themselves and their families).  The fees have to be minimal (about £3 a month) because the students are very poor, yet many are still unable to pay the fees.  Only 302 students are actually able to pay these fees and that would not be enough to enable to keep the school open.  Without the help of Friends of Conakry Refugee School, therefore, the School would be forced to close and these children denied their right to a positive future