Training

School duty officially counts for children between six and eleven years. Almost all children start in the free elementary school, but demands for school uniforms and other surrounding costs mean that many families cannot afford to keep the children in school and the drop-offs are many.

According to the UN agency Unesco, about a third of the pupils graduated from compulsory school in 2012 and only a quarter of all potential pupils begin their seven-year post-secondary education. On paper, boys and girls have the same opportunities for education but in practice more boys read on.

• COUNTRYAAH: Country facts of Equatorial Guinea, including geography profile, population statistics, and business data.

A major problem is the poor quality of teaching. The teachers’ educational level is low and they are too few. It is also bad for school books and other teaching materials.

Despite the shortcomings in the school system, literacy is reported to be high among Equatorial Guinea’s residents: in 2015, 95 percent of all over the age of 15 were expected to be able to read and write. This is a much higher figure than for other sub-Saharan countries.

In the capital Malabo there is a university, with a branch in Bata on the mainland, which cooperates with Spanish institutions. Together with Spain, France also provides various forms of aid to higher education. Hundreds of students study at universities abroad, often with the help of scholarships from the oil companies – many, however, claim that such benefits are mainly for the children of the elite.

• Topmbadirectory: Offers information about politics, geography, and known people in Equatorial Guinea.

FACTS – EDUCATION

Proportion of children starting primary school

43.3 percent (2015)

Number of pupils per teacher in primary school

23 (2015)

Reading and writing skills

95.0 percent (2014)

Public expenditure on education as a percentage of GDP

5.2 percent (1998)

Public expenditure on education as a percentage of the state budget

5.2 percent (1998)

2015

March

New opposition alliance is formed

The three parties CPDS, the Democratic Power of the Republic (FDR) and the Folkunionen (UP) merge into a new opposition alliance called the Democratic Opposition Front (FPS).

January

Call for boycott of championships

Opposition politician Celestino Nvo Okenve and human rights activist Santiago Martín are arrested after advocating a boycott of the African football championships to be held in the country in 2015.