CANIGE First-Class Schooling By William Van Swearingen

riving along the highway in Malabo II, you cannot miss two striking modern buildings painted in vivid red, yellow, blue and green, set in a compound with a matching colorful fence. This is CANIGE, a model school for preschool through high school students established in 2009. 

CANIGE stands for the Committee for Support of the Equatoguinean Child and is a charitable foundation created by Equatorial Guinea’s first lady, Constancia Mangué de Obiang. The 500 students at the school are treated to modern facilities, low teacher-student ratios and a firstclass learning environment overall. 

According to its director, Dr. Clara Mba Abuy, there are other CANIGE schools on Bioko and the mainland, and all are “focused on offering quality education.” 

To assure quality, the teaching staff includes both local instructors as well as some from Spain. And to help students be successful, there is a counseling program and individual tutoring. 

To make the school available to all children, no fees are charged. “Our mission for this and other schools is for children whose parents have modest means to be able to receive a good education,” says Dr. Mba Abuy. “The government has assumed that responsibility.”  

The school day is adapted to the climate, with classes starting at 7am and finishing at 1pm. Buses take the children to and from school, and the students get snacks and lunch on the premises. 

Dr. Mba Abuy is proud to show visitors around the classrooms, a special area for visitors, and the facilities for kindergarten children. “I think there will be a good percentage of our students who will continue on to the university,” she predicts confidently. 

In addition to its support for model schools, CANIGE has constructed health, maternity and pharmaceutical centers throughout the country, all designed to serve mothers and children, to provide medical equipment for the handicapped and to promote a campaign against AIDS. The committee was established in 1984.