By Fatou B. Cham
The Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs (MoFEA) Seedy K.M. Keita, has affirmed The Gambia Government’s commitment to investing in the country’s human capital, highlighting the importance of access to appropriate, current, and high-quality learning materials, especially textbooks, for a responsible education system.
The Minister made this remarks during a press conference his ministry jointly organised with the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education (MoBSE) and the World Bank.
The Basic and Secondary Education Ministry is set to hand over of 1.47 million textbooks to be distributed across the country at no cost to students.
Minister Keita revealed that The Gambia government secured funding of 92.7 million dollars for the Gambia Resilience, Inclusion, Skills and Equity (RISE) project from the World Bank, with 27.1 million dollars going towards basic and secondary education sub-sector.
There are 730,379 textbooks already available in the country for distribution.
“This investment demonstrates the government’s commitment to addressing the urgent needs of the basic education sector and represents a significant financial commitment of the government and development partners towards foundational learning and broader social protection sectors,” he stated.
Dr. Habibatou Drammeh, Minister of Basic Secondary Education, expressed joy in receiving these important learning materials for basic and secondary education.
She stressed that quality education is essential for nation building and equipping children with essential tools for success. The RISE project aims to improve foundational learning for early childhood development to grade 9, ensuring that children and youth are equipped to succeed.
Permanent Secretary Louis Moses Mendy recalled the issue of textbooks, noting that the last set of books was published and circulated in schools in 2018 and was supposed to have a three-year cycle. He however revealed that there has been a challenge with the publishing of the books from that year up to this year, and thus a gap in the supply of textbooks.
Ndey Anta Tall, Project Coordinator at CPCU, MoFEA, highlighted the milestone in providing sufficient teaching materials, particularly textbooks, in schools.
A new curriculum has been developed, and a pilot with Gambian printing companies is underway. Once completed, the new curriculum will be printed and distributed across the country.
