Introduction:
 Education
in The Gambia is costly experience for most citizens.
Girls are assisted by the government
in paying their school fees. In the past, boys were
far more likely to be sent to school if their parents
had a bit of money, while girls had very little chance
to succeed unless they came from a rich family. Before
the 1988 – 2003 Education Policy was formulated, less
than 50% of Gambian children went to school.
Information:
 The
educational curriculum for grade schools is uniform
nationwide, designed by educators who work at Gambia
College. The system of grade-school education is
as follows in the chart below. Some students begin their
education in the privately owned nursery
schools; entering children are about four or five
years old. Government-directed education begins at grade
one, which students enter at age seven. Lessons in schools
are taught in the English language.
|
Institution |
Old Name |
Time spent |
| Nursery |
- |
2-3 years |
| Lower
Basic |
Primary |
5 |
| Upper
Basic |
Junior
Secondary |
3 |
| Secondary |
|
4 |
At the end of Upper Basic school, a standardized exam
will dictate whether a student is qualified to continue
their education with Senior
Secondary School. Unfortunately, many students are
forced to terminate their education at the end of the
Upper Basic cycle, due either to monetary difficulties,
failure to pass the exam, or disillusions about the
value of education—engendered by the lack of jobs even
for Gambians who have passed grade twelve. If parents
of Upper Basic graduates have the money, they are just
as likely to send their offspring to a trade school
or skills
centre as to send them on to the next grade school
level.
After passing another exam at the end of Senior Secondary
School and provided they have the money, students can
elect to attend either a tertiary institution or a university.
Tertiary institutions include the Gambia Technical Training
Institute, Management Development Institute (MDI), Rural
Development Institute (RDI), and Gambia College.
Gambia Technical Training Institute
trains students in technology, accounting, marketing
and technical work. At the MDI, students can acquire
middle-level training management, marketing and accounting,
as well as take computer-training courses.
The RDI, located in the Lower River Division at Mansa
Konko, trains workers for community development.
The Gambia College, a two- to three-year institution
in Brikama, is mostly skill-based, training students
to be teachers, nurses, public health officers and agricultural
extension workers. Almost all teachers in The Gambia
earn their qualifications at Gambia College, either
the Primary Teacher Certificate (PTC) or the Higher
Teacher Certificate (HTC).
University can be entered straight from Senior
Secondary Schoolsl, or after completing one or more
years at Gambia College. The University
of The Gambia (UTG) is the nation's only university.
Unfortunately, few students have the monetary or educational
opportunity to attend this institution, let alone the
resources to study abroad.
 |
Literacy
Rate in 2005: |
| |
69.4% (between
15 to 24 years old)
59.2% (all people above 15 years) |
| |
Educational
Enrolment in 2005 (net): |
| |
Primary 97%
Secondary 33%
Tertiary 5% |
| |
School life expectancy ISCED 1-6 (years) |
| |
7.4 |
| |
Percentage of repeaters, primary (%) |
| |
(1999)
12 |
| |
Primary to secondary transition rate (%) |
| |
(**,1999) 82
|
| |
Pupil
/ teacher ratio (primary) |
| |
(2004) 35 |
| |
Public expenditure on education: |
| |
as % of
GDP |
| |
(**,2004) 2.0 |
| |
as % of
total government expenditure |
| |
(2002) 8.9 |
| |
Distribution of public expenditure per level (%)
- 1991 : |
| |
pre-primary
... |
| |
primary
42 |
| |
secondary
21 |
| |
tertiary
18 |
| |
unknown
19 |
| |
Other: |
| |
Pupil teacher
ratio: 1 to 35 students (2004) |
| |
2.8% of GDP spent
on education |
| |
|
| |
SOURCE: UNICEF
stats 2005 |
Types of Schools:
Early Childhood Education Development Centres
Lower Basic Schools
Upper Basic Schools
Senior Secondary Schools
Tertiary Institutions
Special
Needs Schools
Technical and Vocational Centres
Enrolment (1999/200 to 2005/2006):
Nationally, during the period, 1999/2000 to 2005/2006
enrolment in the Lower Basic Schools (primary), increased
from 154,664 to 182,627 registering an increase of 18.08%.
In Regional Education Directorate 1 (Banjul and Kanifing
Municipal Council) the enrolment continued to increase
except in 2001/02 when it slightly declined. In Regional
Education Directorates 4, 5 and 6 (Lower River, Central
River and Upper River Regions) respectively enrolment
remained constant. There was a decline in the enrolment
of boys in Lower River Region from 5,816 to 5,288. This
represented 528 decline in enrolment or 9.08% whilst
during the same period enrolment of girls increased
from 4661 to 5310 or 13.92%.
During the period under review, the enrolments of both
boys and girls have increased. The increase in girls’
enrolment was more pronounced.
On overall the average annual enrolment growth rates
for boys and girls during the six-year period were 1.2%
and 4.5% respectively. This implies that the average
annual enrolment growth rate for girls was three times
faster than boys.
The enrolment trends for Boys and Girls met around 2003/04
indicating the enrolments for boys and girls were equal.
The subsequent years witnessed enrolment gap between
the two sexes in favour of girls.
Source of enrolment:
Dept.
of Education - Gambia
 |
