The Permanent Secretary Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education, Mr. Baboucar Bouy asserted that the number of Association School Projects Network (ASPnet) in the Gambia has increased from ten (10) in 1996 to twenty (20) in 2006 with the establishment of 10 additional member schools in the other four educational regions (Region 2 to 6) which were hitherto not represented.
PS Bouy was speaking yesterday at the opening ceremony of a two day National training workshop for school Principals/Heads and co-ordinators of the Gambia Associated Schools Project Network (ASPnet) organised by the UNESCO ASPnet in collaboration with the Gambia National Commission held at NANA conference hall.
According to PS Bouy, this implies that, as at now, the Gambia has registered 20 ASPnet schools nationwide covering private, grant aided and government schools in urban and rural areas at the Lower, Basic, Upper Basic and Senior Secondary schools level.
He pointed out that all these schools have also been benefiting from UNESCO's support through the participation programmes.
"ASPnet is a network of committed schools engaged in fostering quality education in pursuance of peace, liberty, justice and human development in order to meet the pressing educational needs of children and young people throughout the world.
Also speaking at the opening ceremony national ASPnet Co-ordinator Yahya Al-Matarr Jobe said that the purpose of the network is to serve as an international laboratory for exploring, experimenting and taking to scale new educational practices. "In the Gambia ASPnet started with a small family of 10 schools, 9 in region 1 and 1 in region 3; these schools were inducted in 1996 and certificated in march 1997. Today, a long time goal has been achieved and as part of the new strategies and plan of action, 10 additional schools from region 2 to 6 have been invited to the network, which has increased and extended the number of schools that have been certificate by the Director General of UNESCO in January 2009", he said.
Mrs Sukai Bojang, the Secretary General UNESCO chaired the occasion and expressed similar sentiment.
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