#Article (Archive)

Put your houses in order

Sep 27, 2016, 10:20 AM

The Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education has taken a hard but very essential action on nursery schools that have failed this year to meet the standards set by the Ministry for such schools to function.

Although we want education  to be available  and affordable  to all in the society, especially reaching out to  children  or people  living  in remote  areas, it should be  made not to be provided  on the altar of selfish gains.

Rather quality education, decency and sound environmental settings must always be taken into consideration, as learning centres are set up in the communities and across the nation.

The schools closed by the Ministry last week have had to suffer  such a fate for  breaking the rules and regulations governing private schools operations, as stipulated  in the  “Guidelines for the Opening of Private and other schools in the Gambia” (Sept 1998) and “School premises Regulations” (page 37 – 45 chapter 46 of the Laws of The Gambia  - 1990).

Although education is a responsibility that society owes to itself, it should not be provided in a manner equivalent to doing more harm than good to society, more so that in this case, it involves the future stewards of our beloved nation.

Those people who want to complement the efforts of Government in taking education to the doorstep of our people are to be mindful of the guideline and regulations governing the opening and operation of schools in the country.

Education is more than a luxury; it is a responsibility that society owes to itself, so it should be provided for the real good of the nation, Standards must be met to ensure our children get a bright beginning in the realm of education.

Those who want to put up schools, therefore, should really put their houses in order before opening their doors to the public.

“It is a greater work to educate a child, in the true and larger sense of the word, than to rule a state.”
William Ellery Cheany