Staff
of the Gambia College receive the lowest salary when compared to their
compatriots in other public tertiary institutions in The Gambia, the college
principal has said.
“Last
year, we made a comparative analysis of the pay scale of the Gambia College and
the other public tertiary institutions such as GTTI and MDI and we found out
that the college was receiving the lowest pay and we have, at the college, the
highest workload,” principal of the Gambia College, Abubacarr Jallow,
said.
“We
are financed mainly by the government subvention and rely on a pay scale that
has been approved sometime back during my predecessor’s time. I was appointed two years ago together with a
new council but we inherited a lot of challenges because at the time the
college was virtually neglected and there was no improvement plan as far as
staff welfare was concern.”
Mr
Jallow made this disclosure during a meeting with the National Assembly select
committee on education on Monday.
The
committee was on a three-day familiarisation tour of government educational
institutions within the Greater Banjul Area to make firsthand assessment of the
institutions, know the problems and find possible way forward.
The
first port of call during the visit was at the Gambia College in Brikama where
the National Assembly members (NAMs) had a discussion with the administration
staff as well as lectures and students of the institution.
The college principal, Mr Jallow, said the
institution is the biggest tertiary educational facility in The Gambia in terms
of student admission.
“But
our workload does not commensurate with our condition of service and that is
mainly as a result of the way the Gambia College is financed,” he said.
The
college’s principal said the institution has a student population of close to
7,000.
Hon.
Yaya Cassama, chairperson of the National Assembly education committee, said
the Gambia College is the key human resource provider to the Ministry of Basic
and Secondary Education.
“We
know that our education sector has many challenges and to be able to effectively
tackle those challenges, the Gambia College is indispensable so this is one of
the reasons why we are here today,” he said.
“The
National Assembly select committee today is here to try and discuss with the
management of Gambia College about your issues that affect not only the college
but the entire education sector.”
Hon.
Cassama said the National Assembly select committee on education is
constitutionally mandated to perform an oversight function over the two
ministries of education: Ministry of Basic Education, and Ministry of Higher
Education.
Isatou
Ndow, vice principal of Gambia College, said the School of Education of the
college has the highest number of students in the entire college.
