The latest
remark by our President revealed that by September 2015, government would
remove all school levies to ensure that any child born in The Gambia will be
assured of basic education as provided for in the 1997 Constitution, and
secondary education will also be accessible to all.
We consider this pronouncement laudable as education in our day and age is the most expensive commodity, considering all the expenses parents and guardians have to meet on the schooling of just one child, from primary to secondary to higher institutions.
While many children in our society are unable to see the four walls of a classroom, and a good number of those in the classroom drop out of schools each academic year all because of lack of the wherewithal by their parents to keep them in school. Hence a greater number of ourchildren, our younger brothers and sisters fall on the wayside of the educational ladder and come to grips with ignorance, which is a recipe for crisis in society.
So a progarmme which “would remove all school levies to ensure that any child born in The Gambia will be assured of basic education” is a laudable initiative, and is achievable if the proper socio-economic machinery is established and maintained. We have to, because our best security lies in our investments for the future of our children.
Making education a necessity by making it cost less to acquire will be of immense good not only to the individual, but also to the society, as a country will advance at the same pace as the education of her people, and development can never be a reality when illiteracy reigns supreme.
So our governments must always endeavour to let education be affordable by the rich and the poor, because it is essential for our development.
Education encompasses our lives; it is the foundation of our society. It is self empowerment; it brings about financial stability and dignity of life, it spurs growth in personal aspiration and as we learn and live our minds are kept too busy for the devil to be lured into societal ills.
So removing all school levies to ensure our children get basic education and making secondary education accessible to all is to set the pace for true and lasting national development.
“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”
Nelson Mandela
