The D60 million project was fully funded by the Gambia government and is set to be distributed to various Regional Educational Directorates across the country for senior secondary schools.
The books, which are approved by the CRED Directorate of the Ministry of Education were handed over to Prof. Gomez by The Gambia Printing and Publishing Corporation (GPPC). The official handing over ceremony was held at the University of The Gambia Campus along the MDI Road. The books cover grades 10 to grade 12.
The books - over 30 various subjects - include English language, Mathematics, Civic Education, Biology, Physics, Further Mathematics, Applied Electricity, Auto Mechanics, Woodwork, Metalwork, Clothing and Textile, Food and Nutrition, Visual Art and Home Management among others.
Speaking at the ceremony, Prof Gomez who is overseeing the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education, revealed that this came following a contract given to GPPC by the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education to print and distribute Senior Secondary Schools textbooks to regional offices across the country.
He said the ministry had engaged the Gambian writers’ association to come together and write books for use in The Gambia’s school system as a means to encourage home grown writers, some of whom themselves are teaching these subjects in the schools.
He added that this initiative led to the collaboration of key stakeholders such as the Conference of Principals, CRED, Writers Association, GPPC and the Ministry of Works to ensure that the books to be written are of high quality both in terms of content and the physical materials to enhance quality education and accessibility at the same time.
“This demanded that these books are thoroughly scrutinized at all levels from the Directorate of CRED to the Conference of Principals to ensure that the content is relevant, quality and consistent with the school syllabus.”
He noted that GPPC was also to ensure that all the books were published which required that the books go through proper publishing procedures of proof reading, editing and check for plagiarisms to fulfilling the criteria for publishing.
He said GPPC on its part, in a bid to fulfill these requirements engaged subject matter specialists from the University of The Gambia and the Colleges who read these books to ensure that they are of the right quality and within the syllabus as provided for by the curriculum directorate.
Momodou Ceesay, the managing director at the Gambia Printing and Publishing Corporation, said that the Corporation worked very hard to meet the contract deadline to be distributed to various schools on time.
He said that to standardise and ensure quality education, the teaching and learning materials must be of standard across the country.
