The inter-school drama/poetry competition is organised by the Comprehensive Health Education Team of the Curriculum Research, Evaluation and Development Directorate (CREDD) under the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education (MoBSE).
The competition, which is the first of its kind, will run from 20th May to 24th June, 2022 in four phases: elimination round one for Banjul Senior Secondary and Upper Basic Schools – 20th May, elimination round one for KMC Senior Secondary and Upper Basic Schools – 27th May; elimination round two for both KMC and Banjul Senior Secondary and Upper Basic Schools 10th June; and the grand finale for the CHE championship and award of trophies slated for 24th June 2022.
The event is part of the implementation research activities on Strengthening Access to Quality Comprehensive Health Education for in-and-out of school adolescents in The Gambia. It is also designed to help update students’ knowledge and further expose them to information about CHE through drama and poetry performance.
It is also anticipated that the initiative would greatly help in reinforcing awareness among students on early marriage, unplanned pregnancy prevention, menstruation; Female Genital Mutilation; Sexual Transmitted Infections; HIV/AIDS and Gender-Based Violence among other sexual health issues.
Twenty-four schools comprising Upper and Senior Secondary Schools are participating in the ongoing competition, as the first elimination round took place at St Joseph’s Upper Basic Cycle and Senior Secondary School, Banjul.
Six schools participated in the first elimination round one for Banjul and this included St Joseph; St Augustine’s; Garba Jahumpa (Upper Basic Schools) and the Senior Secondary Schools included St Augustine’s; St Joseph’s, Gambia High and Garba Jahumpa.
In the Upper Basic Schools category St Augustine’s Upper Basic School emerged first, while GarbaJahumpa Upper Basic School followed in second spot and in the Senior Secondary School category – St Joseph SSS grabbed the first position; followed by Gambia SSS (Gambia High) in second place and St Augustine’s SSS settling for 3rd spot.
In the UBS category, Ousman Kanteh won the Best Actor of CHE Competition in Banjul while in SSS category Jacques S. Ceesay was the Best Actor of CHE Competition in Banjul.
Meanwhile, the elimination round one for schools in Kanifing Municipal Council is slated for 27th May 2022 at YMCA Hall, MDI Road.
The Strengthening Access to Quality Comprehensive Health Education in The Gambia is an implementation research project being conducted by Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education with funding from International Development Research Center (IDRC), Canada.
